Yesterday’s news showed the Princess of Wales visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital, west London, where last year she’d received treatment for her cancer. Catherine thanked staff and talked empathetically with cancer patients…
Catherine said she was doing well, adding: ‘Sometimes from the outside we all think you’ve finished treatment and you go back to things. But it’s hard to get back to normal.’
On social media, Catherine said ‘As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal…’
Musing… Friends recovering from, living with, physical and mental health conditions, seeking, returning to normal, discovering a new normal.
Dan Snow tells me… On this day (15th January) in 1559 was Elizabeth I’s coronation. Elizabeth’s childhood was troubled. Her mother, Ann Boleyn, was beheaded; her father, Henry VIII, declared her illegitimate.
Elizabeth’s half sister Mary Tudor became queen. Mary’s Roman Catholic convictions resulted in numerous executions of religious dissenters; she became known as ‘Bloody Mary’. Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London.
At Elizabeth’s coronation there was a promise of national hope, peace, stability and a return to a more moderate protestant faith. A new normal.
Musing… Friends, experiencing distress and turmoil brought about by their family or religion… seeking, discovering their new normal…
Reading this morning… Moses, alone, looking after father-in-law Jethro’s sheep, sees a bush that’s on fire but not burning up. A voice calls him from the bush, ‘Moses, Moses’.
He’s known about the god of his ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the god of his father Amram. Now, for the first time, eighty-year-old Moses encounters God. This is Moses’ real, personal God.
God gives Moses a job, specific to his gifts and experiences. Moses objects. As this newly-discovered relationship with God develops, Moses leads the Israelite nation from slavery to freedom.
Musing… friends… myself… sometimes later in life, encountering their God. Unexpectedly they receive a new challenge, specific to their gifts and experience… seeking, discovering a new normal…
malcolmsmusings.org 
It’s wonderful to see Catherine, the Princess of Wales, visiting the hospital that helped her to recover her health. She shows such a deep compassion for others while tolerating so much from the constant scrutiny of the media. 🙂
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Catherine certainly comes across well in all of the press and TV reports. Her care and compassion apprears really genuine!
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I like this post, Malcolm. I discovered a new normal after retirement. I love this new normal. I write, share God’s word, take pictures, enjoy my grandchildren, life coach, etc. If someone had told me I would be able to do things full-time, I may have been doubtful. There are times I remember sitting at my desk in corporate hoping for this. I can see correlation between my gifts and experience. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks, Sandra. I certainly had that experience when I retired, too. I keep learning and relearning that no normal is permanent, and that I am prepared and equipped for my new normal.
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I Think Catherine, Princess of Wales Is a Gorgeous Woman
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Princess Catherine is wonderful role model, particularly over this last year as a aprent and in the way she has faced her cancer.
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I Think Catherine, Princess of Wales Is on the same level as Rosalynn Carter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Babe Paley,
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Princess Catherine certainly comes across as a lady of honour and integrity who has earnt the respect of many deservedly in my view
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