THURSDAY THOUGHTS - Ease the Burden of Others

Guest Post:

One morning last week I was going through the motions of getting ready for work. You know shower, deciding what to wear, blowing my hair dry and putting on make up...the normal routine. While doing this, I happened to glance up at the framed quote on my wall..."You have to keep on keepin' on." It was my Grandma Belle's trademark quote while she was alive and it hangs proudly in all of our homes. This morning was different than most because many mornings it hangs there and I hardly notice it. This morning, however, it spoke to me in a most distinct way. I began to recall that it has been almost three years since my Cancer diagnosis and surgery. I remembered how the diagnosis came out of nowhere. It was a total and complete surprise as well as a definite wakeup call. Although I truly felt that everything would be OK, the experience was unsettling at best.

Of course I have a wonderful family and great friends who lent me support, but when I attended the first meeting of Lifting Hearts (formerly known as Sister Survivors)I became acquainted with many women going through the same experience. It gave me such a sense of belonging and also helped me gain a more heatlhy perspective of my entire cancer journey. There I found most positive women who had emerged through scenarios much worse than mine and done it with dignity and style. Meeting them helped me greatly in my own efforts to "keep on keepin' on."

Because I am a writer, I love reading the quotes and works of other writers. Charles Dickens once said,"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else." In a very real sense the women at Lifting Hearts helped to lighten my burden so I could see my situation through realistic eyes and ease some of the original panic I felt. I will always be grateful to them.

There are countless people around us who are struggling. It may be from a divorce, difficulties with children and their choices, health issues, loss of a loved one, or in this particular economic climate...financial stress. The most wonderful thing we can do in so many cases is try to ease the burden of others we meet with encouragement, love and support, just as Lifting Hearts has done for us.

I want to close with the following quote which is an inscription from a church in Upwaltham, England:

"I wish thee not riches, nor the glow of greatness, but wherever thou go some weary heart shall gladden at thy smile, or shadowed life know sunshine for a while. And so thy path shall be a track of light, like angel's footsteps passing through the night."

Kathy Christensen
Survivor
Member of Lifting Hearts