The 1%

Last night I was thinking that I'm in the 1%. Not the 1% financially. Not necessarily the 1% of survival rates for brain cancer (it's what I want but not my point). I'm 1% of the 7 billion, the luckiest percent in the world. I feel like I have one of the best lives. An amazing husband, great family, wonderful friends, amazing support, a warm comfy bed, clean delicious water filtered or not from the faucet, a wide variety of healthy foods at my fingertips, a safe home, a friendly community, gorgeous Seattle weather with no real annual natural disasters, free speech, the right to vote....I mean, really, I've got it made. Here I am with medical care, terrified of a possibly life saving treatment and I've been missing the whole point. People die from trivial ailments, and I'm getting the most advanced therapy in the United States for brain cancer. I'm lucky in life. I am the 1%. And this 1% has a temperature of 101. I'm going back to bed. But I'm going back to bed with a smile :) and some serious gratitude. I think my warrior is getting her game face on.

Beautiful Scars

Yesterday evening I went for a walk around the lake, of course, the second my feet hit the gravel along the outer loop my footsteps quickened. I'm a wonderful walker with friends, but alone I need more speed. I ran around the lake, sprinting at times, purging my emotions. It felt therapeutic. It felt cleansing.

I'm embarrassed by my last post. I have a wonderful life, and I truly have nothing to complain about. My troubles are not more important than everyone else's. In fact, if there's about 7 billion people on earth I can confidently say that there are hundreds of millions of people - possibly even billions - with problems much more serious than mine.
 
I just finished reading an amazing book titled, Little Bee by Chris Cleave. There are several powerful quotes and I want to share them.

“We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.” 

“If I could not smile, I think my situation would be even more serious.” 

“I was carrying two cargoes. Yes, one of them was horror, but the other one was hope.”

“They say that in the hour before an earthquake the clouds hang leaden in the sky, the winds slows to a hot breath, and the birds fall quiet in the trees of the town square. Yes but these are the same portents that precede lunchtime, frankly.” 

“At some point you just have to turn around and face your life head on.”

“People wonder how they are ever going to change their lives, but really it is frighteningly easy.” 

“We cannot choose where to start and stop. Our stories are the tellers of us.”