A childhood friend of mine, father of three, in his late forties, is currently battling an "aggressive form of brain cancer." The prognosis doesn't look good, but he's fighting. We've been in prayer's mode for several days now, to lift his spirits, and help him though a temporary dip.
I came across this video this morning. It's a beautiful text, a "manifesto" written by a stage 4 prostate cancer patient who just refuses to die, seven years later, despite a similar prognosis. His secret is his mindset. I recently wrote about him here #989093
Here's the manifesto, transcribed and translated with AI's help.
They say that stage 4 cancer is a death sentence, but I refuse this verdict. I am not a statistic; I am a living, vibrant, thinking, and loving being, and as long as my heart beats, I will fight. I reject resignation; I do not lie down in the face of illness; I rise up against it. I do not bow my head; I hold it high. Every breath is a victory; every heartbeat is a challenge thrown at death. I live with intensity, with fire, with gentle rage and fierce hope.
But if the path is tough, I am not alone. I surround myself with light, care, truth, and strength, both visible and invisible. And when pain—something I haven’t yet experienced, fortunately—pushes me to bend, I remember: I am still here. Cancer will not die without a fight; it may take parts of my body, but never my soul. I live, I fight, I resist, I stand tall in the face of the storm. I have created a manifesto of combat, the samurai’s fight. I refuse to die while living; I refuse submission. Cancer is a trial, not a fatality. It has no authority over my will. I always say: stronger than cancer is my spirit. I reject resignation. Just because I’ve been told “incurable” does not mean I am condemned to stay silent and wait—certainly not. I take up the weapons of the living: our body, friends, nutrition, breathing, knowledge, advanced medicine, spirituality, love. I gather them and use them. I live by fighting; I live as a samurai. You are the ones who called me that: not halfheartedly, not in retreat.
Each day, I strive to live as if life still wants me, and it does. I transform fear into a driving force; it does not paralyze me. It propels me toward action, toward movement, toward hope. I defy prognoses; statistics do not know my heart; numbers have never dictated my destiny. I surround myself with strength, not pity, with the strength of alliance, energy, knowledge, friends, science, the knowledge of light. I forge a samurai’s armor; I am the master of my story. Cancer is just a chapter, and I decide what comes next. This is life. I will not give up, even in doubt, even in pain—fortunately, I haven’t had that yet—even in exhaustion. Until my last breath, I will fight. No, I will not die from cancer; I am alive, and as long as I am, I fight. Not out of fear of dying, but out of love for living.
And this little text, I dedicate to Nat Océane.