I have cancer, cancer does not have me!

Denis
Great post, very thoughtful and well written. I really enjoy reading your posts.
Here are my favorite lines that you wrote.:

"Most of the time I am alone with my thoughts about cancer."

Very true. I am looking forward to tonight's "the Good Doctor" in which the Doc with Brain Cancer relates that same thought to his apprentice surgeon.

"Today is a day to be lived with gratitude and intention. Living today, for me, is about showing up strong, showing up ready to help others, loving those around me to the best of my ability."

Trying to that every day.

"choose to not let cancer have me!
choose to be Alive and Thrive today!"

Thanks again,
Alive and thriving Dan aka Wings in So Cal

I think it would be best if we all moved on to other more constructive things. Sometimes tempers flair, especially about something as emotionally charged as this, my self included.

Self-pity is rooted in people taking themselves too seriously. ~ Tom Robbins

Of all human emotions, perhaps the most useless and destructive is self-pity, and prostate cancer seems to fuel this emotion in some.

It's very hard to realize that one is an ongoing self-pitying person in regards to prostate cancer problems. But the realization, although possibly serving as a slap in the face, can help one to embrace the joy of life with a more open-minded, healthy, all-accepting attitude.

Find it hard to accept a circumstance, like living with prostate cancer in your life? Mull and muse over your problems often? Feel gloomy and depressed sometimes because of what life has dealt you? Feel like a victim? Have an inexplicable craving for the sympathy and condolences of others? Chances are that you’re a self-pitying person.

What is self-pity? It is an exaggerated sense of pity over one’s own life, position or circumstance. Most of us experience self-pity after a diagnosis of prostate cancer, no matter how mild or aggressive it is, and although the self-pity can serve to be a soothing mechanism , many times it can morph into a toxic habit, and sharing the dark thoughts with others can exacerbate the self-pity.

When self-pity is made a habit of, it not only impedes the progress we make with slow moving prostate cancer, but it creates self-destructive cycles of self-sabotage.

Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world. ~ Helen Keller

So.....Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug. ~ Og Mandino

Feeling sorry for yourself is normal, and in some instance can motivate you to face the realities of the seriousness of your disease. However, some make a habit out of self-pity, either to avoid taking personal responsibility, to whine about their bad luck, or simply to gain sickly and unhealthy forms of affection and attention from others. Something not to be applauded.

If you’ve discovered that you struggle with this issue, be kind to yourself. Understand that self-pity is an unhealthy coping mechanism, but one that you can remove from your life with time, persistence, and patience. Just another relatively small annoyance dealing with this maddening disease, my brothers.