Reasons to be cheerful

Although I grumble a lot about the iniquities of the health service and reflect on my own experience of recovery, having had cancer has had its benefits, believe it or not.

When I was first diagnosed, I had just resigned from a full time job - for reasons we won't dwell on - and signed up for a full time course. A few weeks into that course, I was so ill that I had to withdraw. Shortly after that, I received my diagnosis and had to take time out of my part time job, too. Of course, I thought my life was over! In fact, as is clear from this blog, I recovered.

Having cancer was a wake-up call for me. Although I'm often asked why I didn't go back to full time work, having the time to re-evaluate my life was invaluable. Before then, I had toyed with the idea of working part time and doing consultancies, but I'd never had the courage to take that step and walk away from the security of a regular salary. My intention was to go back into full time work once I'd finished the course from which I had to withdraw. I even meant to go back to complete that course when I was well enough to do so.

Time to reflect while I recovered gave me the opportunity to ask myself what was really important to me. The constraints of full-time work had never suited me, while I enjoyed providing consultancy services and doing part time work to ensure a regular (though tiny) income. Cancer gave me the push I needed to take that step away from a lifestyle that made me unhappy (and may have contributed to my cancer in the first place!). It made me realise that life's much too short to dither and that having the freedom to take a day out of you schedule to admire the countryside, to tidy the garden or even to go shopping is a luxury that those of us who work full time simply don't have.

So, while cancer was a shock and something I would rather not have had to face up to, my life has been significantly enhanced as a result.

While I definitely wouldn't recommend serious illness as a reason to change your life - rather, if you're thinking about changing your life, do it before you're forced to do so by serious illness! - it isn't all gloom; having time now to watch the birds on my bird table, to take walks in the sunshine or to put my feet up and read a novel has improved my lifestyle beyond anything I could have expected. I know how lucky I am to have recovered and to be able to earn sufficient from working part time to pay the bills, but, in many ways, cancer has been a huge learning experience for me in all aspects of my life.