The battle of life, is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved - Samuel Smiles
Oh the struggles I, no we, have encountered in the past 5 1/2 months. They are numerous, exhausting and oddly motivating. I didn't know I was a warrior. I had no idea how strong I was, I am, until all of this cancer talk started. I was just an everyday person. Raise my son, go to work, love my husband, take care of household chores, have some fun. Everyday person. 5 1/2 months ago I found my inner warrior and I haven't looked back. I'm a bad patient, an awful patient. I don't believe I am limited by anything more than my mind, and sometimes post surgical instructions. I don't always kick ass, but I kick ass on more days than days I don't kick ass. At least that's my opinion of myself right now. I have been blessed with an amazing support system through all of this which enables me to fight with everything I have to beat cancer. It is this support system, and this warrior mentality, that has been an ever present theme in every struggle, every blow of bad news, every frustrating call to insurance companies and doctors offices. It is what I hope to inspire in others. The warrior spirit.
Matt and I began talking about starting a non-profit almost as soon as I was diagnosed. It was something we had brought up over the past few years but never really had a clear direction, a clear cause and so it was nothing more than someday talks. Once I was diagnosed, it became clear that the focus would be cancer. The statistics of cancer diagnosis in America are staggering and now that I part of the cancer crowd, we had our insider. However, we still didn't have a clear idea of what we wanted to do, or when. That was until I found out that as of May 16th I will no longer have a job. No ill feelings towards my company, they have been great, but I am still losing my job because of my diagnosis. Our cause, our mission became crystal clear. We wanted to be able to help financially support individuals fighting cancer so that they could focus on healing instead of financial burdens. Everyday Warrior (Everyday-Warrior.org) was born from this last struggle of losing my job. Sometimes struggles are motivating!
Everyday Warrior is a non-profit organization whose mission is to financially support, inspire and empower individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer, the Everyday Warriors among us. We are in the beginning phases of planning for a large fundraising event that will take place this fall (sign up on our website to be notified when the new site is up and running!). We are beyond excited to be moving forward on what will be a most amazing experience. It is my personal experience that mental fortitude and the warrior spirit are paramount in the fight to beat cancer and if we can inspire just one person to find their inner warrior then I will call this a success. If we can help just one person with the financial struggles that accompany any good cancer fight, then Everyday Warrior will be a success.
Everyday Warrior - No One Fights Alone
No comments:
Post a Comment