A person’s desire to live has to come from the deepest core of his or her being, and it has to be unquestioning. The unwavering conviction is “Yes! I want to keep living.” The cancer diagnosis can be a wake-up call to the fact that they may not be very excited about one or more aspects of their lives, whether it be their careers, romantic relationships, family lives, spiritual lives, communities, or hobbies. The diagnosis forces one to reflect of what they would ideally like to change to make their remaining time of this planet—however long that may be—as enjoyable and meaningful as possible.

Turner cites several studies that show us that not focusing on dying, and instead focusing on other things—such as your reasons for living—may actually help you survive cancer longer, reduce your chances of a recurrence, and give you fewer side effects. On the other hand, being depressed and not finding strong reasons for living may cause you to die sooner. Studies of those who have a “fighting spirit” have not been shown to help cancer patients live longer. Meanwhile, having strong reasons for living involves focusing on things that bring a person meaning and joy, and this actually turns off the fight-or-flight response, which in turn tells the body to release a slew of immune-boosting hormones, such as serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins.

Although I am not completely unafraid of death, my reasons to continue to life are strong and as such overshadow the existing fear. Of course since we are just beginning this treatment and depending on the results I may have to confront this issue much more intimately in the future. For now, it’s quite easy to list a host of reasons that underlie my desire to live. Asking myself not just do I want to stay alive but why, what else would I still like to experience in this life. What activities bring me energy and joy? Even if we never achieve all our life goals, simply having them allows us to keep pulling invigoration life-force energy into our bodies.