See Life Like I Do

• Posted on Meghan
• in Blog
• on April 29, 2018
• 4 Comments.

“Life wouldn’t have been necessarily empty, but it would not have looked like this.” – Lance Armstrong, on life after cancer.

“You don’t know it yet,” he wrote, “but we’re the lucky ones.” – Lance Armstrong, Not About the Bike

I occasionally receive a comment that I never quite know how to respond to: “I wish I could see the world like you do.”

I’m flattered, truly, but I think y’all are giving me more credit than I deserve. I mean, when I hear that, it sounds like you think I have everything figured out.

Allow me to correct you: I have very little ‘figured out.’ I’m as flawed as they come. Cancer didn’t change that.

I make mistakes. I overthink. I fail at things, sometimes epically. I panic before doctor’s appointments. Sometimes I sulk and withdraw from everyone. I yell at my kids too much for making messes. I don’t watch the news because it stresses me out. And that’s just the beginning.

But, hey, you want to see the world like I do? Ok. Here are ten ways to do that:

1. Walk with your head up. You can’t see anything looking down at your feet.
2. Learn from everyone. Everyone you meet has something to teach you.
3. Sing in the car. Even when people stare. Maybe especially when people stare.
4. Be kind to people. But take no shit.
5. Keep drama at arm’s length. Oh, you can pet it and laugh at it when it does tricks, but you don’t have to adopt that dog as your own.
6. Have a sense of humor. Laughing will ease you over many a dark moment.
7. Treasure time with friends and family. They are, after all, the point.
8. Make time for personal goals, but also recognize you have nothing to prove. Except maybe to yourself.
9. Enjoy the small things. Coffee. Donuts with your kids. Watching a show as a family. Coffee. A cold Topo Chico. A Little League baseball game. Did I mention coffee?
10. View time as your most precious resource. Because it is. Spend it wisely.

So that’s it. Ten ways to see the world as I do. Really all of these boil down to one:

11. Find what works for you. Let the rest go.

This applies to everything. Parenting, exercise, choosing a book, whatever. Sometimes there is a perfect, right way to do something. Putting the roll of toilet paper on the roller, for example (rolling over the top, in case you were wondering; anything else is the work of the devil). Comparing yourself to others is fine if it helps you be a better version of yourself.

But for everything else, *shrug*, do you own thing. That’s how to see life like I do.

xoxo,

Meghan