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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780446556514 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Grand Central Publishing |
| Publication date: | 04/20/2011 |
| Pages: | 241 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
God Never Blinks
50 Lessons for Life's Little DetoursBy Brett, Regina
Grand Central Publishing
Copyright © 2010 Brett, ReginaAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780446556521
LESSON 1
Life Isn’t Fair, but It’s Still Good.
The hat always came back, more faded yet stronger than ever.
Frank started it.
I had undergone my first chemotherapy and couldn’t imagine being bald. Then I saw a guy wearing a baseball cap bearing these words: LIFE IS GOOD.
Life didn’t feel good and it was about to feel worse, so I asked the guy where he got the hat. Two days later, Frank drove across town and stopped by my house and gave me one. Frank is a magical kind of guy. A house painter by trade, he lives by two simple words: Get to.
They remind him to be grateful for everything. Instead of saying, “I have to go to work today,” Frank tells himself, “I get to go to work.” Instead of saying, “I have to get groceries,” he gets to. Instead of saying, “I have to take the kids to baseball practice,” he gets to. It works for everything.
The hat on anyone but Frank might not have carried the same power. It was navy blue with an oval patch that announced its message in white letters.
And life was good. Even though my hair fell out, my body grew weak, my eyebrows fell off. Instead of wearing a wig, I wore that hat as my answer to cancer, as my billboard to the world. People love to stare at a bald woman. They got a message back when they gawked.
Gradually, I got well, my hair grew back, and I put the hat away until a friend got cancer and asked about that hat I used to wear. She wanted one. At first I didn’t want to part with mine. It was like my binky, my security blanket. But I had to pass it on. If I didn’t, the luck might run out. She made a promise to get well and pass the hat on to another woman. Instead, she gave it back to me to pass on to another survivor.
We call it the Chemo Hat.
I don’t know how many women have worn it these past 11 years. I’ve lost count. So many friends have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Arlene. Joy. Cheryl. Kaye. Sheila. Joan. Sandy. Woman after woman passed it on.
When the hat came back to me, it always looked more tired and worn, but each woman had a new sparkle in her eyes. Everyone who wore the lucky Chemo Hat is still alive and thriving.
Last year I gave it to my friend and coworker Patrick. He was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 37. Patrick got the hat, even though I wasn’t sure it could tackle any kind of cancer. He told his mom about the hat, how he was now a link in this chain of survival. She found Life is good, Inc., the company that made the hat and makes other products with the motto. She called the company and told them the story of the hat and ordered a whole box of caps.
She sent them to Patrick’s closest friends and relatives. They took pictures of themselves wearing the hats. All over his refrigerator he put up photos of college friends and their kids and dogs and lawn ornaments wearing the LIFE IS GOOD hat.
Meanwhile, the folks at Life is good, Inc., were moved by Patrick’s mom. They held a staff meeting and challenged their employees, “in the spirit of the traveling lucky Chemo Hat,” to pass their hats on to someone needing a lift. They sent Patrick a photo of all 175 of them each wearing a hat.
Patrick finished chemo and is fine. He was so lucky; he never lost his hair, it just thinned out. He never wore the hat, but it touched him. He kept it on a table at the bottom of the stairs where he could see that message every day.
It got him through the really bad days when he wanted to quit chemo and give up. Anyone with cancer has known those days. Even folks who have never had cancer have known them.
Turns out it wasn’t the hat but the message on it that kept us all going, that keeps us all going.
Life is good.
Pass it on.
Continues...
Excerpted from God Never Blinks by Brett, Regina Copyright © 2010 by Brett, Regina. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
The Fifty Lessons 5
Lesson 1 Life isn't fair, but it's still good 7
Lesson 2 When in doubt, just take the next right step 10
Lesson 3 Life is too short to waste time hating anyone 15
Lesson 4 Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does 19
Lesson 5 Pay off your credit cards every month 24
Lesson 6 You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree 28
Lesson 7 Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone 33
Lesson 8 It's okay to get angry with God. He can take it 37
Lesson 9 The most important sex organ is the brain 42
Lesson 10 God never gives us more than we were designed to carry 47
Lesson 11 Make peace with your past so it doesn't screw up the present 51
Lesson 12 It's okay to let your children see you cry 56
Lesson 13 Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about 60
Lesson 14 If a relationship has to be kept secret, you shouldn't be in it 65
Lesson 15 Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks 70
Lesson 16 Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying 74
Lesson 17 You can get through anything life hands you if you stay put in the day you are in and don't jump ahead 78
Lesson 18 A writer is someone who writes. If you want to be a writer, write 82
Lesson 19 It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else 87
Lesson 20 When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer 92
Lesson 21 Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save anything for a special occasion. Today is special enough 97
Lesson 22 Overprepare, then go with the flow 102
Lesson 23 Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple 106
Lesson 24 Start saving 10 percent for retirement as soon as you get your first paycheck 111
Lesson 25 No one else is in charge of your happiness. You are the CEO of your joy 115
Lesson 26 Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?" 119
Lesson 27 Always choose life 124
Lesson 28 Forgive everyone everything 128
Lesson 29 What other people think of you is none of your business 133
Lesson 30 The passage of time heals almost everything. Give time time 138
Lesson 31 No matter how good or how bad a situation is, it will change 143
Lesson 32 Your job won't take care of you when you are sick, but your friends will. Stay in touch with them 148
Lesson 33 Believe in miracles 152
Lesson 34 God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do 155
Lesson 35 Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger 160
Lesson 36 Growing old beats the alternative. Dying young looks good only in movies 165
Lesson 37 Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable 170
Lesson 38 Read the Psalms. No matter what your faith, they cover every human emotion 175
Lesson 39 Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting for you to discover 179
Lesson 40 If we all threw our problems in a pile and got a look at everyone else's, we'd fight to get back our own 183
Lesson 41 Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of now 188
Lesson 42 Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful 191
Lesson 43 All that truly matters in the end is that you loved 194
Lesson 44 Envy is a waste of time. You already have everything you truly need 198
Lesson 45 The best is yet to come 202
Lesson 46 No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up for life 210
Lesson 47 Breathe. It calms the mind 214
Lesson 48 If you don't ask, you don't get 218
Lesson 49 Yield 223
Lesson 50 Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift 229
Author's Note 235
Acknowledgments 237
About the Author 241