Ripples
Image by Sabri Tuzcu on Unsplash
Workers are coming this week to make some much needed updates to our house that was built when Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States.
We needed to clean the basement to make room for the tradesmen to complete their task. The cellar was was a mess, even by my low standards, and I chided myself, “How did it get this bad?”
Wait. There was that disruption that happened.
A cancer diagnosis.
That was more than two years ago! Can that be a valid excuse?
When you toss a rock into a pond, the large ripples occur where the rock enters the water; they continue on, losing height and energy as they spread. The huge ripples are diagnosis, treatment, and the immediate effects on you and those around you. At the time we don’t realize the smaller ripples can continue for months or even years.
Whatever we had planned to do prior to our diagnosis ended up being crowded out by treatment and recovery. Life changes in other ways as well; priorities change. We still have twenty-four hours in each day, but we might use them differently than we did in the past. We may find ourselves wanting to spend more time with those who are dear to us. That takes time. We may choose to exercise more and change our dietary habits in the interest of better health. That takes time. We may find ourselves writing about our experiences, and meeting with other writers for encouragement and to hone our craft. That takes time.
Extend grace to yourself.
That may mean your basement doesn’t get cleaned for a very long time, or at least until workers show up at your house, and that’s okay.