The calmness of the water reminds me everything will be ok. And the mountains remind me that while I’ve overcome a huge challenge in 2020, there are more challenges to come. Challenges that will grow me. Challenges that will make me stronger.
After a year of simply surviving, this year is focused on re-learning to love myself and all of my scars.
Feelings are like footwear, you can decide on a daily basis which ones you choose to wear. You wouldn’t choose something wack to style yourself in so why would you choose negative self talk about your body? Choose to love your body, it loved you enough to keep you here.
Breast cancer literally and figuratively cut me down and built me up. It forced me to see the “real” directly in front of my eyes, not the things my mind made up for me to see.
After lots of grounding and affirming, I had to fix my crown and remember who I am and whose I am!
The first word that comes to mind when I think of my post-cancer body is “journey.”
Journey is the word used to define the complete treatment plan that a breast cancer patient must take, but what I didn’t realize is that each part of the breast cancer experience has its own journey.
I was then hit with the insta-browsing realization that everyone who has had breast cancer or a preventive mastectomy is in my tribe. Not because I found the #unilateralmastectomy, with gorgeous bodies flaunting all kinds of styles.
I had become the patient; he became the caregiver. He saw me differently. Fragile. In pain. Suffering. All I wanted was to be loved in every way — to be a wife, a lover, a sexual being.
But what I’ve come to realize is that I was only interested in “being” Tova 2.0 and not “becoming” Tova 2.0.
Living your life with your outward appearance so entrenched in your personal identity can make for extreme emotional issues when cancer takes your hair from you.
Your voice, your story, and your support can make a difference. Join For the Breast of Us in our mission to empower, support, and advocate for women of color across the globe. Together, we can create a future where every woman has the resources and support she needs to overcome breast cancer.
On the Web:
www.breastofus.com
www.breastofusfoundation.org
Email:
hello@breastofus.com
Welcome to our community—where hope thrives, strength is found, and sisters in the fight become family.
