Karen Rice’s Silver Linings

When I was diagnosed with Breast cancer a few years back, I reacted like most who receive a cancer diagnosis; first thing came to mind was a “death sentence”. However, I found out later that it was truly “an awakening” for me; even after being diagnosed with colon cancer a few years later. I began questioning God, why would you do this to me? What had I done in life so bad to have this placed upon me? But instead of bemoaning my fate, I decided to look for the positive side of it. There has to be a reason for it all.

I also realized that I was about to face a new beginning, new hope, do and see more with a whole new prospective on life. When I think of the “gift of life” that was given to me, I know that I will develop and gain strength from all my experiences. Even with the complications I now have to live with, and all the struggles I’ve dealt with my entire life, I still feel truly blessed. For a while, I wasn’t happy with the way I looked after my surgery and the pain I had to endure each day, but I decided to snap out of it. I thought about the individuals that are no longer among us. I also realized that there will always be someone worse off than I am. I reminded myself, that I “still have my life” and who am I to complain.

One day I experienced something of a miracle and felt the compulsion to write it down. I turn that experience into a poem and I called it “Peace”. Writing has become therapy for me. I took that poem, along with many others I had composed during my breast cancer period and placed them into book form. I was blessed enough to have that book published and it’s titled “True Simple Poems of Life,Faith and Survival”. I’m hoping that anyone who has the opportunity to read my poems,getout of them, what I placed in all of them. My poems are from the heart, as real as any could ever be. With the words and phrases of each poem of statement, I wish to make a positive impact on someone who’s ill or otherwise, where they could develop the strength to embrace life in a whole new way. I never anticipated becoming a writer, I just became one. I truly believe when you survive a horrific tragedy or a horrible disease as cancer, it’s for a reason, “you have a purpose”and I want to live to find find out exactly what that is for me.

I recently had another inspirational book published, titled “If Only I Could Fly, said Mattie-bee” and I’m working on my third. See, that’s what I’m all about now, inspiration. I would have never become a writer, producing inspirational poems and stories, if I had not gone through all that I did. I’m a true example that you can survive cancer not once, but twice, providing you catch it in time, have faith and allow that faith to direct your path. I’ve not saying all will be easy, but you must believe.

Written by,

Karen Rice

x2 Cancer Survivor/Author