Being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 33, robbed me of every bit of peace and sense of security that I had. Every bit of my life, three decades of hard work, and all of my hopes and dreams with my wife and two young children were suddenly up in the air every month, dependent on that next round of scans coming back clear, and no new evidence of disease. Anything external to this terrible life experience that was costing me on top of that, was just too expensive for me to keep around, period.

t's bad enough to have sources of pain in our lives as it is, but cancer will push you far beyond your limits, without mercy. It doesn't matter if it's a thing, a belief, an attitude, or a person that's hurting you. You have to put yourself first, love and care for yourself first, and find the courage to let go of other sources of pain in our lives.

Soulmate friends are people that can just connect with me and get me in a way that others don't, or those that are a perfect complement and have been exactly what I've needed them to be. They're people that have helped me understand myself and grow, and those that have helped me laugh, forget, and heal.

As a cancer survivor, I've felt so afraid, threatened, and vulnerable, and that my time might be cut short. It's been so important for me to make the most of every moment, and to spend time with those that just help me feel good, that can make me laugh, and help me forget.

You're the author of your life. If you're not happy with the chapter you're in, you alone have the power to write something new.

"Don't count the days. Make the days count." - A couple of years ago, I couldn't stop being afraid of cancer, and every morning I woke up so afraid. I had to teach and allow myself to let go of trying to know and worrying about what might happen tomorrow or next month.

I'm a Scorpio. I have to know everything, and have to have all of the answers, but cancer presented me with questions that I just couldn't ever know the answer to. Will I be okay? Am I going to live or die? Will I live long enough to see my children grow up? This isn't how life works.

Human beings are creatures of habit. We stick with what we know, even when it's hurting us, or even causing us tremendous amounts of pain. It's only when the pain that we experience finally far exceeds our fear of the unknown, that we cast ourselves off, and this is exactly what it looks and feels like to do.

A silver lining is a consolation prize, or something that's second best. Why settle, I told her? If you're going so far as to try to find a silver lining, why not just try to find a golden one? So long as your hearts and your minds are fully open, you'll find what you're looking for, so why not try to find something even better?

Do you have any idea how hard I've had to work to find happiness through the chaos and turmoil that cancer had brought into my life? I'm not just "happy" in my life today by accident. I've had to work on it for years, working through layer upon layer of pain, and rooting out the demons within me at every level.

Cancer is a whole new reality, a whole new set of life circumstances, and a whole new set of challenges to adjust to that requires growth, change, and evolution. Chances are, you're NOT going to get everything right the first time, and that's okay. Keep retooling and readjusting your life until you have the right people, the right approach, and the right philosophy for life that can take you to the next level.

Cancer is an entirely new reality and set of life circumstances. There's absolutely nothing that says you have to keep being the same person that you always were.