In this episode, Saranne shares a thought-provoking conversation she had with a cancer patient about the concept of challenges. As Saranne reflects on her own life experiences, she explores the idea of facing ten tests or challenges throughout one's lifetime. She delves into various types of challenges, from personal struggles to societal issues, and discusses strategies for overcoming them. Join Saranne as she offers insights, quotes, and practical advice to help navigate life's obstacles and find joy amidst adversity.
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(soft piano music) - Welcome to Beating Cancer Daily. Beating stage four cancer for 30 years still takes my breath away every time I say it. I'm Saren, founder of the Comedy Cures Foundation. And I hope you'll join me for just a few minutes daily for the next 365 days. So we may laugh, learn, maybe cry a little as we live our best days beating cancer daily together. (soft piano music) I was talking to a cancer patient and she said to me if one more person says, God doesn't give you anything you can't handle and I'm sure you can handle this. You're gonna get through it. (both laughing) That really infuriated her. I happened to share with her something that I heard a few times while I was going through cancer treatment. And it was that someone said to me the first time, "Oh, it's just one of your tests." And I was like, "Excuse me?" And they said, "Yeah, we're all given 10 tests." And I was like, "10 tests, what do you mean?" Like school, what kind of tests? And they go, "No, 10 challenges." Each person is given 10 challenges on this physical earth. And it's yours to overcome and thrive or maybe even repair the world by what your reaction is and what you do. And that caught my attention because I started thinking back to my life, 10 tests had I been through nine. Was this the 10th? Had I been through three? What's considered a test? I didn't really know what they were talking about and I was so curious. Are you curious? Are you starting to think about the tests and challenges that you've had? Because cancer is certainly a challenge. I found it a big test. So hopefully this isn't my 10th challenge, my 10th test. I don't know what happens when you've been through 10. Have you had a very challenging life? And we're all like, "Oh my gosh, I've had 10. "Not does that mean that I have to die?" So hopefully we get a lot more time here, regardless what level of challenges you've lived through. But I started to think about my own life and I can tell you that I was born at 28 weeks and that was a huge challenge to survive that. I've talked about the fact that my mom was very young and she smoked and she drank and she didn't wanna show that she was pregnant. So just being born alive and then surviving such a low birth weight and being in an incubator and then getting through that, that I think was challenge number one. But what else qualifies as a challenge? So I started to dig into it and there are some things like abandonment, estrangement, I guess that could mean divorce. Of course, physical challenges, betrayal, war, abuse, kidnapping, all of these things could qualify as challenges, maybe even severe poverty. Have you lived through some of these things? Are they gonna be on your challenge list? Well, there are many and if you wanna send them to me and just purge them, get them out, talk about them. I'd be happy to receive them for you. You can go to the Comedy Cares Foundation and tell me them by hitting the record button or write them to me and just have someone to share them with. I've really been thinking about a lot of the challenges that I've had, definitely divorce. That was 100% one for me. An abusive marriage, definitely another challenge that I went through, my parents getting divorced. So you can see how they start to add up pretty quickly. Did you have sexual harassment at a job? That could be a major challenge to get through. Hit the glass ceiling at work. I'm not sure what 100% will qualify officially, but it doesn't matter if you've perceived them as a challenge. So the gift that that gave me that statement was that if cancer is just one of my 10 challenges, then it doesn't have to be the epicenter of all crisis for me, right? Because it's just another one of these challenges. And then if you think that you are put here to repair the world, then how can that challenge be something that not only betters you as a person, but it can bring some form of elevation to the world? And that kind of gets us out of the why me, why this happened to me, mentality, which really doesn't serve, we've got to move forward. So I think first being conscious of what your challenges are. And if you want to do that with a therapist, that might be very helpful or a very close friend. I don't think you need to tackle this alone. I think getting support from somebody that's been through a lot of challenges is really a great idea too. So you can figure out what are your personal challenges. And then I started to look at how do other people say to overcome these challenges, whether it's cancer or anything else. And I found a couple ideas just quickly from a few people, Michael Jordan actually, because I was watching his last dance special. He says, "Opsicles don't have to stop you." If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. And that's a really big mentality in the sports world. But I love visual advice, like I love visual quotes, and that for me was really special. I'm going to repeat it. Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. Another one that really resonated with me was by Thomas D. Wilhite. And he said, "Where he never accomplishes anything. When you have a problem, it is best to concentrate on the solution to that problem, not the problem itself." That's pretty huge when you think about it, because we all fall into that trap of obsessing about the problem. He's saying, "Okay, you've established the problem. Now, the focus should really be on solutions and not using your energy and your time for worry." There are some great strategies for not worrying. And we do a lot of those on beating cancer daily. A lot of this podcast is about how to focus on other things besides just worry. And as I said, I acknowledge the worry, but I don't let it paralyze me, or at least not for too long. And that's why the pity party episode at the beginning is so powerful because it starts to help you deal with and purge the worry, the anxiety, the pain, but then gives you the freedom to move forward. As you know, if you've listened before, beating cancer daily is really about starting the conversation and making us aware of what could really be hurting the quality of our day. And so I just wanted to bring this concept to you about the 10 challenges and then quickly talk about different ways that we can face this challenge. And then invite you to listen to so many of the episodes. We're almost at 200. But they are really these small bite-sized strategies to get us through. And if all else fails, go to the tumor humor episodes or go to the episodes about comic perspective, these great chats that I have with Missy Hall about really looking at this challenge of cancer, but also starting to find the funny and also the humor and what we're going through. So just make sure that you go back and you make sure that you catch all those episodes. In the interim, some of the ideas that I use for going through challenges, I make the problem into small digestible steps. I always say don't need an elephant one whole bite. Just go one bite at a time. So I really look at whatever the problem is, whether it's cancer related or not. And I break it into small steps. And I really compartmentalize. Do you do that? It is so helpful. I take my problems and I put them into individual boxes. And then I deal with them in a very compartmentalized way instead of just really getting sucked into the vortex of endless pain and endless problems. I seek out mentors, whether they're religious mentors, spiritual mentors, really smart people, people who are experts in what my different problems are. And I really try to get a lot of perspective, a 360 view of what I'm going through because I find that really helps me shift my perspective out of the victim mentality or out of the well as me or out of the overwhelm. I also really keep my eye on the future that's way beyond the problem. I try to have something to look forward to that is bigger than my problem. So I have to go to a wedding in South Africa and I'm really looking forward to it. I've never been to South Africa and I love weddings. So even though I have personal challenges at this time, I really visualize and daydream a few minutes every day about seeing myself in South Africa at this wedding on a safari, but it doesn't have to be anything that grand. It can just be going to get an ice cream sundae if that's what you love or seeing a friend from high school that you haven't seen for a while, just something beyond the problem to think about. Remember, it's really good to seek time for joy. Don't forget, even though you're working through a problem or pressure or going through daily treatments to schedule time for play and friends and fun. Even if it's just 15 minutes by phone, even if you don't feel like seeing anybody, just make sure that you give yourself that little boost of joy that has nothing to do with this problem. Now, you know, I listen to comedy, I do improv, I listen to my friend Sarah's Monday call on laughter and just smiling and joy. It's just a quick call every Monday. I did an episode where I talk about Sarah and it's smiling away cancer. If you wanna jump on that and copy down the information for Sarah's quick Monday call, just to give you a week of boost with laughter. I love this idea of work smart, not hard. That's a business concept and how I use that problem solving is that I really try to think about smart ways to get through my problems, not just endlessly work so hard and tire myself out. I try to be very strategic in solving problems. So a few more fun things that I love to do that I hope you'll try when you've got a lot of problems that you have to solve or just going through cancer treatment. Sing in the shower, it's a lot of fun. Dance around the house, put on music if you're bedridden, sing in bed. Wiggle a little in bed if you're bedridden and you can. Again, some of these things like dancing. If you're feeling a little dizzy or nauseated, don't do it at that moment. Make sure you're stabilized. If you need to hold on to something just to wiggle around a little bit, then do that. I hope that these strategies are helpful. I hope that the quotes make you think a little bit about how you're handling challenges. If you have great ideas on how you handle your challenges or how you're handling your cancer treatment or survivorship, I love to hear it. So just go to comedycures.org and let me know. And hopefully I can share it on Beating Cancer Daily. Have a blessed day and I'll see you tomorrow. (gentle music) (gentle music) I hope you guys know this, but Beating Cancer Daily is a listener and donor supported podcast and community. So if you have some extra change, I'd love you to go to comedycures.org and make a donation today of whatever level is comfortable for you. And it will be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law because comedycures is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded from my chemo chair, April, 1999, and we've been going strong ever since. So please consider making a donation today and help our community and this podcast thrive. Thanks so much. I'll see you tomorrow. (gentle music) Guess what time it is? It's time for me to read the disclaimer. Beating Cancer Daily and the membership circle are not in lieu of medical advice or treatment. They are for entertainment purposes only. Please consult your healthcare team to review your best strategy. Thanks for listening. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
