The Further You Go, The Smaller It Gets
I came into this world in the great state of New York. The first home I ever knew was a typical New York house that was painted a color that crossed a Smurf and a blueberry. I was only 6 years old when we left New York for Florida, but I have some very special (albeit slightly foggy) memories of that house. Several years after we had moved, we returned to New York for a visit, and decided to drop by the blue house for sentimental purposes. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the house I had once viewed as this huge blue paradise was, in actuality, rather small and humble. Somewhere in my younger mind, what was once a castle, had now become just a simple house.
A lot of things in life will change with a bit of perspective. Case in point: this Monday was 8 years ago to the day that I was diagnosed with cancer. On that day and the year following it, it would have been completely impossible for me to forget, and yet, it wasn’t until very late on Monday that I finally remembered the significance of the date! It seems unfathomable. For the year we lived with and through cancer, it literally consumed just about every detail of our lives. We scheduled life around my treatment schedule, appointments, knew at any time I could have to go back in for “touch-ups,” and basically lived with a daily awareness of “what will cancer dictate we do today.”
To be 8 years past that time now, it’s incredible how different it looks. It’s not that I see that time as any less than what it was, it’s just that it’s affect on me today is so much smaller than it was then. Whereas 8 years ago my life was dictated by my cancer, today, there are whole days that go by in which I don’t even think about the fact that I once battled this disease. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t about being less thankful. NO! God forbid! What I mean is that the thing I was walking through at that time that seemed to be bigger than life, is now something I think back on with thankfulness, awe, and even fondness.
This blog is for those of you in the midst of your big, all-consuming thing right now. It may seem laughable that this thing you are currently facing would ever become smaller than it is (to the point of even forgetting about it from time-to-time), but let me tell you that time and perspective can and do kick in eventually. Know that there is hope and that the further you get from this thing, the more of a correct place it will take in your life. Instead of it being the thing that consumes and drives every decision and detail, it will become just a part of your life – not the whole.
