A tale of grapes, cancer, and enjoying life

It’s 11:59 pm. Both of my children have crawled under a table and are staring at a countdown. They are waiting for midnight with 12 grapes in their hands, ready to eat one grape per second in the last 12 seconds of 2023.

Watching them giggle and gulp down grape after grape, makes me want to join them. Not so much the grape-eating part, I would probably choke and die before midnight, but rather giggling carelessly without worrying about the future.

When did I stop being careless? Was it when I left my parents’ house to go to college? Or the day our first child was born when I realized everything depended on my income? Irrespective thereof, at some point in history, my life became too serious.

It only took me four decades and 12 grapes to realize something very important about life. I can’t influence what kind of curve balls life throws at me, but how I react to life’s circumstances is totally within my circle of influence.

36 hours before the 12 grapes we visited my mom and my brothers, where we spent a couple of hours laughing and reminiscing about old times. Five years ago, one of my brothers was diagnosed with an incurable muscle-wasting disease. He received all kinds of experimental treatment and the progression of the disease could be stopped. However, the medication led to blood cancer, and had it not been for my stem cells, he would be dead today.

Despite these setbacks, he keeps smiling and enjoys life. When I asked him how he did it, here’s what he said:

I can’t change my situation but I can change my outlook on it. Hence, I enjoy every moment that I have on this planet. Worrying is for losers — I choose to be a winner!