Getting back up matters when cancer knocks you down, but so does pausing for reflection.
PUBLISHED June 17, 2019
Martha lives in Illinois and was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in January 2015. She has a husband and three children, ranging in age from 12 to 18, a dog and a lizard.
I'm old enough to remember being told to "Keep on truckin'" as a child growing up in California. It was an expression on t-shirts and bumper stickers. The cool, flowery-dress wearing teacher, Mrs. Judson, with her glossy black hair comes to mind whenever I think about "truckin'".
The ideas of moving-forward and moving-through are so ingrained in my psyche that hitting a metaphoric roadblock can be useful even if it feels like it's temporarily done me in (or, to keep with the metaphor of driving, flung me out of the driver's seat). I'm strong because I'm resilient but that same quality also means that sometimes I don't take the time to think about what I am doing and why. I just keep on truckin' even if I don't know where I am going.
I can't say for certain, but I am willing to guess that my belief in resiliency is one of the things my kids know best about me. Fall down when learning to skate? Get back up as many times you need to. Received an unpleasant critique on a project? Develop a thick skin and keep on going. And on and on. I think their own reasonably developed resiliency has served them well so far.
The ideas of moving-forward and moving-through are so ingrained in my psyche that hitting a metaphoric roadblock can be useful even if it feels like it's temporarily done me in (or, to keep with the metaphor of driving, flung me out of the driver's seat). I'm strong because I'm resilient but that same quality also means that sometimes I don't take the time to think about what I am doing and why. I just keep on truckin' even if I don't know where I am going.
I can't say for certain, but I am willing to guess that my belief in resiliency is one of the things my kids know best about me. Fall down when learning to skate? Get back up as many times you need to. Received an unpleasant critique on a project? Develop a thick skin and keep on going. And on and on. I think their own reasonably developed resiliency has served them well so far.
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