The First Day of the Rest of My Life – Attitude – September 25, 2019 – Day 25

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug. - Patricia Neal

Today, I had a planned meeting (every Wednesday) with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Bruce Flax. At that meeting, I told him I'm going to do my best to confound him and his confound machine to get through this course of radiation treatments. It was my way of letting him know I'm going to do everything I can to get through this radiation process with a positive attitude. He smiled and said he was rooting for me to be right.

Today was radiation treatment #6. After my meeting with Dr. Flax, I went across the hall, after meeting Carolyn, who drove down from WV to sit with me through the upcoming chemotherapy treatment #3. It was great having her there. I have plenty to do to keep myself busy during the approximately 3 hours of treatment. But, it's nice to have someone there who knows and cares about you and who you know and care about. There is a special comfort zone in that.

The session went well. Nurse Heather took care of my treatment today. I saw nurse Suzie who took care of my last two treatments, but she was overloaded with other patients today. I did stop to say hi to her before I left. Heather was just as nice, attentive and competent as Suzie. And, I lucked out and got a seat by the windows so I could look out at the nice nature gardening outside.

It's all about attitude. I don't care if you are going through something like I'm going through in this adventure or if you're dealing with relationships, job-related matters, other health issues, financial problems, it's all about attitude. Sure, you've heard this before. But, let me assure you, it's not easy to maintain a positive attitude when you're surrounded by so much negative.

God, Nature, the great Deity, the Universe or however you want to describe whatever created this tiny piece of space dust we inhabit did not necessarily give us a rose garden or perfect lives. We have been endowed with the miracle of life, a magnificent vessel to carry this life with and a guidance system that is still more powerful than the most powerful computer humans have been able to build. What we have is the priceless gift of an uncertain amount of time and life to create and impact this planet and all its fauna and flora and other humans in some positive way.

I don't necessarily mean we all have to be Bill Gates, Thomas Edisons, Mozarts, Florence Nightingales, Albert Einsteins or any of the untold number of individuals who have gone before us to create what we have today. As a matter of fact, in my own existential philosophy, I believe there is really only one real objective to human life. You may think I'm being simplistic, but think about this for a little while and consider everything you've done to this point in your life and the direction you're heading for the future (which, of course, is unknown). I believe the only purpose of life is . . . TO BE HAPPY!

If you break everything down to the least common denominator, virtually everything we do is to reach toward happiness. But, here is the really interesting thing. Happiness is a state of mind. That means we have control over being happy. And, having a positive attitude, against all odds and all the negative the world can throw at us, is also within our power. One other element that makes this all come together is personal freedom. And, we have the power to be personally free, even if we find ourselves in any form of incarceration or enslavement, because we can choose to be free in our minds and hearts. Life may not be easy. We may find ourselves in situations that do their best to break our spirits. But, we still have the power.

I honestly don't know the outcome of this medical situation I'm facing. I have faith and confidence that the medical team I chose will do everything they can to produce the outcome we have discussed, a treatable, curable disease. My attitude remains that I have a 46-year life plan and I still have people to see (and meet), things to do (lots of them) and places to go (an endless list). I repeat this regularly, to myself and to those around me and to my medical team. I visualize all of these things and keep my thinking positive. 

I avoid negative. I don't care about the things going on in politics. I have no control over them. I don't need to know about the latest murders or mass murders, as heinous as they are. I can't change them. I have no plans to be on the next airliner that crashes or disappears.

But, I don't know the future other than the one I'm planning for myself and which I have the freedom to plan, the attitude to strive for and the happiness I'll experience along the journey. Could I die? Absolutely! Will it be from this disease? Possibly (but that's not on the table right now). With my traveling lifestyle could it be in a motor vehicle accident, being caught in a tornado's path, or even a flash flood? Of course. My plan is to steer clear of all the multitude of hazards that exist.

The only certainty is that, as a human, my destiny, one day (date unknown) I will leave this life and become part of the elements that make up this piece of space dust. What will happen to my essence, my soul? I don't know. I have my personal hopes and beliefs. And, I want to leave knowing that I made this world just a little better in some way, because I was here

So, that's my message for today. Attitude! Whatever is going on in your life can be impacted by your attitude – negative or positive. I'll guarantee that a positive attitude, no matter what your current or future situation is, will lead you to the freedom and ultimately the state of mind of happiness. Reach out for that brass ring. Believe in yourself and take a risk on you. Life is always a gamble, but the odds are better than any gambling casino or lottery you might enter.

Live free and be happy. EH