It is the nature of progress to make yourself do things you may not want to do. My mom taught me (and enforced it) that I had to do my chores before I could play. As a home maker for 40 years, I have used this principle to get the work done; do the work that I like the least before I reward myself with something easier or relaxing.  It can take a great deal of self-control and courage to make ourselves do the next right thing.

That’s where I am again.

I start chemotherapy again tomorrow. I learned about a month ago that the oncologists expect me to be on some kind of chemotherapy continuously, even if I am in remission. For most cancer patients, remission means occasional testing to watch for cancer and resuming treatments if the cancer shows up again. That is not the case with my Multiple Myeloma. Blood cancer can’t be completely eradicated, plus I have genetic factors that encourage cancer growth, so my fight will always include some sort of treatment. I’ll begin with two more months of the same dosages I had from March through July, then I should have weaker doses for a while (called “maintenance therapy”). It’s not at all what I was expecting from remission, and it’s taken me a month to wrap my mind around it and get my equilibrium back.

Perhaps you can sense the struggle I’ve had with this.

It would be a lie to say I feel fine about the implications of indefinite treatment. I dread the string of side effects and relentless doctor visits that are ahead of me.  But I have prayed to know if it’s the right thing to do, and I feel sure that it is. I am resolved and ready to face the known, and largely unknown future. And I feel that the path of modern medicine is my best weapon against this cancer.  

So, I focus on doing the next right thing.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to face the known and unknown in my future. One thing life has shown me, years before cancer pushed its way into my life, is that everyone faces and unknown future. No matter how much we might plan ahead, those plans can change in an instant, and they do. As a mother, I scrapped my plans almost daily because of the ever-changing dynamics of children and family life. Getting hung up on “what we want” is a sure path to unhappiness, because what we “want” is rarely what happens or will really make us happiest. My plans continue to change. All we can do is try to adjust to what comes and do the next right thing.

I read the following a few days ago, and it touched me with its profound wisdom:

“…when confronted with challenges, it’s easy to become engrossed in our difficulties. However, Jesus Christ exemplified the power of focusing on His Father, offering gratitude, and acknowledging that solutions to our trials do not always lie within ourselves but with God.

When we encounter difficulties, we naturally tend to concentrate on the obstacles we face. Our challenges are tangible and command our attention, yet the principle of surmounting them is in our focus.

By placing Christ at the core of our thoughts and deeds, we align ourselves with His outlook and strength. This adjustment does not discount our struggles; instead, it helps us to navigate through them under divine guidance. As a result, we discover solutions and support that arise from a higher wisdom. Adopting this Christ-centric perspective empowers us with the fortitude and insight to turn our trials into victories, reminding us that with the Savior, what seems like a major problem can become a pathway to greater spiritual progress.” (Jose L. Alonso)

To navigate through my struggle under divine guidance is the next right thing to do.