My mom started saying this expression a few months ago. "Man up". She feels down a lot of times due to the constant pain she's in, but she tells herself to "man up". This is very difficult for my mom. I'm not going to say Mom is weak; we all have our pain tolerance levels. But I know anyone faced with cancer has an emotional battle as well as the physical battle. Positive self talk is something the psychology field has implemented years ago. Dictionary.com defines self talk as "anything said to oneself for encouragement or motivation, such as phrases or mantras; also, one's constant internal conversation". A couple of weeks ago, my mom asked what it really meant to "man up". Yes, I looked that up, too. Onlineslangdictionary.com had a couple of definitions. One was "pull yourself together, stand up, get in gear/action." Another was "the action of getting prepared to fight."
Now I know there are times when a person must stand alone to fight whatever internal or external battle, but cancer isn't one of those battles. No one should ever be alone when faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Having a mental disorder and going through the bipolar mood swings taught me that. There are just some things that cannot be done without the help of family, friends, doctors, therapists, etc. And so I had penned these words during that seemingly insurmountable period of time in my life:
"The odds against me up and down
Show how very small I am
To think I'd win this all around
Win this war alone be damned
I choose my weapons carefully
and my allies just as well
I pray, alive I'd rather be
Than to say from pride I fell"
(second half of "The Stand")
Sometimes you do need to pull yourself together, but pull some allies or support around you, too. My mom will not have to "prepare to fight" cancer alone as long as I'm around. I hope anyone in distress will read these words and know who to go to. Or do you know someone who could use an ally?
As always, please feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, question or whatever words strike you when reading this. Thank you.
Now I know there are times when a person must stand alone to fight whatever internal or external battle, but cancer isn't one of those battles. No one should ever be alone when faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Having a mental disorder and going through the bipolar mood swings taught me that. There are just some things that cannot be done without the help of family, friends, doctors, therapists, etc. And so I had penned these words during that seemingly insurmountable period of time in my life:
"The odds against me up and down
Show how very small I am
To think I'd win this all around
Win this war alone be damned
I choose my weapons carefully
and my allies just as well
I pray, alive I'd rather be
Than to say from pride I fell"
(second half of "The Stand")
Sometimes you do need to pull yourself together, but pull some allies or support around you, too. My mom will not have to "prepare to fight" cancer alone as long as I'm around. I hope anyone in distress will read these words and know who to go to. Or do you know someone who could use an ally?
As always, please feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, question or whatever words strike you when reading this. Thank you.