Cancer is like that big, grumpy adult who sees everyone having fun and shuts down the party. One minute, we’re all having fun, hooting and hollering, and the next minute, we’re all miserable. Nothing puts a damper on life faster than cancer.
My mother always loved to go out and about, whether it was to the movies, a restaurant for a good meal, a picnic, or even just to people watch. She was the mother who took us to swim in creeks and brooks, the grandmother who would reach into a pond to retrieve a frog. Sitting on a lawn chair, feet in the lake on a fine day, was bliss for her. And when she got cancer, nothing was more heartbreaking for her than the thought that she would give all that up and stop having fun.
The truth is that fun is wonderful medicine for so many reasons. Cancer patients need the chance to kick cancer to the curb once in a while. Living with cancer is tough. Thinking about cancer means thinking about how cancer robs you of the good times. You have enough time to think about cancer when you have your check-ups or you go for radiation or chemo. That’s why embracing your inner child is a valuable tool in the fight against cancer.
Am I suggesting that you completely stop being an adult and just indulge every whim, every emotion, every moment of heartbreak that cancer has brought into your life? Heavens, no! I am suggesting that you take your inner child out to play on a regular basis. Go places as your energy allows. Follow your dreams. Indulge that urge to get out and explore the world. If you wait until your cancer is cured, the time may never come. The truth is people live longer with cancer now because it can be managed better. What is the point of managing your cancer if you don’t take that bull by the horns and use it to enrich your life? Laugh more. Hug more. Love more. Live more. Put a hat and coat on that inner child of yours and have some fun now. Don’t let that grumpy old adult spoil your life party.