{"id":983,"date":"2018-10-28T14:42:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-28T18:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/?p=983"},"modified":"2018-10-28T14:42:52","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T18:42:52","slug":"the-realness-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/28\/the-realness-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"The Realness of Life!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_985\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/28\/the-realness-of-life\/bd5550b3-b7ae-4300-8fd6-7605ef175982\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-985\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-985\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-985\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BD5550B3-B7AE-4300-8FD6-7605EF175982.jpeg?resize=225%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BD5550B3-B7AE-4300-8FD6-7605EF175982.jpeg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BD5550B3-B7AE-4300-8FD6-7605EF175982.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BD5550B3-B7AE-4300-8FD6-7605EF175982.jpeg?w=1740&amp;ssl=1 1740w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BD5550B3-B7AE-4300-8FD6-7605EF175982.jpeg?w=2610&amp;ssl=1 2610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-985\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Realness?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>No matter the length of time it takes but sooner or later the recognition of how ambiguous life is comes to the forefront. Do we <em>live\u00a0<\/em>life or do we\u00a0<em>serve\u00a0<\/em>life? To <em>live\u00a0<\/em>life means you are free. Free from being bound to the everyday grind. Free to choose <em>how\u00a0<\/em>you live. This way of living may sound strange but we are programmed to believe we have to <em>serve\u00a0<\/em>life rather than\u00a0<em>live <\/em>it!\u00a0To <em>serve\u00a0<\/em>life means you are a slave. You are a cog in a wheel that grinds you down for 20 to 30 years of life. Your creativity stagnates and disappears completely. And when the great machine is finished with you it spits you out and gives you a paltry, so-called \u201cpension\u201d that\u2019s not even enough to live on! My\u00a0diagnosis has broken the chains of my everyday life. Since I never worked long enough to retire in the actual, I always felt left out. You know&#8230; like I was missing out on a basic part of life. Now that I see from a different perspective and without hubris I\u2019m happy that I never got that chance. It seems to me that once you retire from a job you more or less retire from life also! This is when you choose whether to live or not. Either get busy living or get busy dying. The majority of people I know that have retired are either deceased or working another job. I was given a blessing in the disguise of stage IV lung cancer! I was indubitably headed towards\u00a0<em>serving<\/em> for the rest of my life instead of\u00a0<em>living\u00a0<\/em>for the rest of it! I thank the Almighty for giving me my strength in this testimony of mine. I am living life like never before! I am at peace! I am happy! Serenity fills me! Peace and blessings!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No matter the length of time it takes but sooner or later the recognition of how ambiguous life is comes to the forefront. Do we live\u00a0life or do we\u00a0serve\u00a0life? To live\u00a0life means you are free. Free from being bound to [&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-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living-life-with-cancer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8zBYf-fR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2562,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/to-turn-a-blind-eye\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":0},"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":2552,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/gone-into-living\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":1},"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":[]},{"id":2578,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/growing-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":2},"title":"growing faith","author":"Michael","date":"July 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"my faith is so stronglook in the mirror to seenow ever growing then what shall i do?live without having belief?i do not think so! cancer taught me howi see beauty everywheremy eyes are opened so i ride my bikeand lift my head to the skynow i see farther now i\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_8809.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8809.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8809.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8809.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8809.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2589,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/03\/subject-to-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":3},"title":"subject to change","author":"Michael","date":"September 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"i have something to sayto some may seem strangethere are things in my lifethat are subject to change now do not get me wrongi know what i claimcircumstances ariseno one is to blame with my life at riskand time at its essencei will never denybelief of God\u2019s presence so i\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\/04\/IMG_8958-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8958-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8958-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8958-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8958-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_8958-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2594,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/13\/nature-of-the-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":4},"title":"nature of the game","author":"Michael","date":"September 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"in life i tread lightlyi say my prayers nightlynothing is ever the same my days i live brightlyeach thing i do rightlysuch is the nature of the game to love so mightilyit means so much to mepins and needles in my brain so i always tread lightlywhile speaking eruditelyliving with\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_8643.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8643.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8643.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8643.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_8643.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2549,"url":"https:\/\/walkingdeadman.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/blessings\/","url_meta":{"origin":983,"position":5},"title":"blessings\u2026","author":"Michael","date":"April 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"i only evolve when standing on the edge of infinity. when solace fails and leaves fall between my fingers. music in my eyes, visions in my ears. i won\u2019t let the moss grow between my toes\u2014 for i must live, love, and always laugh. keeping a fragile synergy among the\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\/12\/F061C705-FF90-4B69-9FB4-86858918A520_Original-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/F061C705-FF90-4B69-9FB4-86858918A520_Original-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingdeadman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/F061C705-FF90-4B69-9FB4-86858918A520_Original-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, 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