The Purple Patch Mindset: Thriving in the Bright Moments

In sport, a ‘purple patch’ describes a run of form – a streak where everything seems to click, and you can do no wrong.

It’s a beautiful phrase, evoking colour and rarity. For anyone on a cancer journey, or indeed navigating any long battle, purple patches take on even greater significance.

These are the weeks where the scans look better. Where your energy returns. Where the nausea fades, even just a little. Where the sun seems to shine a touch warmer and the clouds clear.

A purple patch is not permanent. But the mindset you bring to it can be.

What is the Purple Patch Mindset?

The Purple Patch Mindset is about how you approach the good days. When you’ve spent so much time fighting through the bad ones, it can feel disorienting and frightening to feel strong again. You worry it won’t last. You wonder if you deserve to relax.

This mindset says: yes, you deserve it. And yes, you must make the most of it – not by sitting back, but by moving forward with intention.

The Purple Patch Mindset has three simple principles:

1. Savour It Without Guilt

Good days can make you feel strangely guilty when you know others are struggling or when you fear you’re tempting fate. But survivor guilt has no place in your recovery.

You earned these good days through every appointment you showed up to, every decision to keep going, every ounce of stubborn courage you’ve mustered.

So enjoy it. Go for the walk. Eat the meal. See the people. Do the things. Don’t just exist – live, fully.

2. Build on It, Don’t Coast

It’s tempting to treat a purple patch as a rest stop and you absolutely should rest – but don’t squander it either!

These good days are the time to lay foundations for tomorrow. Strengthen your body. Strengthen your relationships. Strengthen your spirit.

If you can move, move. If you can laugh, laugh. If you can dream again, dream bigger. Don’t just wait for the next bad day, invest in yourself now, so you’re better prepared for whatever comes.

3. Stay Grounded and Grateful

A purple patch isn’t a guarantee. It’s a reprieve.

Enjoy the light, but keep the lessons of the darkness close to your heart. The humility. The resilience. The perspective. These are the things that carried you through before, and they’ll carry you through again when the road turns rough.

Gratitude and realism go hand in hand. You can smile knowing the storm has passed – but you also know how to hold steady if it returns.

Why does this mindset matter?

When you hit a purple patch, you’re reminded of what’s possible – that you are still capable of joy, of progress, of hope. It’s a glimpse of who you really are beneath the weight of illness or adversity.

But without the right mindset, it’s easy to waste these days. To worry so much about them ending that you never really live them. To sit still when you could have made memories.

The Purple Patch Mindset frees you from that trap. It reminds you that the journey isn’t just about surviving the bad days, it’s also about embracing the good ones, fully and without fear.

A purple patch can’t last forever but don’t worry, there will be another one coming soon.

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