Greet every morning with open arms and say thanks every night with a full heart. Each day is a precious gift to be savored and used, not left unopened and hoarded for a future that may never come.
Regina BrettRead
When you have cancer, it's like you enter a new time zone: the Cancer Zone. Everything in the Tropic of Cancer revolves around your health or your sickness. I didn't want my whole life to revolve around cancer. Life came first; cancer came second.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the impact of cancer on one's life perspective and priorities.
Regina Brett's quote highlights the overwhelming effect that a cancer diagnosis can have on an individual, suggesting that it creates a metaphorical 'Cancer Zone' where everything revolves around one’s health and illness. However, Brett emphasizes the importance of maintaining a sense of normalcy and prioritizing life and experiences over the disease, asserting that while cancer is significant, it should not define one's entire existence.
Themes
CancerHealthLifePrioritiesIllness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about resilience, you might say, 'As Regina Brett put it, I didn't want my whole life to revolve around cancer; life came first.'
More from Regina Brett
All quotes →The only gift my dad ever bought me is still in my jewelry box. It died at 10 minutes to 11 decades ago, but the gold Caravelle watch keeps my dad alive. A watch isn't about keeping time. It's about stopping it.
Regina BrettRead
Before I started chemotherapy treatments, I wrote down the best advice from doctors, family, friends, books, and survivors and created an 'Owner's Manual' to help me take care of myself. It would remind me that cancer is doable.
Regina BrettRead
Some people hate funerals. I find them comforting. They hit the pause button on life and remind us that it has an end. Every eulogy reminds me to deepen my dash, that place on the tombstone between our birth and our death.
Regina BrettRead
Cancer is messy and scary. You throw everything at it, but don't forget to throw love at it. It turns out that might be the best weapon of all.
Regina BrettRead
My daughter finished high school the same month I got my master's degree. I'm glad I didn't know when I gave birth to her at 21 what it would cost in terms of time, money and sacrifice to bring her to that graduation day.
Regina BrettRead
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