GUEST POST BY CATHY BUETI

I have been a worrier most of my life. When my first husband was killed in a car accident in 1994 my worrying became worse. It was the most alone I had ever felt. I wasn’t sure how I would ever survive without him. Fast-forward to 2001 when I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer at 31 years old and lets just say I was “high anxiety” at that point. I became fearful of my own death. As I now enter into my 9th year of survival I still deal with fear but what has changed is I am more aware and motivated to get it under control.

I began to really think about how to handle my fear when I finished up treatment and was told I could just get back to my life. At the time I wasn’t even sure what that life was anymore. What I began to find though was the more time I spent doing the things I loved I would lose all track of time. All of the clutter in my mind would shut off and I was only focused on enjoying what was right in front of me. Creativity was helping me control the fear.

Think about what makes you feel creative and what you are passionate about. For me it is writing, photography, painting, or just taking a long walk listening to some tunes. It is a way for me to empower myself. Fear can steal away your power. Don’t let it!

Do you live with fear? How do you deal with it? What are you passionate about? What makes you feel creative?

Cathy Bueti is a 9 year breast cancer survivor, blogger and the author of Breastless in the City, a memoir in which she shares her experience as a young widow dating through cancer treatment. She is active in the young adult cancer community and has been a panel participant at various cancer conferences as well as a keynote speaker for such events as Sloan-Kettering’s Survivorship Day. She has been featured on CNN, LifetimeTV.com, USA Today, and Women’s World. Cathy lives in Brewster, NY with her husband and their pug. She continues to inspire people on her website and blog at www.cathybueti.com

Tags: Support, survivors

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Cancer, Inspiration, Support, Women. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.