Doing Nothing New in 2020 - Surviving Cancer Is Enough

It’s that time of year – when all the “near year’s resolutions” / “another year gone by” posts come out. It’s inevitable, all the people turning over a new leaf, promising to change things, or vowing that they will make sure the next year is their best one yet, clog up the blogwaves with so many articles that there’s probably enough to last until the end of 2020. I don’t have anything against it, particularly, it can be life-affirming and a boon to mental health even if you don’t end up accomplishing any of the things you put on your list. This year, though, I refuse to participate, and that’s why I am going to promise to do exactly the same thing I did in 2019 – survive and continue to push forward. And also be awesome. And probably smell nice as well. Oh, and keep fighting cancer.

I will always be fighting cancer

Look, the truth is, anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer will always be fighting it, even if they have been in remission for years. It’s never going to get pushed down the list of new year’s resolutions by “join a gym,” or “forgive Karen for sleeping with my ex,” and especially not “try to stop overthinking relationships and let things happen naturally,” which is a popular one. I heard. Not just one that I said for me. “Live with cancer,” spoken or unspoken, is always going to be at the top of the list, and that’s why I’m just going to continue to do what I did this year – life my life, with all it’s crazy ups and downs, and not let a possible resurgence before the two-year mark worry me so much that it stops me in my tracks.

2019 was a good year for me

2019 was the first year I started relatively cancer-free, so it was a banner year the day it began. It was also the first calendar year that I was a single man again, so, again, a banner year. 2019 was, additionally, the first calendar year that I was officially writing for Blood-Cancer.com, an amazing place to write that never makes authors do anything they are uncomfortable with and always has their back and hopefully pays them bonuses of $5000 dollars at the end of every year? Ah well, worth a try. Well, even without that sweet, sweet, writer money, 2019 was a good year for me, and not only did I get through it – I did it with my trademark panache and wit. (I don’t’ know if you heard, but I’ve been known to tell a joke or two.) So, I figure as long as I do the same thing in 2020, I can’t go wrong.

A good year, not a great year

You see, I don’t like to tempt fate. Oh, fickle hubris, spare me thy broken-wing… ed… fall from grace! (You like that? I wanted to class up the joint a little for the start of 2020.) You know, there are smarter men than me (not many though) who have tempted fate by reaching too far too fast, only to lose it all in this crazy board game we call life. Not to be confused with the actual board game “Life,” which is boring and cheaply made. No, I mean the daily game of getting up and pushing through the fact that you live with cancer, each and every day, and doing it with panache. Do you see now why I say I’m going to do the same exact thing I did in 2019? Was this year perfect? No, by no means. I’m not married to a supermodel, I’m not a jillionaire, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get those long flowing golden locks like Bradley Cooper, that handsome bastard. I do look better than I have in years, though, I’m able to get in some exercise, and I’m feeling more like myself than I have in a long time, much to the chagrin of all the curmudgeons in my local orbit. I mean, I had cancer and I’m a still an absolute delight to be around, what’s your excuse? Also, who’s totally humble – this guy (you can’t see but it but I’m pointing to myself with my thumbs with a big Han Solo smile).

Surviving cancer is a feat of daily fortitude

Listen, if you have been surviving every day with cancer, active or otherwise, then you don’t need to make new year’s resolutions or promises to “do better” in the coming year – you’ve already done amazing things this year and there’s no reason why you need to do more. Surviving what we all go through when we have cancer is an incredible feat of daily fortitude and keeping that up is more than enough for your 2020 plan. You can call it a win if you continue to fight cancer while life does its normal erratic disco of ups and downs like a ballet dancer covered in spiders on crack. The spiders, I mean. Are on crack. Not the ballet dancer. That would be crazy.

Hoping for a normal year ahead

My advice to you this new year is to do nothing new. I know, I’m totally the best motivational writer ever, right? Trust me, I’m a mind ninja, you’ll see. After you read this, you’ll start thinking just how much what I’ve said makes sense. It’s a slow burn, it takes time to blossom in your mind, but when it does, you’ll wake up every day realizing how much it’s worth to fight cancer to the point where normal life can do its thing. So, to everyone, I hope you had a wonderful 2019, and I will see you all in 2020, where things will be just as normal as they were this year! Talk to you in a year!