Ill-Fated Fruit

    In some parts of the world, the eating of rhesus monkeys is considered a delicacy. In the wild, these creatures are very elusive prey. Hunters, however, have devised an ingenious way of snaring these monkeys using the animals’ natural tendency towards greed and selfishness. The hunter will dig out a small hole in a tree and place a piece of pomegranate inside. Eventually, the monkey will find this, reach inside and try to remove the pomegranate in it. The hunter then saunters calmly up with a club in hand while the monkey frantically twists and turns around the hole, still clasping the ill-fated fruit. The end of the story is obvious. Reading the story though, it is very obvious to us that had the monkey let go of the fruit, he could have escaped.
    My point, though, is that many times we do the very same thing. Only our ill-fated fruit may be guilt such as the guilt of questioning your continued cigarette smoking and development of throat cancer. “If only I would have quit sooner.”  The guilt of the presumed financial burden treatment and medication may place on family and loved ones. Or the fruit may be anger. “Why Me?” “Why now?” You become mad at yourself, mad at God, mad at your family and friends. Guilt and anger are emotions that have to be constantly fed. So we use a lot of energy constantly to nurture along these ill-fated fruits we desperately cling to, twisting and turning and fighting to maintain our grasp, not realizing that if we would left go, we could help ourselves. Feelings of anger and guilt are absolutely normal reactions, just as fear is a normal reaction. How we handle these emotions though can greatly influence the ability to tolerate treatment and the attitude toward treatment entirely. Direct the anger towards the cancer and convert the feelings of guilt to ones of faith in your decision to help yourself from this point forward.
    Treating and conquering cancer requires teamwork. It does not quite take a village, but family and friends, physicians, nurses, nutritionists, social services, and ministers do make up quite a neighborhood. So let go of that ill-fated fruit, and use that now free hand to reach out. Someone is going to be there to take it.