I’ve been feeling just a wee bit self-conscious lately. My hand tremors have become somewhat more prominent, you see. And with that, my mind has become far more self aware.

From a very young age, I was taught that a woman’s hands should be fluent, elegant and refined. Though, as I sit here watching them tremble – I wonder if grace might ever find its place amongst these fingertips again.

Facing a life-altering diagnosis isn’t easy. Though, finding our place within change is much harder still.

But, life is full of glorious changes. In an instant, our lives may be transformed – for better, for worse.

That’s part of the adventure, now isn’t it? Oh, that we might learn to become fearless explorers, undaunted by the path ahead.

Oliver Sacks once wrote of a sudden clarity he felt upon learning of his terminal cancer diagnosis—as if a tremendous burden had been lifted, and his soul’s ‘one true purpose’ restored. He spoke of the intensity he now felt in just simply being alive, knowing he alone was responsible for the wholeness of his being.

“It is up to me now to choose,” he wrote “how to live out the months that remain to me. I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can.”

My darlings, every day, I am reminded of this miracle of being alive. From my window, I watch as the trees bow humbly to the breeze. Immediately, I am filled with the same depth of gratitude.

Though, why must we be content to wait? Should not each day impose a similar sense of glory? And, why must purpose be motivated by cause?

Indeed, it is up to us to choose. Whether to live a life of unbridled magnitude – of courage, of faith, of optimism, of belief…

Or, to simply settle in to a routine which carries us further away…

How sad that we often lose sight of purpose – as we tumble forward into the dialogue of ‘what happens next.’

We forget that without purpose our lives would have no meaning.

We forget to allow meaning into our day.

Oh, but that we might, as the Buddha suggested, find our purpose in this life, and then… give our whole heart and soul to it.