This morning I went looking for a ribbon to put on my blog, for my mom-in-law who has leukemia. I've discovered that Leukemia Awareness is an orange ribbon...
...and Fibromyalgia is purple.
I've looked at a lot of ribbon graphics this morning, but most of them deal with childhood leukemia, which won't work for my mom-in-law. I did find this lovely one below on an equally lovely blog written by KittyMama. She has this ribbon up for a little boy in Texas.
Hope...Finding cures and winning the battle are constant themes on most of the disease/cancer ribbon graphics. It's wonderful, but this morning it left me feeling frustrated and even a little bit sad. What do you put up for those you know aren't going to survive, like my mom-in-law?
Now don't get me wrong - we really can fight any disease and there is always hope, but what about the people out there who face a different outcome? All that cheering you on is good, but I just worry that the focus is on those that are winning the battle at the expense of those that aren't. It's like the school sports teams that only cheer the winner and forget everyone else who tried their best, but just weren't fast enough or strong enough.
Now don't get me wrong - we really can fight any disease and there is always hope, but what about the people out there who face a different outcome? All that cheering you on is good, but I just worry that the focus is on those that are winning the battle at the expense of those that aren't. It's like the school sports teams that only cheer the winner and forget everyone else who tried their best, but just weren't fast enough or strong enough.
We need to support those who are preparing to 'go' as well as those who are fighting to 'stay'. Everyone needs ways to find hope and happiness in their own life story, regardless of how long or short their stories may be.
Hope lies in a million different things. It can be a religious Faith that comforts or a legacy of love handed on to future generations. It can shine through the darkest moments and bring all sorts of miracles.
Hope lies in a million different things. It can be a religious Faith that comforts or a legacy of love handed on to future generations. It can shine through the darkest moments and bring all sorts of miracles.
Hope isn't just for winners.
Beautifully said, Michelle.
ReplyDeleteWell written post, Michelle. So true. Everyone needs and deserves hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks my friends :-)
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LOVE this post. I used to believe that hope couldn't hurt, but ever since I started my IF journey, I realized that hope can be such a tricky thing - tricky if we hold on to "false hope" (hope that in the end disappoints 'coz reality says differently no matter how much or hard you hope/pray for something to come true) he he...so I TRULY TRULY LOVE this post!
ReplyDelete((Amel))
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean and it is hard to find that healthy balance between not giving up hope, but not going into a denial of the truth.
I think you need to really listen - to your heart, your instincts, etc. There's a big difference in using Hope to keep on fighting and using Hope to run away and hide from reality.
And yes, we really need to cheer on those that let go and move on - because they're not giving up on Hope, they're just accepting they need to find new and different things to focus their Joy and Hope on.
X X
Oh, don't worry about me. I'm doing fine now 'coz I've let go (not giving up, but letting go and moving on) he he he...but I don't wanna forget completely my IF journey 'coz it may help out other people who're struggling still...
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