[LeahM]

I mentioned earlier in the thread that I was looking at the word "aware" in a whole new way these days...this is something I wrote recently that pretty much sums up my recent thought process.

So, are you aware yet? Perhaps you are one of those people who think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Well guess what folks? I live on the other side of the fence and I have got to say, my grass is not all that green. And there are weeds, lots of weeds, weeds that cut open the bottom of my feet!
So…here is something to be aware of as we enter Pink-tober; Pink-tober is all about celebrating women like me. “Survivors”, although, I prefer the term “Warrior Princess Extraordinaire” (sounds better, doesn’t it?) Yep, women like me who have beaten the odds…although, not really as the odds were in my favor. Yeah, I’m a freaking warrior princess extraordinaire….whatever….
Open your eyes!! Look around! See that lady over there that can’t seem to make up her mind between 2% and fat free milk? See that guy who just ran a red light? That person just got a Stage 4 diagnosis. Maybe they were diagnosed at Stage 4 from the get-go, or maybe, just maybe, their Stage 2 morphed to Stage 4 even tho they did everything they were suppose to do to become a “survivor”. Be aware folks that there isn’t a Stage 5.
All of us “survivors”? We are not “survivors”, we are merely still alive. And when something other than cancer kills us…well, then (and only then) can you call us “survivors”.
When you walk in cancerland you make cancer friends. And some of those friends are Stage 4. So when someone tells me how brave I am, how strong I am; all I can think is you should meet my friend “Wanda”. Wanda was Stage 4 from diagnosis. Wanda is strong. And tough. And brave. And full of life and love.
Write a story about Wanda and her struggles. Interview Wanda. MAKE PEOPLE AWARE THAT CANCER IS DEADLY!! Over 500,000 people died of cancer in 2012, are you aware of that? But Wanda isn’t a pretty picture (actually Wanda is beautiful)…Wanda has Stage 4 cancer and who wants to think about that? When newly diagnosed with cancer all you want to hear about is the success stories; you don’t want to know the horror stories, you don’t want to be aware, truly aware, of what could be your fate.
So then you are UNAWARE, which is worse than being aware.
You can’t control how you die; you can only control how you live. More people should be like my dear friend Wanda. AWARE that life is precious. AWARE that love is meant to be given to everyone, everyday. AWARE that you only get one chance at being alive so you must truly be the best that you can be.
And most importantly (in my opinion) you must be AWARE that you are not alone.