What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

When the year is winding down is a time in which I usually get to recalling the events of the year. It so happens that 2025 was a year in which I have a lot to reflect on and be grateful for.

​One of the scariest words in the English language is “cancer.” Up until this year, it was kind of theoretical for me. Then on a hunch, my urologist ordered an MRI. The result was discovering cancer. I’m not the kind of person who gets scared easily, but it was utterly unexpected and I was deeply rattled.

​Then he scheduled me for a bone scan, which sounds sort of Hallowe’enish, but was important. It showed no indication of cancer spread. It all pointed to the cancer being discovered early, when treatment is maximally effective. I was set up for 20 rounds of radiation treatment, five days a week for a month.

​I had thoughts of me using a walker and all my hair falling out. My understandings were way different from reality. The treatments were brief and I retained my thatch of gray. There were side effects that were increasingly irritating, although not painful. One side effect is fatigue, and I sometimes slept 15 or more hours a day. More than once I got in a bad mood because of the side effects—and then had to remind myself that the ultimate side effect of cancer is leaving the planet, which I have no interest in doing anytime soon.

​Treatment is done with, the side effects are over, and I’m taking some medication, but it looks like I’ve got the thing beat. The medical professionals were exceptional and supportive, and so were my partner and friends—you can’t beat cancer by yourself.  So that’s the most positive thing of the year.

​Being seriously rattled by a cancer diagnosis can get a person to thinking about what’s important. With the possibility of death as close as it had ever been for me, I have become more grateful for life itself, and for my sense of humor, my writing ability, for having a roof over my head and the bills paid and food in the fridge. And for the caring for and from others, and for having affection and love in my life. And while it may sound a bit sentimental, each new day seems a blessing, no matter what the day brings.

​I have other positive things in my 2025 experience. My income from writing has improved a bit, and the work projects have been interesting. Ghost writing online books is for me something like a graduate seminar, like when I was working on my MA and PhD (I never finished the PhD), an opportunity to investigate some intriguing topic in depth. Learning about new things helps keep life interesting.

And I live in Florida, where hurricanes can complicate life (hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th). In October of 2024 this area was hit hard by the fringe of a hurricane. Power was out for a week, and it took months for the cleanup. This year we lucked out. That’s something to be grateful for.

​I’m lucky enough to have a loving partner. I came close to losing her over a stupid misunderstanding and learned a painful lesson. And one of the positive things from the year is me better understanding how important it is to put aside personal ego stuff and to truly listen to the person you love.

​So as 2025 is in its last few weeks. I’m thinking about the positive things in the year for me and for others. I am more than ever convinced that life is an adventure, and that the best way to go—for me, anyway–is to understand that each day is a miracle, that this blue planet of ours is beautiful and complicated, and that we need to treat life with respect and care.

 Deep knowledge, every day.
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