I am not a hippie, but sometimes I play one…. As a cancer survivor, a veteran with a touch of ptsd, adhd, and ocd; so, with that in mind, I am open to alternative treatments. And did you know you can actually stress yourself out, in the process of learning to ‘de-stress’? I have read several books this year, but a couple changed my perspective on how I see things. The most recent book I finished was “It Didn’t Start with You” by Mark Wolynn, and he talks about how past trauma has a way of making its way to the surface even if deeply buried within a family. Even when we are unconscious of it, or unaware of the source. The book details a series of exercises you can do to root out the causes of your issues needing to be released in order to move forward.
“Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” by Dr. Joe Dispenza. (read 4 times) The book deals explains how our minds have the capacity to take those elements of our self and reframe them, even re-experience things to a better result. At the end of each chapter is an exercise to provide you with practical tools. There is potential to gain relief and healing in your spirit (and your physical body), or at least to heal the negative energy and learn how to replace it with positive energy (oversimplified description), but it works if you fully invest in the process to get you there and truly believe that you are worthy of healing and love.
These exercises affect your ‘total well-being’ so by taking care of the self emotionally, we heal physically at the same time. It is pretty cool from my perspective at least. A way to remain cancer free, is to maintain my stress levels in a consistent way. I need to break the habits of fear and insecurity and root out any negatives that lurk in the back of my mind and tackle those one at a time. Cancer does not have a chance in this body, sorry myeloma.
Anyway, even if I should have known better, I tried an online dating app. Because you are looking for a long-term life-changing-earth-shattering love… go to the internet? *laughing sarcastically* AND Wow, what happened between 2000 and 2019? Did a trend start where sending weenie pics to women is considered normal? Random strangers asking for your privates in picture form? Has this been going on for a long time? Where was I, and why does it not appeal to me? Oh, because when I meet people, I shake their hands, and look into their eyes, I never asked a man to clarify his manhood with photographic evidence. I deleted the account, but I learned a lot in that month of time.
Dating after divorce is hard enough, dating after trauma and cancer, is another situation entirely. My life ‘now’ is similar to a plot line in the movie with Steve Carroll in 40-year-old virgin, except, I have kids… and technically, not one. (so not that similar) Any who, the plotline and feelings he goes through as he tries to date are pretty spot on. The movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love, shows Steve Carrol dating as tragically as I do, or the movie Bad Moms, when the main character tells potential dates all about her kids and her mom life while sitting at a bar with her friends… yeah, that is kind of me also. And a question: When is a good time to bring up that you have a cancer that could come visit again someday? In the beginning, or do you wait? I prefer to live as if I do not have it, but my disability status is a reminder at times.
I am attempting to talk less, when possible. Haha When I meet someone, my introduction may be short, but you will have a million questions in your head within the first 5 minutes, especially wondering ‘How, Why, When, What, WTF?’ You may have to allow me to summarize the únsummarizable’ in order to really get to know me. Eventually the newness of a person and the awkward insecure hello turns into a good conversation, but beyond that and flirting like a 20-year-old, I am at a total loss of how to date in the new world as it is today.
I don’t know if the cancer put my mortality more in my face… but I think of how much time I may have left, all the time. I wish the doctors had never given me prognosis numbers, I just use them as dates to beat, and so far, I already beat my first 3-5-year myeloma mortality rate. My next goal to beat is the 10-year mark with MM, but I know many survivors that are living well beyond that mark, so there is definitely hope for me (when I manage my stress). So, each day is significant, no matter how insignificant a moment may seem.