Today I started a series of Blizzard Chats on Periscope (https://www.periscope.tv/w/aXeY1zEyODM4NTEwfDFlYUtib0xBcVJaR1hypLERBawL4NlmoM_LCTzjKZpfJU2-GOglFiwJ1mhW1Q==). I live in the Washington, DC area where Blizzard 2016 dumped about 2 feet of snow on us. The blizzard, great storm, reminded me of storms in my life; in particular the storm that was my triple negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2008.
One of the greatest challenges of my life was this storm and its aftermath; digging out and reconstructing. I am a Reconstructionist™ – someone who’s been through the process of rebuilding and healing and continues to do so. The process of rebuilding and healing, at some points, was unfathomable. It was a hard realization that, after the storm, my life wouldn’t just return to normal without some work (a lot of work) on my part. And, now I’m never pushing for normal in my life; I’m pushing for extraordinary. It’s a serious undertaking and I learned that you can’t get to the business of digging out without getting your tools and resources together.
I’ll be expanding on my future Blizzard Chats on Periscope and blogs, but wanted to provide a few tips for starters.
- Get some inspirational music. I have an aptly titled “Inspirational” playlist on my iPhone that includes all of my motivational music. My “push” to keep digging out music. The song that comes to mind immediately is Coming Out of the Dark by Gloria Estefan. If you don’t have one already, start building your playlist.
- Get your inspirational movies lined up. Cool Runnings, based on the true story of the first Jamaican bobsled team, highlights the team’s perseverance in the face of the seemingly impossible.
- Build your unconditional support team. This applies to family, friends, coworkers, church members. Only UNCONDITIONAL supporters gain entry.
- Gather some mantras, Bible verses and uplifting quotations. I recommend starting with those that are four lines or less. They are easy to commit to memory and be recalled and recited several times a day.
If you’re like me and live in the path of Blizzard 2016, you may be slowed down from the hustle and bustle of life while many offices, schools, streets and buildings remain closed for the big dig out. I hope that you’ll take this opportunity to use some downtime to start prepping for your big dig out of your storm and begin your own reconstruction.
I’ll be sharing more insights in the coming weeks on the blog and on Periscope. Let’s reconstruct something extraordinary.
January 26, 2016
Melanie A. Nix – Triple negative breast cancer survivor. Always striving to color outside of the lines when defining my new normal.
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