Siana Bennett
Survivor

When attitude meets cancer!
I was diagnosed with breast. cancer at 34 years old. My youngest just turned one. My world had stopped, I remember just staring into space, I could hear my breath, I could feel my heart rushing but I was completely still.. it was like everyone around me was moving on with their life and I was just stuck.
I had fallen into a victim mentality, it hurts, I am angry, sad, scared…We are human, we will feel these things but Letting our thoughts consume us to the point that we stop living because we are scared is not the path.
There’s a quote I love
“Stop thinking what can go wrong and start thinking what can go right. “
How often do we do this? When trials happen in our life we spiral, we just start accepting that bad things are going to happen because in a way it’s protection right?
It won’t hurt as bad if it really happens because in a way we prepped ourselves, we told ourselves this could happen.its safety and protection to have those scenarios played out in your head.
But What an awful way to live and view life! And our life is the greatest blessing we are given.
I think from my experiences one of the biggest things I learned is attitude. I can choose to be stuck in this moment of my life, or I can choose to live through it. It may not be easy, but we were never promised it would be. This is my journey, this is my bump in the path, I own it and accept it.
If when we are going through hard times we could just shift the perspective, then we can see the blessings through it, but we have to be open to seeing them.
For me I found my village found out how much I was loved. People, my husband, family all rallied to support me in what I needed! I was able to still work through 2 rounds of chemo, radiation, immune therapy and a total of 5 surgeries over the course of 3 years. I was still able to live! I found God and a deeper relationship with him! My family was my rock!
It’s all about the mindset. If I put my mind in a better place, my body is in a better place and I’m able to show up that day, whether it’s for work, my kids, treatment, surgery. Your like…I got this! I used to run every morning before chemo because I knew if I could do one thing to put my mind and body in a better place that was only going to benefit me to handle my treatment that day.
And that’s where God comes into play. I think many of us see our growth in our successes…but no…it’s in our pain. When we feel the most broken, and pieces of our lives start to fall to the floor we naturally want to just bend over and pick them up, start to put ourselves back together. But instead take a look at what’s underneath. Maybe the pieces falling are worth losing, and why…because I’m not broken, I’m becoming the image God wants me to be.
Now is this easy no, why..because we never stop growing, we will all face trials and hardships in life, and it will shed us down to the core, but embrace that change, be open to it and become it.
Remember you are never broken, you’re never alone, and you will get through it.
Cancer can do a lot to a person mentally and physically but with God and a positive mindset you can see the beauty on the other side.