THANKSgiving

It is not everyday that I sit down and reflect on how grateful, thankful, and lucky I am. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am, but I don't think that any of us find the time to really sit down and meditate on it- although we should all probably make the time. . . With the Thanksgiving holiday here and gone, I have had time to reflect on all that I am thankful for and its a lot, from the trivial to the grand.

I wanted to clear out some of my Tivo today so I was watching some old episodes of Nightline. One in particular really made me to sit down and reflect on how lucky and thankful I am. You can watch it here: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/

It was the story of a 12 year old boy named Daniel (pronounced Don-yule)who was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. Daniel had surgery on his brain last year. His tumor covered almost a fourth of his brain. Even though they had taken it all out, his chance at survival was slim- they gave him a year. Obviously, he had a very aggressive form of cancer. But there was a small, tiny glimmer of hope available at St. Jude's Hospital in Tennessee. Daniel decided to go for that small hope, but there was no guarantee that the treatment would work and it was almost certain that it wouldn't. The odds were so against Daniel that that his doctor, when being interviewed, said that he could not even bring himself to say out loud what the rate of survival was. Daniel and his family knew this, but you should have seen this little man. He was sooooo extremely positive and courageous. I am 25 years old and have known a lot of people and have yet to encounter anyone, older or younger, that was as courageous as him. When asked by the interviewer how he could stay so positive, Daniel's response was "What are you going to do? I can't change my situation. And I am kind of glad that its me and not some other kid who wouldn't be able to handle the situation." I started balling when I heard this; it touched my soul in a way that I cannot describe. The pure resilience and strength from someone you would not expect to have it was mind blowing! Daniel ended up making it to his 13th birthday and so far (as of three weeks ago) the treatment has worked on him. However, like all kids with cancer, he has to get checked every 3 months for the next year and then every 8 months until he turns 21 to make sure that he is okay. I have never really had a hero besides myself or my parents, but seriously, this little boy is my hero. I strive to have his outlook on life and his strength- with strength like his you can do anything!

Anyways, as I was watching this episode on Daniel, thoughts were running through my head of how trivial the things I worry about are, about how thankful I am that myself, my family, and those that I love have never (knock on wood) had to go through anything like that; that we are all happy and healthy and have food in our bellies and a roof over our head. One of my wishes for myself and for the people that I love are that we can stop to look beyond ourselves each day. I really think the world would be a better place. And my wish for Daniel, even though I know he doesn't know me and that we will never meet is that all of his dreams come true and that he lives a long, happy, and fulfilled life full of happiness and contentment.