Cancer and the Consolation of Philosophy
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The 12 Rules of Life with Cancer
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The 12 Rules of Life with Cancer
Everyone has personal philosophy. Sometimes they derive from a specific school of thought such as the Stoics or Epicureans. Most of us are Existentialists at heart. Other times they are formed from our numerous and often diverse experiences. Mostly, a combination of many thoughts and ideas. Our personal philosophies can be chaotic and unorganized or they can be be properly governed for maximum usefulness.
Famed psychologist and best-selling author Jordan Peterson wrote a book titled, The 12 Rules for Life. The book is basically a set of principles to govern a successful life – a personal philosophy.
The idea behind this book challenged me to think and develop my 12 Rules of Life With Cancer.
Here are my mine:
1. Never see yourself as a victim, nor act like one
2. Never stop trying to live a normal and fulfilling life
3. Never give up the fight regardless of the naysayers and the seeming impossibility of the circumstances
4. Maintain a positive attitude always
5. Learn the many lessons that the journey will teach you
6. Teach these lessons to others when given the opportunity
7. Encourage and inspire others dealing with cancer or any other disease or sickness. The healing of our emotions come from healing the emotions of others.
8. Expect others to misunderstand you and reject you
9. Expect to learn who your true allies and friends are. They will not be many, but they are more valuable than precious gems. Devote yourself to them.
10. Avoid unnecessary suffering
11. Think of your death often and live without regret
12. Always be open-minded to re-evaluate your personal philosophy
These are my 12 Rules of Life with Cancer. What are yours?
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1 Reply
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It seems as if it is a universal law that the moment we believe something or hold ourselves to certain standards, then we receive an onslaught of fiery tests and trials to prove whether or not we are completely invested in them.
My experiences in the past few months have been very difficult, especially how I have been socialized because of my disease. I am less and less acknowledged at work, I have become virtually un-dateable, my ex-wife ignores my sickness when it comes to spending time with my children, there are no local cancer programs, and no one to guide me through this strange and unknown journey. These experiences often lead to the following questions. Does anyone hear me? Does anyone see me anymore? Am I completely invisible? Does anybody recognize that I am still human?
This existential crisis has placed me directly in the flames. I have noticed that I am becoming more cold emotionally. It is getting harder to stay positive when the pain seems to become more intense. I have started to care less about others because they don’t care about me.
This is the reason why it is important to develop a personal philosophy. I have to always keep these principles in mind because the person I want to be can easily turn into a downgraded and distorted version of myself because of the harshness of life. It is much easier to maintain the trajectory of our lives when we are positive and seeking to become the best version of ourselves – maintaining a standard. It is much harder to eliminate bad habits and negative traits as they stain our souls.
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