{"id":294,"date":"2017-08-20T22:38:48","date_gmt":"2017-08-20T22:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/?p=294"},"modified":"2018-11-28T09:49:06","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T14:49:06","slug":"24-the-realness-of-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/20\/24-the-realness-of-existence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Realness of Existence!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Remember the first time you ever saw yourself? No guessing, but how many people can remember the actual moment that they first saw themselves? I was probably shown my reflection many times before this but this is my first memory of seeing my reflection. I was two years old and I looked in the mirror and held up two fingers like my mom had just shown me how to do. Amazing as it seems, I tend to wonder sometimes if that really happened. But if that were the case, how can we be sure of\u00a0<strong>any\u00a0<\/strong>of our distant memories? You see, since my acute awareness of life, I&#8217;ve started a journal&#8230; a journal of my\u00a0<strong>earliest<\/strong> memories. A recapitulation so to speak. I thought nothing would come of this but in all actuality, each little thing starts to make connections with others and I&#8217;m starting to put my childhood together piece by piece. I&#8217;m not saying this will work for everybody but it works for me. How do we know what is real? No red or blue pill but how do we really\u00a0<strong>know<\/strong>? Hopefully, there&#8217;s a difference between the dreamer and the dreamed&#8230; or are we both? Pragmatically speaking, we can&#8217;t be both. It&#8217;s either one or the other. Or is it? Now, there are a few things in my life that solidify my thoughts on the &#8220;realness of existence&#8221;. First and foremost is Jesus Christ. I don&#8217;t have to actually\u00a0<strong>see<\/strong> Jesus to know if He is real or not. My faith takes care of that. Where would I be without Him? Gone probably, worse off most likely. But my faith keeps me going. I could&#8217;ve given up two years ago when I was first diagnosed, but I didn&#8217;t. Next is my mental attitude. I&#8217;ve\u00a0<strong>never<\/strong> been sick in my life! \u00a0I made it to sixty without being on\u00a0<strong>any\u00a0<\/strong>medication whatsoever! \u00a0I use to say things like &#8220;there are good days and there are bad days&#8221;. No longer! My life now dictates that each and\u00a0<strong>every<\/strong> day is good! There is\u00a0<strong>no<\/strong> time for anything else! So believing in Jesus and having faith are good enough reasons for\u00a0<strong>anyone\u00a0<\/strong>to believe in the &#8220;realness of existence!&#8221; Peace and blessings!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remember the first time you ever saw yourself? No guessing, but how many people can remember the actual moment that they first saw themselves? I was probably shown my reflection many times before this but this is my first memory [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living-life-with-cancer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8zBYf-4K","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2547,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/the-blog-lives-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":294,"position":0},"title":"The Blog Lives Again!","author":"Michael","date":"March 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"After some time away, I discovered something surprising. Without realizing it, my blog site had been down since December 4, 2025 \u2014 which also happened to be the date of my last post. As a matter of fact, I eventually discovered that the entire site had actually been deleted. That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living life with cancer!&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living life with cancer!","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/category\/living-life-with-cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_9024-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_9024-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_9024-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_9024-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_9024-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_9024-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2584,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/choosing-violence\/","url_meta":{"origin":294,"position":1},"title":"choosing violence","author":"Michael","date":"July 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"woke up this morningchoosing violence.no hesitation involved,only relentless intent. i am not like this usually,but due to circumstancesnot quite within my grasp,my choices are limited. the act i have chosenmay seem insignificant to some,but means the differencebetween breathing\u2026 and not breathing. i am extending my riding time,each and every day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living life with cancer!&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living life with cancer!","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/category\/living-life-with-cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2560,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/havent-posted-lately\/","url_meta":{"origin":294,"position":2},"title":"HAVEN\u2019T POSTED LATELY!","author":"Michael","date":"May 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I have not been posting lately for a very simple reason. My concentration has been focused on my second book, CANCER\u2019S GIFT:THE GIFT OF AWARENESSFurther Conversations of a Walking Dead Man I know the title is a mouthful, but once you read the introduction, you will understand exactly what this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living life with cancer!&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living life with cancer!","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/category\/living-life-with-cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_6476-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_6476-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_6476-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_6476-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_6476-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_6476-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2562,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/to-turn-a-blind-eye\/","url_meta":{"origin":294,"position":3},"title":"to turn a blind eye!","author":"Michael","date":"June 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"it is easy to see\u2028 anomalous living is never free our heads turn away\u2028 from any trouble \u2028even when we look \u2028we pretend it is double lives are so preciouswhile time is a blurtrying to rememberthe youth that we were but as fate would have itour bodies do not lasttry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living life with cancer!&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living life with cancer!","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/category\/living-life-with-cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_3610_Original.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_3610_Original.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_3610_Original.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_3610_Original.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":198,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/05\/15-recapitulation\/","url_meta":{"origin":294,"position":4},"title":"Recapitulation!","author":"Michael","date":"July 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I'm now just beginning my 3rd year of treatment something occurred to me. \u00a0Mind you, I'm still here through the grace of God but it goes much deeper than that. The simple fact is that I've made it this far in my life\u00a0only through the grace of God! There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living life with cancer!&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living life with cancer!","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/category\/living-life-with-cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2552,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/gone-into-living\/","url_meta":{"origin":294,"position":5},"title":"gone into living!","author":"Michael","date":"April 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"i have something to saywhich may seem oddbut the way i livehas become a facade it is eleven years nowi have been in a fightfor within my bodyi battle a blight so i put on my maskmy helmet, my glovesget on my bikemy language of love no one can seewhat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living life with cancer!&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living life with cancer!","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/category\/living-life-with-cancer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8877-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8877-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8877-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8877-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8877-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_8877-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1026,"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions\/1026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}