Sometimes, when I think about my life with cancer, I worry. I worry about whether I will make it. I worry about my family. I worry about the future. I know that everything has to align perfectly — the chemo treatment, the stem cell procedure, and everything in between — for me to be cancer-free. I think about the odds.
And then, as we were driving to Fort De Soto Beach, one of the Top 10 Beaches in the U.S., I saw a bus that had the following bumper sticker: “Relax, God’s in Charge!”. I laughed hard when I read this; it was almost as if God was sending me a personal message: Quit worrying!
One of my favorite authors, Stephen Covey, in his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, talks about the “Circle of Influence” versus the “Circle of Concern”. His message was that effective people focus their energy on things they can influence which enables them to be proactive, solution-driven and purposeful. Ineffective people tend to waste their time concerned about things they have no control over and, therefore, cannot do anything about.
As human beings, I think we all crave a certain amount of control over our destiny. When life throws you a curve ball – or two – sometimes it can feel like things are going out of control at a dizzying pace. And yet, in the midst of all the uncertainty, I am finding that that there are a lot of things I have influence over. I can choose how I will react and respond to the cancer and the treatments. I can be thankful that the Lymphoma is in remission. I can be optimistic about the upcoming treatment for the Multiple Myeloma. I can visualize the good cells fighting and getting rid of the bad cancer cells.
The way I see it is that we are in a partnership with God. We cannot sit back and let him do all the work. We have to do our part and trust that God knows what is best for us. It’s only human to worry. But it’s also a liberating feeling to know that God is the architect, the master planner, the director and the producer. So relax, God’s in Charge!
