Saturday, 3 February 2018

Appreciate Life

I have a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. Luckily, he's in a position to be able to fight it, and is undergoing treatment as we speak. Or as you read this. Or, whatever.

He's a really good dude. Young. Not the type of person you would initially think of when you think of someone diagnosed with cancer. At least, not who I would think of, anyways. But as we all know, cancer is a bitch, and it doesn't discriminate. As I mentioned, he's in a good position to bounce back. He told me that the way the doctor explained it to him was, "If you're going to have cancer, this is the cancer you want." What he meant is that it's one that can be beaten, but we couldn't help but have a laugh at that description. Some guy crossing his finger in the doctor's office, "c'mon cancer.......!"

Jokes aside, my buddy is tough. He's brave. The amount of respect and admiration I have for him can't be expressed through this blog. He's putting his head down, telling cancer to go fuck itself, and plowing through what I have to imagine is the worst experience of his life. Something that nobody deserves to go through.

I wanted to write this blog to send my support to my friend, and to remind everyone else reading this to appreciate life. You never know when someone will threaten to take it away. Maybe you hate getting up on Monday morning, or you don't like having to shovel the snow, or having to go to school or work. Those are all normal things to hate. Most of us complain about them all the time. I know I do.

But the next time you have to do something you don't want to do, remember that it could be a lot worse. While you're getting upset that it's freezing outside, someone else is sitting in a hospital, trying to stay alive. They'd probably kill to just have to the worst part of their day be having to get up and go start their car in the cold. I think a lot of people take life for granted. The little things like sitting around with your friends at work, making each other laugh. Having dinner with your family. Walking your dog. Take the time to enjoy them, and to enjoy life. Life is a gift. Before you complain about something, ask yourself if things could be worse. 99.9% of the time, they can be.

My friend often comes to my comedy shows, because he likes to laugh, and because he wants to support me. I can only try to pay that kindness back. I think he'll read this, and if you are reading this, know that there are a ton of us that have your back. You're gonna be fine, dude. And then you'll look back on this time on your life, and remember what a bad mother fucker you are. You beat cancer. And then you'll have to go out in the cold and start your car.

Hang in there, buddy. I'm proud to call you my friend.

- Adam