Thank you Miryam, Thank you, Ana Laura, Thank you, Almita,
For teaching me how to give life to my life.
When I see girls, rather women, with short hair, the thought of knowing what is behind that goes away. In many cases, there is nothing. Nothing at all. It's simple: they like to go with their hair short, period. In other cases, there is a story behind it.
If you are a cancer survivor, the chances are that you had short hair at some point in your recovery. Every time I meet you, this is what I think and feel ...
Short hair girls are brave. They are capable of much more than we imagine. They receive chemotherapies. They experience tremendous side effects. They understand the changes in your body, some of them permanent. It's for the brave!
Short-haired girls are strong. They explain to their children what is wrong with them, and they have real optimism. They prepare a snack for their children who go to school, even if they can barely stand. They listen to doctors when, at times, they do not give them encouraging news. That's for strong people!
Short-haired girls are resilient. I like the legend of the Phoenix: it rises from the ashes. This bird is reborn! Sometimes cancer makes them almost disappear. However, they are reborn and rebuilt, being a better person. That is called resilience!
Short-haired girls understand better. They understand the neighbor's fatigue in the infusion room. They enjoy the good news that they give to others, that they go through the same thing as them. They have lived in their own flesh, the probability of losing their life, and what that implies. They understand not only with the mind but with the heart. That is empathy!
Girls with short hair know how to cry and how to laugh. It is necessary to cry and vent, and they are sure that this does not make them weak. They cry hard and feel better; they don't get stuck in regret. For them, it is important to laugh out loud, mainly because this way they produce endorphins, necessary for their immune system to work much better. They know that happy moments heal them. Only those who are emotionally intelligent appreciate crying and laughing to heal.
Short-haired girls are assertive. They appreciate reality and honesty in the information they give and receive. They don't like to think that "everything possible has been done." They always have something else to contribute, to feel better, to be better. That's from assertive people.
Short-haired girls are tremendously beautiful, inside and out. They give life. They understand that beauty is in a smile, more than in a hair-to-style. They know that beauty is in a sincere look, more than in perfect skin. They know that beauty is in their spirit, heart, and mind rather than in a body, perhaps, mutilated or changed. The real beauty is discovered after the test.
Short-haired girls live with intensity. One of my favorite books is The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. In one part of the story, Gandalf and Frodo are having a conversation. Frodo laments to the magician saying, that he wished the ring had NEVER come to him. Gandalf's response is one of my favorites: “That is what those who live in these times wish, but it is not up to them to decide. Only you can decide what to do with the time you have been given ”.
You don't take the cancer test as a calamity, but with the courage to decide to SURVIVE LIVE. This even when, in the eyes of others, there are no reasons to do so. They know how to decide what to do with the time they have been given.
Short hair girls are winners. Which one of them died and "lost" the battle? Seriously, he lost? Seriously, was there "war"? I do not think so! By the mere fact of having received a diagnosis and having spent time living this test, girls with short hair always win. They gain courage, strength, resilience, empathy, emotional intelligence, assertiveness, appreciation for reality, beauty inside and out, intensity to live.
When I see them, they teach me how to ADD Life to my Life. Thanks! To all my short-haired girls, my admiration, and my love forever.
