Make a List

As Thanksgiving approaches, what are you thankful for besides the anticipation of a turkey dinner? For all of us, our days are numbered-- we just don't know what that number is. So if you knew you only had 10 years left, what would you do with those years? What if it was only 5 years? If you had a "Bucket List", which 'to do' items would survive the cut if your time remaining was half of what you expected? Most of us ramble on in our daily routines of quiet desperation. We tolerate negative people in our lives because we never consider that we might choose to exclude them and be unencumbered of their bad energy. I started making a list of all the things I still want to do, especially with my kids. What does your list look like? Or do you assume there will always be enough time?

As I go another round of chemo, I recognize many faces from the last treatment. Most likely, these patients are on the same schedule so I will see them in succeeding weeks in the infusion room. Even though these familiar faces look tired, I know that each of them wants to be saved, and they will approach life much differently than before their diagnosis. Each cancer patient becomes just a little kinder, and yet more fierce too. We all sit in this infusion room together, each with a separate life, yet bound by this common experience. One patient is a favorite with the nurses. He cracks jokes and makes everyone laugh. Another seems timid and self-conscious about her wig. She speaks quietly and looks lost in her thoughts until her husband arrives with a hot cup of coffee for her. There's the man with a laptop, week after week, with no one accompanying him to treatment. Another man is snoring intensely in his corner chair, mouth open. We all pretend we don't hear it. We are all doing our time in treatment so that we can someday be finished and resume our lives, hopefully with the gratitude and energy to make it better than before.

Most of you will not ever have to experience this, so I hope that you choose to make the most of the time given to you. Be thankful for your health, your family, your true friends, a roof over your head, a hot meal to eat. Take time to nurture your dreams and make sure they come true. Fight for what you want out of life, even if it scares you to take the first step. There is a line from the play, "A Raisin in the Sun", that sums up all our fears and ambitions, "Please God, don't let my dreams die inside of me." In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, sit down and make your 10-year list and then make your 5-year list. It will help clarify your life priorities. Share that list with your family and friends when you all sit down to dinner together. Above all else, be thankful.