How do you feel about your stoma?

There is a lot to how we perceive and understand things that happen to us in life. It comes down to different ways to overcome hardship and to persevere when things don't go your way. Perspective changes everything in life. Many people think they can’t live without something, or they couldn’t imagine being able to live a certain way. The truth is, humans are capable of living in many different ways, with many different things, and without many different things. Not all of us are created the same and some of us have things happen to us that we never expect. The reason we think we couldn’t live without something is because we’ve never been forced to live without it. Living with that something is all we have ever known. It could be a loved one, it could be a possession, it could be a talent, it could be an appearance.

I never saw what was going to be coming in my life. Therefore, we oftentimes take these things for granted. Many people go through life thinking they couldn’t live without something and they ultimately never have to live without that something. Unfortunately, this is not the case for others. They think they can’t go on living until they have to. Yes, their life may change completely if they lose a loved one, but they continue to survive. Surviving is not a great way to live through and I like to think of life as a grand search for joy. They also have a newfound perspective that oftentimes leads them to live differently. They might become a completely different person in the process depending on the circumstances that have occurred in their life. So don't stop where you are, but thrive and strive.

I am never one to stop learning or growing. But, the perspective that is gained usually changes people for the better. That’s why I believe it is important to try to tap into that perspective now, before something happens and it is forced on us. I think we should not take things for granted. Having a ostomy changed me. It made me learn new things and find ways to overcome adversity.

This can mean taking for granting simple things. For example, most people take for granted the process of going to the restroom. It’s a seemingly simple process that we learn as young children. But, if you’ve ever had to have ostomy procedure, you soon realize that there is a completely new way of going to the restroom. You’re no longer going to go into a restroom to pass stool. Instead, a bag will be attached to your abdomen to collect the stool your body is passing.