Top 10 lessons breast cancer taught me


Being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 taught me a lot of things.  Some of the lessons I learnt I knew of already but just never bothered to take notice.  The diagnosis taught me things that I feel that other people will never be taught unless they are faced with a chronic illness or perhaps are faced with their own mortality.  There are a few people I have encountered over the years that have had cancer but not once did I ask them what they learnt from it.  Now that i've had breast cancer, I have realised that a cancer diagnosis will teach you many life lessons which are very important...this is the good part about being diagnosed with cancer.  Looking back, it now seems strange to me that I did not ask what lessons people learnt from cancer that may have helped me live a fuller life with more depth at that time.

A breast cancer diagnosis was certainly a wake up call for me on how I was going about my life and what I was putting into my pie hole.  The diagnosis certainly picked me up and gave me a good shake out only to come out the other side better off.  You see..I had a choice...I could either take the diagnosis and look at it like it was an early death sentence and wallow around in pity for the rest of my life or I could use the diagnosis as God's/The Universe's wake-up call that I needed to change some things in my life if I wanted to live a happy long life.  There are many things you can do that will swing the odds of not having a recurrence in your favour.  Amongst other things, you need to educate yourself by eating and living smartly.  You can and do have control of your health even after a breast cancer diagnosis (or chronic illness)...there is hope I can tell you that much.  Even if you are currently feeling pretty healthy and perky, you will have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by listening to someone that has been through a health scare and come out the other side a winner.  Why wait for your health to deteriorate before taking action...the time is NOW!

Below are some of the lessons I learnt after I was diagnosed and which I feel will be useful to everyone whether you are facing a health crisis or not.

1. None of us are invincible (so often we think we are especially when we are young) and a chronic illness diagnosis doesn't just happen to 'other people'...therefore look after yourself and take some responsibility for your health;
2. Live in the present moment, stop wasting so much energy on what happened yesterday or what may happen in the future, if you do that you miss out on really living.  Some people can go their whole lives without really actually having lived...they are merely existing;
3. The best things in life are free...we have always been told that but this was highlighted to me when I was ill in bed and unable to play with the kids or go for a walk or enjoy reading a book;
4. Practice gratitude daily...this is SOOO important.  I have started a little ritual whereby every night when I jump into bed I close my eyes and think of 3 things that i'm grateful for that day;
5. People care about you more than you realise..this was something that I really noticed when I was ill...friends that I thought were too busy getting on with their own lives would come round with a meal or look after  my kids for me...give people the benefit of the doubt;
6. Don't go about life constantly living in your comfort zone, stick your neck out and truly live a life that you love and don't worry so much about what other people may think.  I was always very guilty of living in my comfort zone, probably more so than the average person.  A breast cancer diagnosis taught me to take chances and live a little more...after all, you could be dead tomorrow then you'd really be p*ssed off that you hadn't done something that you've been meaning to do for ages or perhaps you had never drunk out of that special champagne glass that mum gave you because it was meant just for special occasions...make every day a special occasion;
7. Love yourself more...this is something that I work on daily.  I thought I loved myself before my breast cancer diagnosis (well...for the most part) but since the diagnosis I realised how much I actually loathed looking in the mirror and almost always found something wrong with me.  I became more aware of the negative thoughts I was having most days about silly things like how much I didn't have rather than focusing on what I did have and the list went on.  Work on loving yourself unconditionally...after all, life is too short to not like yourself very much;
8. Feed yourself 'real' food as often as possible...real food is food that is as close to its raw state as possible and has come from the ground, and hasn't been boiled, bleached, salted, genetically modified etc etc, these are the foods that will give you the most nutrients and protect you from disease.
9. Move...you don't need to be out there running marathons every day or even busting your ass to get to the gym 5 times a week to do an hour's pump class.  Even if you just walk for 20mins a day you will be doing yourself a  massive favour.  You cannot underestimate the power of movement when it comes to protecting yourself from disease and being healthy.
10. Nourish your soul daily.  This is very important for your overall wellbeing.  In this modern day in age we are so busy rushing around with a million things to do that we forget about looking after ourselves.  I hardly ever nourished myself before I had breast cancer, I was always looking after everyone else needs before my own which is very easy to do when you are a mother of two young children.

Don't wait for your health to deteriorate before you are mindful about these life lessons xxooxx