“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” — Mark Twain
Dear Fellow Travelers:
I sort of like this putting a quote at the start of these conversations, for it takes a lot of the pressure off of me. I can ramble through, find a suitable quote, make a few comments, and then close with a thought or two of my own. That way if anyone happens to read and has a complaint about what has been posted I can blame it on the person whose quote I used. Poor Mark Twain, I loved to read his stories as I was growing up; and now I use him quite often to say things that perhaps I don’t have the nerve to say.
Admittedly, one of the ingredients to being a Powerful Patient is to simply begin. Earlier today I saw a person visit a support group for the very first time; it must have taken quite an effort to walk into a room full of strangers. But much of the hard part had already been done. This person had received cancer treatment, had lost their hair, had been diagnosed, had gone through all the trauma that one faces during the initial visit and consultation that the cancer patient faces. The first steps whether taken a month, six months, or a week ago have become a part of that individual’s personality, character, and life. Whether the diagnosis and first treatments were met bravely or in deep fear and worry, they had been accomplished. The complexity of the journey had been broken into at least two or three portions. The steps of diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and an initial involvement with others who are facing similar circumstances had become a reality.
Whether this person realized it or not they became a part of a very successful and dynamic support group; a group that challenges each other to become more complete; to become less overwhelmed by the circumstances of a cancer experience, and to seek ways to learn how to better manage the obstacles as well as the opportunities that will present themselves in their life. Whether it’s cancer or some other malady, or even a minor medical issue, all of us need to work to develop a mindset that will empower us to become Powerful Patients.
Warmest Wishes – Mike
