Blog

December 1, 2023

By Anne Dabbs, 
NCAN TN Support Group Leader, NET Patient

“Life Is a Balance of Holding On And Letting Go.” —Rumi

As young children, my brothers and I were entertained by our father’s Mississippi Tales.  His stories told of a childhood far removed from ours and always included a signature quote from a colorful ancestor or two.  One such frequent tale was of a young girl disobeying her parents to go to a square dance with neighboring farmers. Her father, recognizing defeat, called after her as she jumped onto the moving wagon: “Well, Jessie, if you do go, hold on!”  Decades later, I can still see the twinkle in his eyes and his head thrown back in a full laugh every time he uttered this phrase.

I realize now that these tales were our father’s way of giving us life instruction without the risk of our tuning him out. They are perhaps, his parables to us. As I child, I took this story’s lesson as a punch line to envision our country cousins in a much simpler time. Now, I see it was more a message of resilience. 

Every life has hardships. Every passage of time has challenges. And living with a NETs diagnosis can tend to turn up the heat on some of those challenges. How we react to them is where the magic happens. It is a balance of letting go of that which is beyond our control while holding on to what is vital to our well-being that can make all the difference. 

Stephen Hawking is quoted as describing a survivor as one who learns to adapt to change.  This is another reminder that as our lives take twists and turns, we must be ready and willing to change with them. Accepting that change is not always bad. It allows us the opportunity to grow, perhaps to thrive. We must practice letting go of obstacles and yet hold on to that which gives us serenity.

My holiday wish for our Neuroendocrine Community is that we learn to embrace a mindset of self-reliance over the things we can control, like our thoughts, our actions, our reactions.  While we practice letting go of negative notions of life that come with the life of a cancer patient in order to find the calmness and peacefulness that can frame our courage.

“Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own.” —Marcus Aurelius

Happy Holidays from NCAN. We are HERE for you if you need us.