Cancer

I have Cancer. This month makes 8 years since we found out about it.

I’m not sure how to acknowledge that. Is it an anniversary? Something to celebrate? What emotions am I feeling? Truthfully … I’m not sure.

It’s called a Gastro Intestinal Strombal Tumor (GIST). For awhile I had difficulty remembering that so I did what I usually do and create an association. In this case it was “stromboli”.

The tumor has caused a number of other complications (serious, cosmetic, pride)  – both on its own as well as from the side effects of the medications.

We found it by accident. There were no warning signals. We have not been able to find the cause.

It’s wrapped around the aorta, so it can never come out. We’ve explored all the options.

Why am I sharing this? A few reasons:

• Life is precious. You never know what’s around the corner. Live it fully.
• You can’t tell what someone else is dealing with. You wouldn’t know this is my challenge unless I told you so.
• Think about how you would react if this (or something similar) happened to you. What emotions would you have? How would you plan or strategically manage your life differently?
• Have you created the right/complete support network (family, medical, faith, legal, friends, etc.)? Do you really deserve their support?
• Who will you tell? What would you say? How would you expect people to react?

Life is a journey. Are you managing it strategically or just day by day? Some of us have plans for our life; others don’t. Those plans affect our spouses/family and sometimes friends, business associates, and others. They may change gradually or suddenly.

As organizations should be thinking and using Strategic Management, so should we in our life.

I encourage people to think beyond today’s busy day-to-day living about what kind of life they really want and how to get there. I have a simple, yet powerful 30 year vision exercise that I’d be happy to share.

As the Boy Scout motto says:  “Be prepared”.