For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
In God I trust; I will not be afraid.
Psalm 56:11
Our job as survivors--of disease, of divorce, of grief, of despair--is to bear witness, to carry the torch of hope for all who journey through the valley of the shadow of death and out again. It's up to those of us who get to see the view beyond that valley to share it. Life from a survivor's point of view looks pretty damn good every day.
God Never Blinks, Regina Brett, 2010
All things are possible with God.
Mark 10:27
...she is showing me me that even though so much has been stolen from me, I am still here. I still exist despite all the losses.
I thought that diamonds are supposed to be forever. I am not so sure of forevers now. Nothing feels certain.
But I am a survivor.
I survived this hell.
I decide I will steal it all back.
Why I Wore lipstick to My Mastectomy, Geralyn Lucas, 2004
ATTITUDE
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.
Charles Swindell, compliments of Summyr, an ALL survivor
The art of being sick is not the same as the art of getting well. Some cancer patients recover; some don't. But the ordeal of facing your mortality and feeling your frailty sharpens your perspective about life. You appreciate little things more ferociously. You grasp the mystical power of love. You feel the gravitational pull of faith. And you realize you have received a unique gift -- a field of vision others don't have about the power of hope and the limits of fear; a firm set of convictions about what really matters and what does not.
Tony Snow, interview in the The Jewish World Review, 2005
The art of being sick is not the same as the art of getting well. Some cancer patients recover; some don't. But the ordeal of facing your mortality and feeling your frailty sharpens your perspective about life. You appreciate little things more ferociously. You grasp the mystical power of love. You feel the gravitational pull of faith. And you realize you have received a unique gift -- a field of vision others don't have about the power of hope and the limits of fear; a firm set of convictions about what really matters and what does not.
Tony Snow, interview in the The Jewish World Review, 2005
