The Value Index

• November 20, 2018
• Living with Cancer Blog

By Jon B.

I’ve always been the type of person who carefully selects how I spend my time and who I spend it with. Now that I have cancer, I’ve honed that skill to an almost innate behaviour. If there’s a red flag about someone and the value they are bringing to my life, I won’t engage. I don’t have time for them. Time is too precious; I know that now. For me, the people I make time for are people I have a genuine connection with.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a time and place for small chat and superficial people, but that time for me has passed. Now I only want to experience people in a real and authentic way. The same goes for activities and everything in my life. I make all my decisions from a place of personal value and self-preservation. This comes from my innate sense that my time here is limited – I want to make the most of it.

So the good news is … everyone now in my life adds value to my day in one way or another. Whether it’s my financial person who I connect well with and who provides investment information, or my sister, who I share a genuine bond with, or a good friend who has known me well for a long time. These are people who bring real meaning to my life.

We can’t control so areas of life, but in this room of my life, I get to be the architect, and the theme I’m going for is value.

Me with my treasured sister and dear late mom. (More about my mom in my next post.)