Saw Melissa Etheridge discussing her cancer on The Oprah Winfrey Show today. With so much pain and discomfort and no desire to read or watch TV or listen to music, she found herself in a meditative state through much of her treatment. Pondering, as she put it to Oprah with a chuckle, “the meaning of life.” She considers it all a blessing.
This attitude in life impresses me so. To see the birth of a child as a blessing is easy. To see an inheritance at a pivotal time in life as a blessing is easy. To see cancer as a blessing, not so easy.
Oprah’s next guest was a college guy who was born with almost no arms or legs. His parents made a conscious decision not to treat him any different from a “normal” child and as a result he learned how to fend for himself. There is no victim mentality. He drives, types, wrestles, dates. It’s amazing. He has written a book called No Excuses.
Classic Oprah. Finding stories that go above and beyond to inspire and jolt us out of our complacency.
