MONDAY MOTIVATION - Each Day is a NEW Day

I'd like to share the following quote with you:

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love the idea that each new day is a NEW day - that we don't need to worry about mistakes or bad decisions, from the previous day. That day is over. Today is a new opportunity to make good choices, and do important things. When I think about this in relation to our cancer journeys, I wonder what lessons we can learn?

Yesterday might have been a difficult day - maybe you were angry once again that you have to deal with cancer. Maybe you just didn't want to talk to anyone, so you didn't answer the phone. Maybe you slept the whole day, because you just didn't have the strength of body or mind to get out of bed. And maybe at the end of yesterday, you felt awful for whatever reason. I've been right there experiencing each of these things, and others.

Today you can start over...

There is nothing wrong with being angry - it's one of the steps of grief. But, maybe today, instead of being angry, you can try to find just one blessing you have been blessed with - just ONE. Once you've found one blessing - acknowledge it. Try to find the joy in that blessing. And be grateful - gratitude is so important.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to talk to people. Sometimes you just need to go one full day without trying to explain your illness to people. But, maybe today you could decide to take just one or two calls. Try to realize that most people who call are simply worried, and want to help. Let them. It will not only help you - it will bless them as well.

There is nothing wrong with staying in bed all day - I've done it more than once! There are days when you just simply need the rest. It's restorative. Today, try to get up and make a small plan... decide to eat something that will make you stronger, even if it's just something small... step outside and smell those wonderful smells of flowers, grass, sun... do a SMALL household chore - just to prove to yourself you can - do a small batch of laundry, or wash a few dishes, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment, and you'll feel better knowing that you are NOT helpless.

No matter what you did yesterday, today is a NEW day. If you tried to stay busy yesterday, today rest - take care of yourself. If you made dinner yesterday, today let someone else do it. I think that focusing on each day as a separate day - with new possibilities - is good for us. And, if nothing else, work on your acceptance and attitude. Again, there is nothing wrong with going through the steps of grief, including denial, anger, etc. But, I've found that it's so much easier to try to be happy - much easier to put a smile on my face than a frown.

Martha Washington said about attitude: "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."

Make today a NEW day - be happy, feel better, and know that there are people thinking about you and praying for you. Have a GREAT day!

-Kara