Do not tell me how to feel!
For those who may not read through to the end, here is the take home: you do not get to tell me how to feel or what my attitude should be, no matter who you are.
Sure, it’s more comfortable for me and the people around me when I’m have a positive attitude, but that does not mean that I have to live “all bliss all the time” like some insane American cable television station. Being positive does not mean pretending that nothing is wrong because… cancer, people!
A young woman who, I think, just turned twenty-two posted this on her Facebook page: “That’s the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.” She knows what she is talking about, by the way.
It does no good to pretend that emotional pain does not exist. It does no good to pretend that it’s not there. The only way I’ve ever found to get through pain is to recognize it, sit with it, walk through it to the other side. Sometimes that process leaks out into the environment and then I don’t smile prettily at everyone around me. Sometimes I’m snotty and bitchy and generally not one of Jesus’ little sunbeams. Sorry about that, but… cancer, people!
Here’s another news flash. A positive, determined attitude will not cure cancer, no matter what the popular media tell you. The following quotations are from the American Cancer Society:
In 2010, the largest and best-designed scientific study to date was published. It looked at nearly 60,000 people, who were followed over time for a minimum of 30 years. This careful study controlled for smoking, alcohol use, and other known cancer risk factors. The study showed no link between personality and overall cancer risk. There was also no link between personality traits and cancer survival.
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