- March 9, 2021
- Living with Cancer Blog
By Dot Kohler
The timing of the Returning to Work program could not have been better; I am so amazed! Thank you Wellspring Calgary for so generously offering this program to someone way on the other side of the prairies. I found the distance, even with COVID, shrunk week by week because of the compassionate, deep listening, care and professionalism.
In the middle of our course, I received a call from my insurance company saying they were ready to start my return to work process. Gulp! The course content and rich discussions helped move me from a place of fear and hesitation towards increasing confidence. In this short time, I was motivated to write my own return to work plan which included my thoughts about what I need in order to return to work successfully. I gathered confidence to invite other professionals who have been part of my healing journey, to write letters of recommendation for work accommodations. In my journey with cancer, in the time spent together with others in this course, and in reflecting on the really good homework questions in between classes, I am finding my voice!
Thank you
A while back, I wrote these words and believe they apply to our small Returning to Work class:
In the sharing of our stories,
it’s not like we hand over
pieces of ourselves,
parcel out our pain,
expecting others to take it away,
to rescue us.
Somehow
in our talking and listening
in breathing out and taking in
the hard and confusing and funny parts,
something shifts;
we find our own words
and discover
we no longer need to hold everything,
feel the entire weight ourselves.
The miracle is
we all
leave lighter.
