I read a book by someone who has been through lung cancer. The title is Living Through Cancer: Neither Pessimistic nor Optimistic. I thought it was a very well-chosen title.
At the moment, the author’s lung cancer has disappeared, so I imagine that “neither pessimistic nor optimistic” refers to living with the fear of recurrence or metastasis.
For me, though, I want to stay “neither pessimistic nor optimistic” though it is from a slightly different reason. I want to face things calmly and realistically, without leaning too far in either direction. Although “calm” may not be quite the right word.
In Japanese, we have an expression, kimottama-kāsan, which describes a strong, down-to-earth mother who doesn’t get easily shaken by what happens. I suppose what I want is to be like that—steady, strong, and not easily rattled.
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