Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Roller Coaster Philosophy of Life

Hi All!

My dear friend, Marcia, who was my roommate my sophomore year of college, is struggling with cancer. She had a massive tumor removed last Spring and just found out that there are new tumors on her liver and in her lungs. Today marks the start of her experience with chemotherapy. Please keep her and her family (a husband and two pre-teen sons) in your prayers.

Marcia has always been an amazing person. She is a strong Christian whose beliefs really have helped her in her fight with cancer so far. Marcia is also a very positive person. In college, when times were stressful or difficult, she always managed to cheer me up with her cheery optimism.

That hasn't changed even though she has hit a VERY hard spot in her life.

Marcia has a website on CarePages which she uses to keep her friends and family updated about how her fight is going. Even as I read about the horrible things she is going through, I am amazed by her up-beat personality. Her latest post compared life to a roller coaster ride with its ups, downs, twists, and turns.

Thinking about this, I believe that a roller coaster is a great analogy for life. The highs are amazing and often breathtaking while the lows can be frightening. However, even though the entire ride is full of the highest highs and the lowest lows, at the end you are on an "even keel" and satisfied. All of this action is completely out of our control. The only thing we can do is hold on tight and go with it. Of course, we can also control our reaction to the ups and downs. We can decide to be afraid or we can choose to be thrilled by it all.

Marcia has decided to be thrilled with it all. May God bless her.

Trisha

Voice Update: How small my struggle with SD seems in comparison to Marcia's struggle. I will not see my health decline due to this disorder. I won't die. I won't have to have toxins pumped into my body in order to try to "cure" it. I am blessed.

My voice is doing well. I loafed again yesterday - actually, I forgot to do my reading! Can you believe that? Not good, Trisha, not good!

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I will keep Marcia in my thoughts and prayers.
We have a family member who is being wonderfully brave through difficult treatments and hanging in against all odds.
Makes me feel very grateful for what I have!

Mental P Mama said...

I will definitely keep Marcia in my prayers. She is lucky to have you as a friend.

Flea said...

God's best to her with this tough time. And at least while you're on the roller coaster, you're always in the car, strapped in. It's when you're NOT in the cart that trouble happens.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

My heart and thoughts go out to Marcia as she struggles with this awful disease. I, too, have a friend who is fighting it. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason - as you say the best thing to do is just grab on and figure out how you're going to view the ride.

Once we surrender the worry and the agony in these struggles of life, I've found things get easier. We truly have absolutely no control over most things in life, so we better just enjoy what we do have control over - how we view it.

I will say a prayer for her and keep her in my thoughts. You're a good friend, and she sounds like she could use one now.

Chris H said...

I wish your Dear Friend Marcia well in her journey with cancer.