“It is what it is”--How many times have you heard this saying and not even thought twice about the real meaning? When do you say it and mean it, is it actually saying there is nothing you can do about it….but, what if you could change “It”?
While I sat with my husband in the examination room, waiting for the doctor to come in to confirm what we already knew—“it’s” cancer (again)--so many things run through your mind, as you sit and wait. But most of all, if you could only go back in time, the nagging “what if...?” Ok, so if a person could go back in time—does one go back a few months, a few years, a few decades????
“The Butterfly Effect”, a metaphor known as a small change at one place in a complex system, which can have large effects elsewhere as described by the Chaos Theory; and, if you saw the movie with the same name, you know how convoluted the results of this could be. It is basically how everything in your life has an effect on the past and present, until ultimately it can completely change the entire outcome of the future. So, if I was to go back and change how I ate, where I lived, what medicines I took, what environmental factors I was exposed to—would it take away the cancer? Possibly. But then, would I still be in Florida Gary
Recently, while talking with a very dear friend, Natalie, who had successfully conquered two bouts with Cancer also, I was relieved to hear that she could relate to my feelings. She recognized the fact that God has a special plan for us going through what trials we are given. He is in control of the past, present and the future. However, we both saw some effects of the cancer-- both good and bad---having helped others in our life, as it did us, grow and change. We even said going through this is a unique experience, especially in the cases where there is a possibility it could be terminal—you look at life differently. It is a gift, and a burden, in a weird way. In a strange sense, this is one of “the benefits” to being diagnosed; it is as if God gives you a special glimpse into your past, present and future all at once. There are some things you don’t ever think you will have to think about, until the time comes. But, if given that time, even for a brief moment, you automatically think about them. It can change your perspective on things in a flash.
So I want to think of the Butterfly Effect as something different in the face of some kind of life-altering adversity or cancer. It is a chance to change the future, not the past, as quoted in one of my favorite sayings: “Just when the Caterpillar thought its' life was over, it became a Butterfly!” From this experience--the trials and tribulations that will come from it will make me become a better person just for experiencing “it”.
