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Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves for who we really are. ~ Arthur Golden

Can awful circumstances open a doorway to new possibilities and renewed purpose in our lives? Over the last few years, I’ve often asked myself this question. This is not to oversimplify the devastation of cancer – either as a patient or a caregiver – with clichés like “cancer is a gift” or “everything happens for a reason.” Instead, this week, we explore the idea of post-traumatic growth and the question of whether adversity can prepare us to step into the future with newfound skills and resilience.

In a recent article in TIME Magazine written by Jim Rendon, the author of Upside: The Science of Post-Traumatic Growth, he says, “In the 1980s two psychologists, Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun, at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, discovered that trauma was changing people in fundamental ways. Some of those changes were negative, but to their surprise, the majority of trauma survivors they interviewed reported that their lives had changed for the better. Survivors, of all kinds, said they had much greater inner strength, were closer to friends and family members, had found more meaning in their lives and were reorienting their lives towards more fulfilling goals.”

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) or benefit finding refers to positive psychological change experienced as a result of adversity and other challenges in order to rise to a higher level of functioning. Post-traumatic growth is not about returning to the same life as it was previously experienced before a period of traumatic suffering; but rather it is about undergoing significant ‘life-changing’ psychological shifts in thinking and relating to the world, that contributes to a personal process of change, that is deeply meaningful. It is often characterized by decreased reactivity and faster recovery in response to similar stressors in the future.

I wonder if when we have already experienced “the worst,” we become more open to making positive changes in our lives – whether this includes walking away from relationships or situations that no longer serve us or becoming more open to exploring what makes us feel happy and purposeful.

Throughout the evolution of A Fresh Chapter, we have come to see how an opportunity to step out of our stories of cancer through volunteer travel experiences can offer a fresh dose of perspective. We see how new meaning and purpose – and a chance to see that struggle is universal – can help accelerate the process of post-traumatic growth.

This week is about exploring how adversity has impacted you. Can you see patterns emerging in your life where you have changed for the better because of cancer? Have you developed new skills or a higher degree of emotional awareness? Could you apply this growth to a current challenge in your life and employ your new skills to bring about positive changes?

“We are most of us not merely liable to fear, we are also prone to being afraid of being afraid and the conquering of fear produces exhilaration….The contrast between the previous apprehension and the present relief and feeling of security promotes a self-confidence that is the very mother and father of courage.” ~ excerpt from David and Goliath.

Activity

Schedule 30 minutes of reflection time this week – it could be early in the morning or at the end of the day. It could be over your lunch hour at a favorite café or at your breakfast table with a steaming cup of coffee. Regardless of where you choose to carve out some space for yourself, give yourself permission to put your to-do list on hold and spend some time checking out this week’s resources and, in particular, click on the REFLECT image above to engage with this week’s reflection prompts.

For much of my life, the gap between “possibility” and “probability” has felt insurmountable.

At 15, my body was shutting down by the hour. Doctors discovered an egg-sized tumor that was strangling the top of my spinal cord and rushed into action with an emergency surgery. For the first of many times to come, I escaped death. Post-surgery, with cancer still lingering throughout my back, I was given a 40% chance of survival and endured a year-long stint of intensive chemotherapy and radiation.

At 18, they found cancer in my bone marrow. This time, the odds of survival were reduced to 10%. I slogged through a life-threatening bone marrow transplant and once again, sidestepped death.

At 19, cancer struck again—a tumor between my heart, lung and spine. Maxed out on chemotherapy and radiation, I was given a 0% chance of survival and just weeks to live.

Facing death and life

Most wonder what they would do if death came knocking. Oddly, I have a pretty good sense of that. Rather than anxiously working through an extravagant bucket list, I focused my time on friends and family; additionally, I took up writing and artwork, aiming to create memories that could outlive me. Thankfully, I prepared for a death that never came. In what has been widely described as a medical miracle, with very minimal palliative treatment, the tumor stopped growing.

Click here to keep reading Rachel’s incredible story…