We all have some absolutely remarkable story to tell in one way or another. The vital task we all have is to appreciate it, embrace it, and articulate it in a way somebody will relate to.
I had never been so proud as to think someone would want to read my autobiography, or for that matter, care what I had to say enough to publish it. I have never been a blog type of person. That was until a few years after I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), endured the hell of treatment many times over, and faced the most challenging moments of my life.
At my lowest point―physically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically―I was nearly gone. I had never been confronted with the realization of not being in control of my own life and having no choice in the outcome. In the spiraling events that followed the diagnoses I held no influence in, it got worse before better. Cancer aside, there was severe depression, chronic anxiety, dreadful insomnia, extreme weight loss, and complete exhaustion, the peaks and valleys, lows and plateaus. But yet, I arrived and came through the other side. I am still not 100% sure how. The time that did follow and the period of absolute transcendence when realizing I did and would survive always brings me back to a touchstone of emotion and sentiment. Some would say the universe had different plans for me and is not done yet. Others would call it divine intervention, still others providence.
What I experienced was a shift in energy, drive, and purpose―in my personality and certainly my perspective. Just as chemo drugs were at first unconditionally and indiscriminately destructive before the process became beneficial, I underwent this same transformative process on many levels. I am not the same person I was before it all. Yet, my first inclination after going through all of this was to help anyone else who was or would. After telling this story many times over, the common response was that of astonishment, inspiration, and reverence. Those who listened realized and remarked on the terrible cost to pay now to turn to have the privilege of helping others. The seed was planted, and it began to germinate. The idea that my story could help others, could inspire, make them laugh, could bring comfort, or better understanding, might ease someone’s pain, or might make their journey―wherever it may lead―better drives me to write this. I now choose to make a difference.
Ultimately, this is a story of choices. The critical question we should all be asking ourselves is not whether we can or will choose to make a difference. It should be, “How can we not?” From this point on you will face a choice of making a difference or not. What’s stopping you? It’s that simple.
David
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)
