Events are going to take place no matter what. It’s something that none of us can stop. Some of these events will present clear obstacles. When presented with an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. 

I was diagnosed with Lymphoma Cancer in 2009. My doctor told me that treatment would be long and tough. Treatment destroyed my health. I remember how I lost my job because I just did not have the endurance to carry through. Slowly things went from bad to worse. I ended up standing in line at the homeless shelter to get my meals. My electricity was turned off shortly after that. There were no lights, hot water, and no way for me to charge my cell phone. Within a month, the water was turned off. The toilet did not flush, I could not shower and my dishes were piling up in the kitchen. Winter of 2009 came and snow was on the outside of the house I was living in. I was coughing up black mucus and freezing because I lost my hair and my house had no heating. Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep at night. 

That was one of the most difficult times in my life. I told myself that I will survive cancer and that I would try to live my life to the fullest. I knew that this condition was the perfect opportunity for me to transform my thinking. I stopped crying because I knew that I had no choice but to come out stronger after my treatments were over. A pearl of new wisdom like I have never known had set in. With this new wisdom born from turmoil, I would go further in life than I ever thought possible. Cancer was my wake-up call to transform. There was no more time to sit around and complain. There was no time to think about things I wish I had. It was time to get up and make my dreams happen. I promised myself that I would dance again and that I would leave the United States and go make a life somewhere else in the world and here I am today in China.

The green grass is there, if you choose for it to be. 

Terrance Thomas