I started to post this as a reply on another thread, but I decided that I would rather share it on its own post.
"Not today."
That is my mantra. I believe in it so much that I had it tattooed on my forearm after recovering from my third surgery last fall.
Back in 2008, we had a beautiful blue point Siamese cat who developed some sort of stomach or intestinal cancer. As I watched her go downhill, I would sometimes get upset, and start to cry. But I buoyed my spirits by reminding myself that yes, she was going to die, but not today.
A few years ago I got hooked on the show "Game Of Thrones." In season one, Arya Stark, one of the main characters, is taking sword fighting lessons from her teacher, known as "The Dancing Master." He asks her, "What gods do you worship?"
"The old gods….and the new," Arya replies.
"There is only one god, and his name is death," The Dancing Master says. "And the one thing we say to death, is 'not today.'"
After my melanoma recurred last year, I made a pledge to never let myself get down, or feel sorry for myself, or expect others to feel sorry for me. Yes, some day I will die, from melanoma, or from something else.
Not today.
.
.
