In my short time on earth, I have observed a certain phenomenon of human nature - one of many idiosyncrasies that our species can be seen exhibiting. It seems that when confronted with a difficult or negative situation, we have a tendency to "make the best of a bad situation" as Grandma used to say.
Case in point, many years ago we lived in Los Angeles. We lived there for about five years. Even back then, the traffic was overwhelming, the freeways were choked with vehicles, and unless you knew how to navigate the circuitous workings of side streets, it could take more than the classic twenty-minutes to get anywhere. Everyone complained about it, and clearly there was nothing you could do about it (working from home was not in vogue then). But while mired in a typical dead stop on the road in a traffic jam, you could look left or look right and see myriad other motorists suffering through the same fate - and there was an unusual solace in knowing that at least everyone else was captive to the same commuting quagmire. So you just cranked up the tunes (neither podcasts nor Sirius XM were also not invented yet) and muddled through until you could get to your desired destination. Then, almost magically, once we had committed to the decision to move on from our beloved LA, all of the aforementioned traffic jammery became insufferable to the point of near road rage. Rolling along the same routes, dealing with the same delays, and slogging through the same snails pace took on a whole new perception; a whole new level of intolerability.
Before my cancer diagnosis, I couldn't imagine: being poked countless times in every vein of my body, going through the fears and discomfort of chemotherapy & stem cell transplant, or living with the life-sentence of Multiple Myeloma. And yet, when the time came, myself and my support group came to grips with the new reality, and developed an ability to tolerate it (some among us admittedly quicker than others). That which could not have been perceived as survivable (emotionally) has now become the new normal.
There you have it - proof positive that humans have a tendency toward being naturally resilient. So, if the Big C should come tapping you (or your loved ones) on the shoulder, rest assured that we're tougher than we realize, or believe.
