A Gift of Uncertainty

Cancer did not make my life uncertain. Cancer simply exposed the uncertainty of life.

This insight helps me accept the uncertainty of survivorship, but it doesn't help me deal with uncertainty. So here's one that does:

I can choose to embrace the uncertainty when doing so helps me. 

For example, let's say you are scheduled for six rounds of chemotherapy. And let's say the first round is rough. If you tell yourself, "The next five rounds are going to be equally rough," you'll enjoy a sense of certainty. But you might also experience pre-treatment anxiety and a heightened sense of vulnerability and helplessness.

In contrast, look what happens if you tell yourself, "The first round was awful, but the next round might be better." If you embrace the uncertainty, you open the possibility of a better tomorrow. You might feel motivated to find different ways to prepare for and deal with the next round to help the experience be easier. 

What if the first round of treatment goes smoothly? Should you embrace the uncertainty (i.e., say the next round may not go as smoothly)? No. Although in general it is good to be prepared for any outcome, I have found it useful to embrace the certainty of my past experience when doing so gives me confidence to move forward.

As a Healthy Survivor, try embracing the uncertainty when doing so opens the possibility of a better tomorrow.

Comments

[Margaret Evans R.N., B.S.N., C.P.C.C.]

Thanks for this really great shift of perspective! I have a chronic autoimmune disease that leads me on an every changing roller coaster ride. Finding ways to embrace the uncertainty rather than push against it might offer a new way of looking at the challenge. I will give it a try!

[Carolyn Scott Kortge]

Wonderful acknowledgment of uncertainty, Wendy. We DO tend to forget that life is uncertain, with or without cancer. Faith, trust, or "embracing past certainty" enables us to embrace the possibilities. Thank you.