68 -THE FAR CORNER - PASSING THE BATON

The FAR CORNER starts when your first relapse occurs. For the vast majority of cancer patients this means cure is no longer possible. Another remission may be but in all likelihood it will not be as long as the first – perhaps half as long, maybe less. With each relapse the likelihood of subsequent remission becomes less likely and shorter. So if with the wisdom you have gained down the backstretch you have anything left in your life you want to complete, it is time to get on with it. If you are blessed with another remission or more time than you need, you can do it all over again.

The 4 X 100 metres relay is a premier Olympic track event in which six four member teams compete on an oval track. Each of the four runners on a team completes 100 metres in a prescribed order each carrying the relay baton, a 12” cylindrical stick their segment of the race and then when exhausted and totally spent skillfully pass it within a 20 metre changeover box to their nest teammate. It is the responsibility of the incoming runner to thrust the baton into the outstretched hand of the outgoing runner who never looks back. "Polished handovers can compensate for a lack of basic speed to some extent and disqualifications for dropping the baton or failing to transfer it... are common."*(Wikipedia)

You already know that illness is what happens to your life as disease affects your body and that an intentional strategy is necessary to overcome it. When the first remission from cancer ends, it signals, with rare exception, that the disease can never be cured and it’s time for the next phase in your strategy. It is also time to look over your shoulder for the Dragon who will be disguised but coming after you with new fears and new invitations from denial.

You have just entered the far corner and it’s time for the final baton passes. No one can tell you how long the corner will last or whether there will be more remissions; they can only tell you that the chances for more remissions are less likely and will be shorter. So it is time to be serious about running the far corner well:  accelerate your pace and pass the baton.