Excerpt: "Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor"
Read part of the book that's all about surviving one of life's hardest trials.
Sept. 24, 2008 — -- Following her original book, "Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips," Kris Carr is back with another inspiring guide in "Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor."
She splits the book into four parts -- diagnosis, mind, body and spirit -- and talks about her difficult journey.
According to Publishers Weekly, "her hip, chatty style may particularly appeal to a youthful audience, her authenticity and sound advice will resonate with survivors of all stages and ages."
Read a passage from her book below, or click here to see other book excerpts from the GMA Library.
Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor
After such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down thestairs! How brave they'll all think of me at home!
—ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND BY LEWIS CARROLL
If you haven't already, now is the time to give yourself authorization to define your own journey. Put yourself in a can-do space. In my mind, you are a survivor the day you are diagnosed. As women and men with cancer we live every day with a suffocating weight on our throats. What if? Will I see my next birthday? Can I get married? If so, can I have children? Perhaps you've already fashionedyour nest, yet in less grounded moments you find yourself paralyzed with angst, imagining yourself gone and your kids being raised by a stripper. CanSer (or any adversity) puts us on the rim and while we are on the rim we have an opportunity to appreciate and express fear simultaneously. We multitask dying with living while managing our chores in order to keep it together and stay out of prison. So why not celebrate all that we've managed to accomplish already? Sometimes just keeping it together is surviving. Don't be timid or feel like you are jinxing yourself. Stand up straight and yodel the S word! Survivors come in many shapes and sizes. The best part about being a survivor is the appreciation we feel for the little things (even when they're painful): the sheer joy of peeing in the ocean; of crying so hard that you burst into giggle madness; the agony of suffering over a lost love or a perished dream. Survivors squeeze every drop of delicious juice from this extraordinary life.
Write it here . . . I am a SURVIVOR, a Crazy Sexy Survivor and thriver!
Now twirl!
From diagnosis to discovery, survivor is an attitude. You, my friend, are a survivor no matter what. I am a survivor. We don't wait 'til the icy patch thaws before celebrating life. We see freedom, create it, become it. When I put cancer behind me and started smiling again, the disease lost its grip on me. Isn't that what the "cure" is all about?
Fear can be more dangerous than any disease. It swipes our joy and tramples our hope. Days, weeks, even years can slip through your fingers. If left unchecked, fear will strangle every breath from our lives. I am constantly amazed by the many paradoxes in this gorgeous life. Why is it that we're so scared to live and yet so afraid to die? We thirst for change and yet we choose to remain stuck. Trippy, right? How many of us dwell in that self-imposed purgatory? I know I've spent a good portion of my young life loping around and marking time, treating life as if it were a dress rehearsal and I was the understudy. The first step in taking charge of your situation is to acknowledge the fear. Let it have its fifteen minutes (or more) of fame. What are you afraid of? Many of our fears are totally justified and need to be heard before they can be soothed. Those are healthy fears. Unhealthy fears are the ones that are purely negative and spread like an itchy VD.Those are the ones that need some TLC and a dab of cream! Do a reality scan and have a come-to-JBEE (Jesus, Buddha, Elvis, Etc.) moment with yourself. Feel your body, hear your breath, ground yourself in the right now. Ask yourself if your fears are manageable or if they determine your every thought, word, and action. Allow the honest answer to come forward. If the response is a booming, "Yes,they rule my life," then inner chaos is bound to clog you up. Few things are worse than soul constipation. It hurts and makes you feel cranky and fat.
What are you afraid of?
Write it down. Once you put your fears onpaper, here's a hot idea: BURN THEM!