Andrea Gibson

Right before I got diagnosed, I had decided to write a newsletter called Things That Don't Suck.

And then...

And this was two years ago.

And a couple of weeks later, I got diagnosed and I thought, shit, I'm supposed to write about things that don't suck with this happening.

But it was perfect.

My therapist had always told me the only thing we have control over in this life is where we put our attention.

So I thought, perfect time to put my attention on what I love about this world, what I am so grateful for.

And it was already kind of naturally happening.

As soon as I got diagnosed, I had this experience where

It's so much to get into.

I don't know if now is the right time, but I had, I guess I'd call, I'm going to try not to be shy about what I call it, but a direct experience of the divine.

I grew up in the Baptist church.

And then when I came out as queer, I got sort of angsty and left that all behind.

But it always had a relationship, I thought, with God in the way of God being love and whatever connects us all.

But when I got diagnosed for the first time in my life, I genuinely surrendered to what was.

And that wasn't about giving up for me.

Like I went into high active mode in regards to taking care of my body at that time.

But surrendering for me felt like trusting the universe.

And as soon as I did that, it was almost like I caught this wave that I recognized as a wave that we were all supposed to be catching throughout our lives of just giving

of trust in whatever comes our way and not thinking of the challenges as not God.