I read an article today about how most big lottery winners end up broke, lonely, depressed, or dead within five years.

Most of the people I’ve met who’ve faced cancer or another life altering disease, injury, or trauma have told me that it ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to them. (Amazingly, even some people who’ve lost a love one have told me something along these lines).

I definitely feel that way about my own journey as a cancer mom. It was absolutely the hardest and most painful experience of my life, yet it also inspired so much growth, healing and expansion in me and my children. I feel like we know more about how to live now – we’re more present, more connected, more grateful, more compassionate, more in touch with our inherent strength and courage, more aware of the preciousness of each day, more aligned with our purpose, and more focused on what really matters. Best of all, we remember to ENJOY it! My days are most definitely happier than they were before cancer.

And yet pretty much everyone I know feels like they would rather win the lottery than face cancer. (Including me!)

It just goes to show you that we don’t know as much about what will really make us happy as we think we do. Sometimes your worst nightmare turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. And sometimes it’s the other way around – though I bet a lot of those stories eventually turn into triumphs too.