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"When A Bird Poops On Your Hand-Don't Ask Why Me"

© Lauren Parthun

As funny and gross as the title sounds, it actually happened to me. I was sitting at a red light in my car the other day with my left arm out the window. All of a sudden I felt this wet drop on my hand, I thought it was starting to sprinkle. I looked at my hand and there about the size of a quarter a bird had left it's calling card as it was flying over head. "Yuck!! How disgusting" was all I could say. I carry a water bottle with me and I was so happy that there was a little bit of water left in the bottle. I popped the top and squirted my hand. And then I started waving my hand around like some nut...I can imagine what the other drivers were thinking. The light turned green as I laughed and said out loud "Why Me?".

When I was diagnosed with cancer I said that many times. "Why me?...I'm to young...I haven't had children yet...I don't want to die...Why me?". I'm a recovering person in a 12 Step Program and somewhere along the way I learned "Acceptance" and when I would say "Why me?" it would make me think am I someone so special, so perfect that things shouldn't happen to me? I'm like everyone else why did I think "things" shouldn't happen to me? Today I am able to say "Why not me?". I'm not saying I always accepted things or had the "Why not me" attitude. Yet, the more time I tried to use this attitude the easier things went...most of the time.

So, when my little bird friend dropped this little surprise on my hand I said "Why not me?". I thought at least I had water with me to rinse it off. As I laughed I thought "When you gotta go...you gotta go!" no matter where. And my hand just happened to be in the way.

Like I said before when I was going through my journey into cancer I didn't always have that attitude. I remember having to go to radiation everyday and getting frustrated and tired of having to do that daily. When I would think "Why me?" I would challenge my negative thinking with positive thinking. "Why me?", Why do I have to go to radiation everyday?. Why...because the radiation was destroying any remaining cancer cells. As long as I wanted to be a survivor I had to do whatever...to survive.

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