Receiving a cancer diagnosis puts you in a dark place; as soon as you hear those words, “you have cancer”, it feels as if part of what made you, you, has just left the room. In its place is an impending sense of doom about what lies ahead, whether surgery or treatment.
But there is a light flickering in that darkness, and it’s called hope. Hope is a powerful weapon in your fight against cancer; it will give you the motivation to get through whatever treatment lies ahead of you. Hope will calm your anxiety and help you cope with adversity. Without hope, all seems lost, and you have nothing solid to build upon. With hope, you have a base you can build upon and work on whatever lies ahead.
How do you find hope when the outlook is so bleak?
Hope comes from many different places, but ultimately, our hope comes from within us. Some strategies to find that hope to move forward:
Make connections
Surround yourself with the right people who value you for you, who will be in your corner and cheer you on when things get tough.
Change things
“Do what you’ve always done; you will get what you have always got.” How can we have hope if nothing changes? Be brave; deep down, you know what needs to happen. Make those lifestyle changes that are long overdue, and this creates hope that your life will improve.
Help someone else
Helping someone else can lift your mood and make the person you have helped feel valued; this brings positive emotions and hope is one of those.
Plan a future
Cancer can make you feel like you don’t have a future, but don’t let it put the brakes on your life. Go out for that meal with friends and book the family holiday. Planning your future reminds you that there is hope for a future, and you will live your life fully. No one knows what is around the corner, even if you don’t have cancer!
If you can keep your flame of hope burning and use it to move you forward, it will bring hope to all of those people around you and in turn, they will pass hope onto other people they know.
Written by Stephanie Baines – Chinese Medicine practitioner and co-owner of Total Therapy, Redditch
