Here are some words to think about today. To share, to reflect upon, to find solace in.

“Every day is special, so make the most of it.

Life is only bad if you make it bad.

Happiness depends upon ourselves.

Maybe it’s not about the happy ending, maybe it’s about the story.”

12-year old Athena lost her battle with cancer last week

Some words by 12-year-old girl perhaps hoping that someone would read them, absorb them and somehow they might just brighten a heart or two.

Some words written by a 12-year-old girl dying of cancer – words full of hope and inspiration.

These words are just a few of over 3000 left in a secret message by young Athena Orchard, of Leicester in the UK, who recently died of cancer.

The father of Athena, Dean Orchard, found the words written on the side of a full length mirror in his daughter’s bedroom just days after she died of an aggressive form of cancer.

Dean told The Leicester Mercury: “It was a stand-up mirror in her room, and it was always lent up against the wall so we never saw behind it.”

“She never mentioned it, but it’s the kind of thing she’d do,” he said.

“She was a very spiritual person, she’d go on about stuff that I could never understand – she was so clever… When I moved the mirror after she died I couldn’t believe it, I saw all this writing – it must have been about 3,000 words.”

Athena had been fighting cancer since she found a small lump on the side of her head last November. At the time doctors dismissed it as a cyst, but a month later it had swelled to the size of a tennis ball.

Just before Christmas, her mother found Athena collapsed on the kitchen floor.

“I had huge pains all down the left side of my body and I’d blacked out and was breathing really heavily,” Athena told The Leicester Mercury at the time.

Her father found the mirror

She was rushed to hospital and four days later was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. The cancer was in three main areas, her spine, her left shoulder and her head.

The 12-year-old bravely underwent intense chemotherapy and surgery but lost her battle with the disease last week.

Her message to her family and the world beyond is a tribute to who she was.

“Maybe it’s not about the happy ending, maybe it’s about the story.”

“You could get a life-ending illness tomorrow so make the most of every day… Life is only bad if you make it bad,” it said.

Athena comes from a large family with six brothers and three sisters. Her Mother Caroline told The Daily Mail: “We knew that Athena loved to write, that was part of who she was, it made her happy.

“When we read the message it blew us away, Dean started to try and read it but then he just broke out in tears – when it got to the part about her illness, he couldn’t finish,” she said.

“She was an incredible girl, so bright and so strong, she continually amazed me.”

Here’s an extract from brave Athena’s message: