The Lesson of Gratitude Learned from Breast Cancer

As I woke up this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful sunlight that was pouring in the window as the gentle breeze filled the room. What a glorious day. How fortunate I felt to be living in this warm climate in a place where we have made a home that is filled with life and love.  We have enough to pay our bills and put food on the table and have transportation so what more could anyone need? Nothing, if you are asking me.

Gratitude is truly the keystone of a life of happiness if you ask me. There will never be enough possessions or positions of power that will ever match the feeling that one has when they are grateful for the wonderful people in their lives and for each new day that they are given. Barbara Jacoby

However, I do remember the days when I woke up and didn’t feel this way. I think that was in the days when I believed that success and happiness were based upon the things that I had that would show others how successful I was. But, things were never to materialize for me in that way. And now I think I understand why my path has taken the twists and the turns that it has and I couldn’t be happier about where I have been led.

I know that I probably could never explain how breast cancer has changed my life in so many positive ways. I do know that if I still held to the beliefs that I had so many years ago, I don’t think that I would have ever become a happy person or have come to the understanding that gratitude is everything. I would never have had the opportunity to write. I would never have had a way to help others in a way that is important to me because I would never have known that there were so many other people with whom I could share so they would understand that they are not alone. And I don’t think that I would ever have found another path that would be such a driving force for me than to give hope and promise and inspiration to others as we work together to create a better future.

I am grateful for all the wonderful people that I have met who have shared the cancer journey because I understand that they, too, are grateful for every single day that they wake up to another day of life. There is a feeling that we have every time that something nice happens. When we do something that puts a smile on another person’s face or complete something successfully that we might never have thought we could do, it is more powerful than all of the possessions in the world could make us feel.

I know that I could never begin to list all of the things that make me so very happy every day or explain all of the gratitude that I feel inside but the one thing that is at the top of the list is being able to make a positive difference for another person. It doesn’t matter whether that difference is big or small but when someone lets me know that something that I have done has helped them in any way, I am grateful. But, this also works in reverse. When someone does something that makes a positive difference for me or helps me out, I need to let them know how grateful I am.  And what I have learned is that helping each other and working together, we can make a world for ourselves that is beyond anything we might ever have imagined. Gratitude is truly the keystone of a life of happiness if you ask me. There will never be enough possessions or positions of power that will ever match the feeling that one has when they are grateful for the wonderful people in their lives and for each new day that they are given.