There is a part of my life that I don’t talk about much. I am not afraid of it. If it comes up in conversation, I am willing to share my story. It just has to be handled the right way. What is it you ask? I am a cancer survivor. I have now been cancer free for 5 years.

In many situations information like this can suck the air out of a room. It has been almost 19 years since the first time I was diagnosed. I was 26 years old and it hit me out of the blue. Yes, it literally felt like it hit me. I am a testicular cancer survivor. Yeah, that is another reason that I don’t talk about it much. One, cancer. Two, in that part of my body. After 20 chemotherapy treatments, I was cancer free and I quickly returned to living my life. I went for my checkups and after 5 years the doctor told me I was clear and to have a good life.

The last sentence of the paragraph above is at odds with the first sentence of the same paragraph. Do you see it? Yep, 2004 was the first time I was diagnosed. I took the doctor’s advice and I started living again. Before I knew it, 14 years had gone by. I was diagnosed the second time in January of 2018. Only this time, it was much worse. In 2004 they caught the cancer very early. In 2018 it took a lot longer to find and was much further along when they did.

I again found myself in chemotherapy. This time I had to stay in the hospital a week at a time. I could barely eat. I dropped over 30 pounds during treatments. When my treatments were finished I looked like an old man. With chemotherapy complete, I then had to have surgery to have the lymph nodes in the area affected by the cancer removed. When that was complete I then started radiation therapy as a precaution.

It was a very hard time. Sometimes it has been hard to talk about. However, I am very willing to share about this part of my life if need be. While it is a tough subject, I am who I am today because of it. I appreciate my life. I am so incredibly grateful. I do my best to take advantage and live my life to the full. I am filled with gratitude. Let me share a few reasons why.

1. God’s love. It is who He is and I am grateful.
2. I believe the only reason I am here is because God brought me through. He answered my prayers and the prayers of the many that prayed for me. My diagnosis was severe. My oncologist told me (after all of my tests returned to normal) that he hadn’t been sure that the treatments would work they way that they did. What does that tell me? The doctor’s did their part. God took care of it all.
3. I have the best partner in this life that I could ever ask for. My wife is my best friend and my favorite person on this earth. She cared for me with such amazing love during my darkest times, and all the other times too. I am so grateful for her. I am thankful that she is my bride. There is not enough room on a page to describe how happy she makes me.
4. I have the best son that I could ever ask for. I am so proud of my boy. He was born after my first bout with cancer. We didn’t know if we’d be able to have kids because of the chemotherapy. When he came along he filled our hearts and our lives with such joy. He still does to this day. He makes me laugh daily. I am so thankful for him.

I could go on and on. I am thankful for my life. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful to be where I am doing the things that I do. Life is a beautiful gift we have been given. God has put us here for a reason. I am doing my best to find and fulfill mine. I want my heart to overflow with gratitude every day and I want others to be inspired by it.

There is plenty to be thankful for.

I love to encourage people. It’s part of who I am and what I love to do. I actively seek out opportunities every day to be an encouragement and bring a smile to someone’s face. I do it for both myself and others. Allow me to elaborate.

There are two ways to approach life. You can choose to be negative and constantly criticize the things you see around you, or you can choose to see the good in people. You can choose to recognize their potential and uplift them instead of tearing them down. I personally choose the latter.

The world we live in is filled with seriousness. Horrendous and horrific things happen every day. If we listen to the news or the pessimistic voices, it may seem like everything is getting worse and will continue to do so. However, I wholeheartedly reject this notion.

As a Christian, I believe it is my responsibility to share God’s love and the hope that I have found. Because of Jesus, we have hope and a future. It is challenging to be loving and hopeful while predicting doom at the same time.

Jesus said that he came so that we may have abundant life. Did you catch that? He came to give us life. It is our enemy who seeks to steal life away. Therefore, I strive to be more like Jesus. I want my words to bring life to people and uplift them.

Is there someone that you can encourage today? Even a small word can do more than we know.

It has been one of those weeks. There has been a ton of activity. There has been accomplishments and setbacks. It has been busy and frustrating. You know what I mean right? Just one of this weeks.

I started a new training program this week. I just completed day 7 of VShred. It kicked my butt. I thought I was in decent shape. I have been lifting for a couple years consistently now, so I expected to fair a bit better. (The flip side is if I hadn’t been working out, how much worse would it be?) It has been an adventure for sure.

Even though it was different, I did it. Even though it was tough, I did it. I was tired, but I got it done. I am proud of that. I am tired, but content. I like that feeling.

Now to week 2. Let’s do it again, only better.