My most precious day.
Today, March 1, 2019 is kind of a big deal in my world. March 1 is a day I celebrate every year.
On March 1, 2014 I was run over by a car. This incident saved my life because this is how we found the tumor growing on my thyroid.
On March 1, 2016 I was diagnosed with cancer and on March 1, 2017 I was said to be cancer free.
While I try to embrace life and stay present everyday of the year, today is the day I wake up and truly feel more gratitude than any other day.
Today I celebrate 3 years of being cancer free.
Being cancer free means a whole lot. It’s more than being free of a disease - it’s about loving and accepting myself, because for a long time I did not, and in that aspect, cancer saved my life.
When I was diagnosed with cancer after several years of dealing with various health and autoimmune diseases, I was faced with the reality that I may not be here forever. That reality woke me up from this fog I was living in, acting like life wasn’t good enough because of “X”. I just remember thinking “why have I wasted so much time?” I was wasting time thinking I wasn’t good enough, but the only person who was deciding that was me.
In that moment I decided I was going to live, and I mean truly live. I was going to shoot for the stars and not look back, because not taking risks and not fighting for what I want was not a life worth living.
Typically I celebrate life every March by going on a spontaneous adventure oversees, but this year I decided to stay put and teach healthy cooking classes to the OKC fire stations. While I knew this would be a worthwhile experience, I never knew just how much it would affect me. It’s only day 4 of being at the stations but I’m already feeling so much life. I am truly amazed and inspired by those who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. The laughs, the stories, and the heartfelt conversations are reminding me once again how precious this life is. I am honored, humbled, and truly ecstatic to be able to spend time with these people, especially on a day like today.
Happy March, everyone :) May you fill your time knowing you are perfect just as you are - and everything you’ve been waiting on is actually waiting on you.
Xo,
Emma