I've been taking Jim Tressel's "The Winners Manual for the Game of Life" with me to my chemo treatments. I'm almost done with it and may start it over from the beginning at my next session. I seldom read a book over but the guidance it provides is that inspiring.
I had already decided to write about Tressel's chapter on hope before reading in this morning's paper about the breast cancer death yesterday of local television anchor Heather Pick at age 38. From all I know of her incredible spirit, she would concur it is appropriate to keep hope high in any challenge we face.
This chapter gave my yellow highlighter a workout so I can't repeat all the good stuff here, but here is a good excerpt:
"When we possess the hope and belief that ultimately we're going to be successful in our journeys , there's not much of what comes our way on a daily basis that we can't handle. When we see negative events as stepping stones and have hope that our problems can actually propel us toward our goals rather than than hinder us, then we are, of all people, truly blessed. If I could pass along one virtue to all of our players -- and to every reader of this version of the Winners Manual -- it would be the virtue of hope."
Every day we have a choice about how to approach all we encounter. I choose hope.
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A number of years ago I worked with a young man who at age 41 was diagnosed with ALS. The faith, spirit, determination and inspiration that Kevin was known for were modeled after those same attributes for which you are known. His prognosis was 18 months. His motto was "Keep hope alive!" And he did... for another seven years.
At the onset of Kevin's illness, he pledged $1 million to the University of Kentucky for the purpose of researching a cure for ALS. Kevin's pledge is only about $50,000 shy of his goal at this time, yet not a lot of progress has been made toward the cure, much less treatment, of ALS.
I thank God each day for you, Mary, and for the treatments available to you. And I thank God too for your strength to courageously fight and ultimately win this battle with sarcoma... and for teaching so many of us the value of "Keeping hope alive"!
With much love and many prayers,
Annie
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