LETTING GO

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

     Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 (NIV)

CELEBRATION OF LIFE

Recently my cancer support group had our first Celebration of Life ceremony for the Cancer Support Group at Chandler Regional Hospital. We wanted to show gratitude and love to the members of our group (caregivers and survivors) who are still with us, and those who have gone to the light. We decided that this circle of light ceremony will be our annual legacy of remembrance.

This is my prayer I shared during the ceremony:

We rejoice in your life and are forever grateful for how your life has touched ours. The good news is that we are all loved and cherished. We have nothing to fear. The moment we are born, we enter the circle of life in which there is a beginning and an end. The end of life as we know it is also a beginning. We are much more than our physical bodies. As Stephen Covey says, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

If tomorrow starts without you, we will celebrate your eternal spirit. We will dance for you. We will sing for you. And we will remember that you will always be with us in our hearts.

This ceremony to me was not only about being grateful, but also about being able to let go.

DEATH & DYING

Death is part of life. The moment you are born, you begin your journey. No one leaves this world alive. Death is inescapable.

Inhale… birth.

Exhale… death

And if you are fortunate enough, in between you will love and be loved.

According to my mother (the German immigrant), the American culture has a taboo on facing death and dying. She said that only when you have come to terms with death and dying, can you truly celebrate life, and life then becomes more precious.

THE CONSTANT DANCE

Living with cancer is a constant dance between holding on and letting go. Ask yourself: What is the kindest thing to do for yourself or for others? Maybe holding on. Maybe letting go.

As a patient, friend, or family member, sometimes the best thing to do is to hold on. If the patient is comfortable and has a decent quality of life remaining, then by all means, hang on and enjoy the ride.

But it is NOT a healthy choice when you are holding on waiting for the impossible to happen, when someone is in prolonged suffering, and when she is in her final stages of the illness and nothing else can be done.

People have often commented on my positive and fighting spirit, but I do not intend to fight gallantly until the end. I am a realist and when the time comes for me, I do not intend to rage against illness and dying, rather I prefer to go peacefully into the light with grace and dignity.

It may not happen. But that is my wish.

You see, after you have done everything in your power, you let go. That does not mean giving up. It means turning everything over to God.

The one thing you should never let go of is hope. Hope remains, but it gets redefined.

Receiving permission to die, relieves the dying person of the grief she has caused the family and friends. Knowing those left behind will be okay is a gift to a dying person.

I know that life will go on without me. I know that material things are inconsequential. You can’t take them with you. Ultimately, when I meet my maker, the most important thing in my life is that I loved and was loved in return.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

In my life I have seen that attachments to people can be healthy or unhealthy. This leads me to another aspect of letting go… unfinished business with people in your life. I admit I still have a little of that left in my life.

This often brings about anxiety. “Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.” According to Eckhart Tolle, we create and cling to problems because they give us a sense of identity. Maybe this is why we hold on to our emotional pain far longer than its ability to serve us. I have always enjoyed the following quote: “Worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

It’s good to know that problems in life don’t define you. There are three things you can do: (1) Remove yourself, (2) Accept it, or (3) Change it.

Perhaps the best decision when taking care of unfinished business is to face the person and throw your cards on the table. Maybe the unfinished business is with your child, your ex-friend, a spouse, a sibling, or your parent. Perhaps the best decision is to forgive them, forgive yourself, and walk away. You can’t always make it right.

MY OBSERVATIONS

There are several things I have observed in my life when people are in the process of letting go.

Cancer gives you a loss of control with physiological realities at the end of life. Those people who have the need to control have a difficult time. I have witnessed both caretakers and patients at this phase struggle with the control issue and the need to be right. Let it go.

I have witnessed the pain caused when a parent and an adult child have unfinished business and the child is dying. All I can say to the parent is to be gentle with yourself. You may not have been the perfect parent, but your adult child’s problems are his own. As an adult, he has a choice to heal, just as each of us have had a choice to heal from whatever injustices have come our way. Let go with love.

Let go of stress, guilt, fear, worry, resentment, sadness, anger, and bitterness.

A CHOICE

Choose instead forgiveness and peace whether you are the patient or the caretaker. Be true to yourself. Be kind to yourself. Love yourself and forgive yourself. Relax. Take care of yourself and come from a place of love.

Be honest with yourself about your relationships. Face the void in your life that will be there when you let go.

Several times in my life I have seen beauty in the process of dying. So it is possible.

WHAT I DO TO KEEP MY HEAD STRAIGHT

Relationships are about making a connection with someone. It is not about being perfect or expecting perfection. I always told my husband that I wanted an imperfect man, because I did not ever want to be required to be perfect. He said he was the man for me, and apparently I am the woman for him. LOL

It is a good perspective to realize that there will never be a time when life is simple. With every moment we have an opportunity to let go of something negative and feel peaceful. It’s worthwhile to take the time to practice accepting that concept. To put it in Darlene’s words, “There’s always gonna be crap in your life, so put on your big-boy panties!” To put it in the words of my husband Carl, “Just deal with it!” (Did you notice I tried to interject a little humor here? LOL)

I try (sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully) to take responsibility in my life for my life. I find an avenue to rid myself of negativity and keep my head straight during this cancer ordeal. This is what I personally do:

• I laugh a lot. I surround myself with friends and family who embrace my heart. I watch comedies.

• Everyone is always in a hurry to get somewhere. Sometimes we need to just be. I take Tai Chi with my friend Sue to help me live in the present. I meditate.

• I sometimes cry. I cry about what was and what is. It is cathartic and releases toxic chemicals built up by stress in my body.

• I replay that recorder in my head, and replace my thoughts with ones that are healthy for my well being. I forgive myself.

• I spend time with those I love.

• I make a list of my causes of stress and another column on what I need to do to address them. Somehow writing it down helps me face it better.

• I create. I paint. I illustrate. I write. I design.

• I go to the gym. I dance. It gets some of that orneriness out of my system. (I used to beat a rubber chicken on the floor to relieve stress. Ask Dot about that one. LOL).

• I count my blessings everyday. I know what makes my life worth living and I embrace it.

• “La Verne,” I say to myself, “Everything is happening as it should be. Have a little faith. What will be will be.”

In the end, what matters most is how well you lived, how well you loved, and how well you learned to let go. – Unknown author