After battling lung cancer and other health issues since last March, Ronnie Jackson, Bryan’s Neighborhood and Youth Services Manager, is back working full time, and says he’s gained some new perspective on life.
Jackson says, without wanting to sound harsh, one of the biggest lessons to learn from cancer is that it’s not about you.
He says cancer is about letting go, and it was difficult for him to learn that you have to let others treat you, love on you, take care of you, and pray for you.
Jackson, who reaches his ten month survival milestone this week, says he’s been touched and amazed by people’s loving acts of kindness.
He says being diagnosed with cancer is something no one ever expects, and the experience humbles you because it makes you so vulnerable.
He says the experience also brought his faith to a whole new level.
Jackson says you have to depend on the leadership and wisdom of your medical team, but he discovered that, at some point, you have to lean on prayer and faith.
He says that things were so completely out of his control that he had to put his fate “into the hands of the good Lord,” and trust him to know why he’d been singled out for this burden.
Jackson says although at first he was angry, hurt, and scared, he now realizes how blessed he is and feels stronger than he’s felt since he was originally diagnosed.
Ronnie Jackson visits with WTAW’s Kat McMullen