Gut-Check...

Life as I look at it...
Okay, what can I say. Insanity rules the day. A small peek into my world: some good things, some bad... but my attitude remains the same... I'm prayerfully optimistic. My sister is going to the doctor tomorrow after a vacation and is going to find out about how her situation with leukemia is going. I found out tonight that one of my poker playing buddies has been diagnosed with gastric cancer. That whizzes bigtime. I watched as he had to deal with it when his wife was diagnosed and she lasted about 3 years with it before it took her... The diagnosis for him is that it won't go the distance meaning that the usual prognosis is that the patient usually has about 5 years left. His cancer is advanced and they don't think he has anywhere close to 5 years. They're going to treat him with chemo and more chemo... that's about all there is to do. We're playing poker Wednesday night and he wants to play. He doesn't want us to make a big deal about it. The core group of us have been playing for about 15 years... I'm taking the approach of enjoying the time he has left and hoping for the best. I think of how much he really missed his wife. I know when she passed, it destroyed him. I think he may be thinking as this is an opportunity to reunite with her. When asked about the situation by one of the other poker guys', he responded in his typical gruff demeanor: "well, it's the same shit sandwich that was handed to my wife!" Ahhh doctors... someone's gotta love 'em...
The easy thing to do is to have a pitty party and say 'oh the heck with it'... but my faith is something that I have to lean on... I have to remind myself frequently that my faith is what is important. I have to find things to be joyful about and keep on keeping on... I choose to be happy in the face of fear and negativity... I choose my faith in God!