My life in a nutshell

My name is Gopa. I am 38years old, a single mother and a breast cancer survivor. I was living in the United States when I was diagnosed with cancer and like most people I cringed when I heard the diagnosis. I had a lot of questions but I never felt sorry for myself and this was possible because life had thrown bigger curveballs my way prior to this. The loss of my firstborn, the premature birth of my next child and many other hardships had taught me the art of detachment. They had made me realise how fragile life is and that the only way forward is to grab every happy moment and enjoy it to the fullest.
I had two choices when I found out about the cancer, I could either give up on myself and stop living or I could live my life according to my terms and fight this disease. I chose to do the latter…I decided fulfil a long cherished dream and went skydiving. Belive me, I conquered my fear of cancer when I took that jump out of the aircraft.
A woman goes through many emotions when she is faced with this disease and only someone who has walked in those shoes understands what she feels. I went through my private hell silently and often penned down my thoughts to give myself an outlet. I wasn't destined to have the support of a loving husband at the time and I realised this when he once said to me that I was damaged goods and I should consider myself lucky because he was still with me.
I stopped waiting around from that day for someone to uplift me, I decided to plant my own flowers and to decorate my own soul because today was important and I was important. Life hasn't been easy but I am still standing tall and am smiling as well. Today I look back with satisfaction because I never gave up on life and its challenges, I came back to India after having worked in the Mayor's office and started my own Public Relations firm with good friends successfully. My boys are my greatest source of inspiration and it's the joy I get from seeing their sweet little smiles and feeling their hugs and kisses that reminds me of how blessed I am.
You see, something like cancer doesn't take us down. We take ourselves down when we think that cancer has more power over us then we do ourselves. Nothing matches the power of the human spirit...nothing can extinguish the light in our souls once we decide to let it shine. Sometimes it takes a strong knock to shake us out of our ignorance. The idea is to let go of our ignorance, our inhibitions and embrace our true power. Within each of us is a radiant soul, a manifestation of the Supreme. Once we learn to accept that, cancer becomes quite meaningless.
God Bless you all. Thank you.