5.  Take some time to myself. Last week, I decided not to feel guilty about just lying around reading when my kids were out and I was stuck in bed anyway.

6.  Realize when it’s time to get outside of myself. This is a very difficult balance for me. It is sometimes tempting to keep social activities down to the bare minimum (to those required by parenting) but I need my friends and family and I need to stay engaged in the world.

Balancing the last two points is enormously tricky. On the one hand, I know I can burn myself out with social events when I recover from chemo and get the itch to be active. Lately, though, my tendency has been to turn inward. It can be especially hard to see folks I once worked with, as they continue with the work and the rhythms that I did not give up by choice.

But my friends like and care for me because of who I am. And just as I want to be known as more than a person living with cancer, I need to remember that my friends are also well-rounded people who are defined by much more than the absence of cancer in their lives.

And besides, laughing and playing with my friends is good for me.

This brings me to my final point.

7.  Take the time to remind myself of everything that is good in my life.

There are many things. And I am enormously grateful.

I would be very interested in hearing from other women living with metastatic (Stage 4) breast cancer. What do you do to stay emotionally healthy? You can post your response as a comment below.