As a stage 4 colon cancer thriver I strive to find joy-full moments in my life. I remember a time when I wasn’t sure how to find joy or to feel it. Just after my first surgery I was down in the dumps. I woke up one day and felt like I could not do cancer. It was just too hard. A message from a friend changed all of that. His message inspired me to get up, take a breath, and live in the moment, whatever that looked like on any given day. He inspired me to start finding joy in my life. Is joy just a passing feeling or can you actually benefit from living with joy? Joy contributes to a general sense of well-being and life satisfaction. It can help you find meaning in everyday experiences and appreciate life in the moment. This is really important when you have cancer. When you know why joy matters, you can start to make changes in not just your day-to-day life, but in your perspective on living with cancer.
Joy and Shame
Is it wrong to feel joy when you have cancer? This is a big question that I am often asked. People actually admit to me that they feel shame for feeling joy because they are “supposed to be sick.” Just because you have cancer doesn’t mean you can’t live. One of my favourite sayings when it comes to cancer is, “You are not your diagnosis.” Your body is in a health situation, but your spirit can still find ways to love and live right now. Having cancer doesn’t mean you have to stop living. In fact, it is actually the opposite. This is when you NEED to be living!
Avoid Energy Vampires
Have you ever felt someone’s energy and wondered what was happening? Maybe you have met that person who starts asking you probing questions about your health story or tells you stories about other people and their terrible cancer journey. These are the people who will steal your joy. These are energy vampires. The good news is that when you radiate joy you will often attract others with similar energy, which will help build supportive and positive social networks, which is exactly what you need when you are navigating life with cancer. You get to own your joy and wear it proudly. It’s like the garlic to repel the vampires.
Be Joy-Full
Joy contributes to your health and happiness. It elevates your happy hormones, which makes you more likely to be motivated to pursue goals and take action. It can drive productivity and lead to greater achievements in your personal life. In fact, feeling joy can even support creativity. A joyful, relaxed state of mind opens up cognitive pathways, encouraging creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. This is a great benefit to helping you find activities to pass the time, to find different ways to enjoy your days, and it can even help you to look at cancer from a different perspective. Joy isn’t just a fleeting emotion; it deeply affects your mind, body, relationships, and overall quality of life. Embracing joy enhances your experience of the world and how you interact with others.
There is a lot to navigate when you are living with cancer. Being joy-full is an important part of the healing process. When you can feel and express joy in your life you start to reclaim your life and choose to learn how to live with cancer. Cancer does not get to control your life, you do.
If you would like to know more about the concept of living with cancer, I have written a book all about my personal experience with moving from survivor to thriver. In my book I offer anecdotes and strategies that will encourage you to learn how to thrive with cancer. You can get a copy of Living to Thrive: a holistic guide to living with cancer here.
You don’t have to navigate cancer alone. As a Certified Holistic Cancer Coach I support women who are looking for more than just surviving day to day – they want to learn how to thrive with cancer. The THRIVE Cancer Coaching Program is a space for you to learn and grow while getting one to one support from a ten year cancer thriver. Let’s talk about how coaching can help you create abundance in your life with cancer. Schedule a free 30 minute call today to learn more about coaching and how to get started.
Kathryn White is a Certified Holistic Cancer Coach who supports women to turn their cancer diagnosis into a thriving story one woman at a time.
