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LIVING EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE
June/July 2003
Today is a FANTASTIC day! I will tell you why, but first let me tell you about a day at the office. One day in early September 1995, I received a frantic call to come to the office. Now, if you have been in this situation before you understand the trepidation that episode is capable of creating. Well, I high-stepped it over to the office and waited in the lobby. The clerk ushered me into the room and my physician greeted me by saying, "Chip, I have some bad news." I swallowed hard and listened as the doctor continued, "The small mole I removed from your back last week was diagnosed with malignant melanoma." He began his narration of recommendations as my mind drifted off into a dream-like state of denial. A sobering question arrested my attempt to escape from the disturbing news -- What am I going to do with the rest of my life? For the first time I was facing the brevity and value of my life and the challenge of examining it from a different perspective.
I began exploring the answer to that profound question. Finally, the truth clicked loudly, as a light switch being flipped on in a vacant gymnasium, that I was not living life with the gusto I had intended. I also considered the billions of other people who are living, and how few of them find themselves fettered by that question. Could billions, just like me, be unwittingly squandering the days of their lives? Cancer had transformed my world! From that day forward, I could no longer behold life the way I had seen it before.
Cancer put my life into perspective and each day I am learning how to appreciate the appraisal of that new panorama. It is a FANTASTIC day! Not because the sun is shining through the window of my Florida home, but because God has given me a new lease and a renewed vision for the significance of my life. I want to encourage you by sharing my action plan for making each day FANTASTIC.
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First of all, I try to look for the good in everything around me. We often find what we are looking for in life. Andrew Carnegie, the great steal magnet of Pittsburgh Steel, was interviewed concerning the many millionaires working for his organization. A reporter posed the question, "Mr. Carnegie, how do you make a millionaire?" He replied, "making a millionaire is like mining for gold, when you mine for gold, you go into the mine knowing you will have to move lots of dirt. But you're not looking for the dirt! You're looking for the gold." If we look for the dirt in life, there is no doubt that we will discover plenty of it. However, if we choose to see the gold in ourselves, in others and in our world, we will find life's treasure shining through.
I also try to learn something from someone every day. I no longer say that I have learned something. I now say, "I am in the process of learning." I try to approach each day with the anticipation of learning something new from anyone that can make my life richer. I will never again boast of rising to a platform of pretense. David Gordon sums it up by saying, "when you're green you grow -- when you're ripe, you're rotten."
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Thirdly, I try to laugh a lot! Some might say that cancer is not a laughing matter. Well, I believe that laughing is a matter for cancer. I try to start my day laughing. If you had to wake up and look at me every morning - you would be laughing too. My spouse can testify to it, and she often does. It takes 12 good laughs a day to keep us healthy and happy! Have you met your quota today? Will you meet your quota tomorrow? I encourage you to laugh!
Finally, I try to lift up others! Two birds were sitting on a runway watching planes take off. One bird said to the other, "WOW! Look at those birds fly. I wish I could fly like that!" The other responded, "you'd fly that fast too, if you had fire under your tail." Encouragement is the fire under our tails. I love to see the amber glow on another's face when I light that flame of encouragement under them. I want to be an encourager - A Firestarter! How about you?
One night as I tucked my children into bed I was reflecting upon how cancer had transformed my life. I listened as my daughter Hannah prayed, "Dear God, keep my Daddy's cancer from coming back. Take Grandpa's cancer off his face. And Lord, take Cousin Ellen to heaven to be with you, her cancer is causing her such pain." Moved to tears after eavesdropping on Hannah's heavenly conversation, I considered the new opportunity I was given to live life with new perspective.
My life before cancer was much like a caterpillar. Daily, painstakingly going about my business as if I would live forever. Caterpillars don't get much attention. They are fuzzy and awkward. However, I believe my life after cancer favors a butterfly - free, expressive, colorful, and beautiful! Soaring higher through the challenges and opportunities that life's winds afford. Permit the ugliness of life to shape you into a form of beauty and remember to make each day FANTASTIC!
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© copyright Chip Madera,
MS, CSP. All rights reserved
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This ezine is the newest service of encouragement and inspiration provided by Chip Madera Productions. The purpose of this electronic periodical is to support our past, present and future clients with insights that fan a flame of motivation, inspiration and constant renewal for living a passionate life. If you have questions or ideas concerning these messages, please contact us at at Chip@chipmadera.com
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