Hope

My full time work is with a national organization that works with local communities to help them raise funds for programs and services for cancer patients, survivors and their families, for life-saving research to help these patients, as well as programs that help promote cancer prevention. Last night was one of my first fundraisers of the season, and I had the privilege of hearing a gentleman, Rich, share his inspiring story of beating cancer and the hope that he brings others in the community.  When diagnosed with cancer, not once, but twice, Rich made the conscious decision to put his troubles in God's hands and trust that everything was just as it should be. He decided there was no sense in worrying about what struggles were ahead of him, but rather accepting the present moment. This is a hard thing to do.  My husband often reminds me that "worrying is just wasted energy" or something like that; easy for someone who is not naturally a worrier to say.  But, indeed, he is correct.  It is especially hard when being faced with a potentially life-threatening disease, I'm sure.  But that was the exact perspective Rich took.  

A 30-year survivor of 2 separate kinds of cancer, he now uses the challenges he faced to help others through their cancer diagnosis.  As he hears of individuals in the community who have heard the all-too-famous (or infamous) words "you have cancer," he reaches out to them by visiting them in person and bringing them a "hope" stone, which is small stone with the word "hope" written on it.  He said that many times he comes across individuals who do not want to talk about the fact that they have cancer, perhaps who aren't ready to admit yet that this horrible disease has crept into their lives.  But he persists, and shares with them his story of triumph and shines a light on the fact that there is hope out there and many people to help them along the way.  He has been visiting homes with these stones for years, and 9 times out of 10 leaves the patient with the belief that there is HOPE and this little stone as a daily reminder.  Rich spent nearly the entire day at the 12-hour event, getting to know other survivors and community members and bringing happiness and joy into everyone's life that had the opportunity to visit with him.  He will be celebrating his 90th birthday in May, has been married to his wife for 69 years and is now her sole caretaker as she suffered a stroke this past year.  He also has some other lung problems from working with anhydrous for many years, but as you may have guessed, none of this has caused him to give up on living life to the fullest and spreading the message of love to others.

On my way home at nearly midnight, after working 13 1/2 hours, running on 5 hours of interrupted sleep from the night before and the fact that if my child was asleep when I got home, I may be up again in just a couple hours to care for him, I reflected on the day's events and Rich's speech and realized I could not feel bad for myself.  For this was my journey to share with my husband; our life as it has been given to us and carefully planned for us already.  I remembered something that I tell my yoga students often: "No matter what challenges you are facing today in your life and what outside struggles you are bringing to your mat, see if you can set them aside for now, and simply be fully present in the moment for the next hour."  I share this concept with them at the beginning class and say something to the same effect at the end of class as well in hopes that they can access it and the feeling they have at the end of practice when they are faced with stressful situations in their own lives.  So that we can move beyond the worries that invade our lives to remain present for those who are here to celebrate each new day with us.  Everyone is on a unique path in life and is given different opportunities to grow and gain strength at different times of their lives.  I was thinking about how much Rich and his wife have experienced in their 69 years of marriage and raising 5 children and wishing I had the chance to get to know him better, to learn from him and just listen to another generation; a generation that is often so mindful of the priorities in life and keeping things in perspective.  I do feel blessed in my job to be able to hear stories like this and be reminded that in every tough moment or time in life, HOPE EXISTS.