09/20/2023
September 11th marked my one year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. And it’s been a year. I’m so thankful I haven’t needed chemo. I’m so thankful the radiation worked and killed the constant pain that was radiating 24/7 from the tumor. I’m still working through PT to get my ROM back from my frozen shoulder. Life was permanently altered for me a year ago. I have to acknowledge that.
I’ve said “choose your hard”. It’s hard to find time to train, to maintain a healthy lifestyle getting all your ducks in a row….food, training, sleep….. But it’s also hard to be overweight. It’s hard to be out of breath and to have joint pain. So, choose your hard, right?
Well, this year taught me that sometimes life also chooses “the hard” for us and thrusts it upon us to juggle with all that we are already juggling. There were so many days I felt my little Dixie plate was breaking. I just couldn’t take anything more going wrong. I went from training 5-6 days a week feeling like a warrior princess, to nothing, to training once or twice a week. I felt like I lost my identity. I faced pain, physical limitations of what my body could and absolutely could not do, fatigue, *so much worry!!!*, and so many restless nights. Am I exhausted because of the cancer? Or because I didn’t sleep? Or is it just bc I have a busy life? Why do I have to live with this cancer? Why can’t I ignore it and get back to how I was training before I ever knew I had it? …ugh.
Cancer is a mindf*ck, that’s for sure.
I started a new book last week. Atomic Habits. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the author, James Clear.
- We all deal with setbacks, but in the long run the quality of our lives often depends of the quality of our habits
- Habits appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold
- Change can take years before it happens all at once
And as Rocky Balboa says - It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
So here’s to day one of my commitment. One day at a time, one workout at a time. 💪🏼