In the Middle, Life Happens: One Woman’s Adventure through Breast Cancer and the Doodles that Healed her Soul

[Guest guest]

Article Title: In the Middle, Life Happens: One Woman’s Adventure through Breast

Cancer and the Doodles that Healed her Soul

*****************************************************************

*

* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:

*

*

*

*****************************************************************

Free-Reprint Article Written by: Carol Edmonston

NOTE: You may run this article provided you run it with the bio

box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with article

in it to ArticleDeptBill@...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Article Title:

==============

In the Middle, Life Happens: One Woman’s Adventure through Breast Cancer and the

Doodles that Healed her Soul

Article Description:

====================

Life has taught me that I do not always have control over what

comes my way, only in how I choose to respond. I certainly did

not choose to have breast cancer, but I did choose to not let

that diagnosis define how I would experience that medical

adventure. The trick was in believing that in the heart of

all challenges, a gift exists.

Additional Article Information:

===============================

502 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: Tue Mar 29 02:12:03 EST 2005

Written By: Carol Edmonston

Copyright: 2005

Contact Email: mailto:ArticleDeptBill@...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Middle, Life Happens: One Woman’s Adventure through Breast Cancer and the

Doodles that Healed her Soul

Copyright © 2005 Carol Edmonston

Sacred Doodles

http://www.SacredDoodles.com

Life has taught me that I do not always have control over what

comes my way, only in how I choose to respond. I certainly did

not choose to have breast cancer, but I did choose to not let

that diagnosis define how I would experience that medical

adventure. The trick was in believing that in the heart of

all challenges, a gift exists.

I remember those initial feelings of anger and fear that flooded

every pore of my being when I first heard the words breast

cancer. I kept wondering, “Am I going to die? How can this be

happening to me?” In one quick moment my life turned upside

down and I felt very scared. Yet, I was determined to see a

rainbow in the sky every day.

But how was this going to happen? How was I going to be able

to keep my mind from wandering into all those scary thoughts? I

discovered it was possible if I could just remain focused in the

present moment and not let my mind become fixated in all those

“what if “ scenarios.

One day while nervously waiting for a doctor’s appointment,

I took out a pen and paper and began to “doodle” in an effort

to reduce anxiety and worry. After doing this for awhile, an

amazing thing happened. The more I doodled, the more relaxed,

calm and peaceful I was beginning to feel and I knew I had

stumbled into something very powerful.

I continued to doodle when I returned home. I even bought a

special “doodle book” and took it with me when I knew I would

be waiting somewhere (carwash, hairdresser, airports or before

meetings). At some point I decided to create one guideline...to

begin and end each doodle outline at the same point, without

lifting the pen off the paper and to do this in 3-5 seconds.

While I had no idea what the finished product would look like,

I began to see that there were never any mistakes! I created

amazingly beautiful doodles–all by letting go of control and

learning to have faith and trust in the process. Not bad for

a non-artist perfectionist! I was truly amazed.

I then began to see the correlation between this art form and

my adventure through breast cancer. Both were about immersing

oneself in a journey--that space between two points and learning

to trust in the unexpected twists and turns along the way. I

learned that there are no wrong turns, for in every turn a gift

can be found. The only mistake is in forgetting to slow down

long enough in order to discover what those gifts might be.

I’ve come to appreciate that challenges come in all sizes,

shapes and colors, and arrive when least expected. That’s

what makes their experience so fascinating.

Over the years, I’ve learned to embrace the unexpected with a

greater sense of trust and faith, knowing that I receive no

more than I truly have the capacity to handle.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Carol Edmonston is an inspirational speaker and human potential

advocate. She is the author of Connections: The Sacred Journey

Between Two Points and Create While You Wait: A Doodle Book for

All Ages. Email her at mailto:carol@... or go to

http://www.SacredDoodles.com for more information.

Copyright 2005—Carol Edmonston