Words to live by

"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live."
-Dorothy Thompson

In the fall of 2003, I had the chance to hear husband and wife Roger and Kathy Cawthon (each diagnosed with cancer within six weeks of one another) at a Relay For Life summit in California. Their humility, courage, humor and grace are amazing... They publish The Cancer Crusade - an incredible resource to those who are affected by cancer...but their pearls of wisdom can also be applied to so many parts of our lives.

This month's letter included a beautiful piece on letting go...

One of the hardest things we have to learn to do in this life is to "let go." Especially as we grow older and see things that we want to make right, things we want to "fix," it becomes increasingly difficult not to rush right in and take over.

This compulsion to "do something!" can become maddening when we are faced with a disease like cancer, whether our own diagnosis or that of someone we care about.

The best advice we have ever received is to do what we can in terms of eating right, resting, exercising, nurturing ourselves spiritually, and caring for others who need us but not to the point of exhausting ourselves. After these things, let go.Surrender whatever your cares and worries are to whatever Higher Power you believe in.

In other words, give it up without giving up! This is not about giving up and giving in to the disease at all! This is about doing what you can and then resting so that you can grow stronger while Someone Else takes the reins for awhile!

A friend of ours shared a little poem that we have found very comforting during those times when we are tempted to try to "take control." We hope you will find it comforting, too.

As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God because He was my friend.
But then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own.
At last, I snatched them back and cried, "How can You be so slow?"
"My child," He said. "What could I do? You never did let go."
-Poet unknown