Finding Meaning in Life’s Unwanted “Gifts” | Dr. Renee A. Exelbert | TEDxTexas Tech

Core Message - Life adversities, like cancer, are unwanted gifts that can be returned, exchanged, regifted, or shelved [5][6][9][11][21] - Integrating these unwanted gifts into one's identity can lead to personal growth and resilience [9][22][26] - The experience of adversity can foster compassion, consideration, sensitivity, and caring in individuals [21] Cancer Experience & Impact - A cancer diagnosis evokes terror and enters one into an unimaginable world [3] - The speaker experienced a sense of changing identity and beauty, shame, disfigurement, and devastation after being diagnosed with cancer at 37 [6][7] - The speaker had a breast cancer recurrence seven years after the initial diagnosis and developed skin cancer twice [14] - The speaker's children's conversations shifted from "boooos in her boobies" to life and death discussions during the second cancer experience [19] Coping & Growth - Taking care of oneself can aid in early detection and tolerance of treatments [17] - Resiliency is developed daily by showing up, rewiring neuropathways, and coping with adversity [23] - The speaker chooses not to return, exchange, or regift life, embracing it as a wondrous gift [24] - The speaker emphasizes the importance of grasping onto empowering coping techniques during challenging times [24][25]