Good Monday morning everyone!! I hope you had another fabulous weekend and are ready for the week ahead, a short one for most that has a little something happening towards the end. I hope you aren’t guessing what that is, if so… shame, shame. Kidding, of course. My Victory Party is on Friday the 13th (Good Friday), starting at 6:00 p.m. at Clovelly Golf Club. All are welcome and you’ll be hearing from me again regarding Friday as the week progresses. Today is the final message in my series of lessons from my series, and while I’m sure I’ll continue to share thoughts throughout the week I thought it was appropriate to end with a message of and about Love. Have a great week and I’ll be back soon.
Love
What a great word, and it is no coincidence that I’m sharing this lesson the Sunday before Victory Party. I have received many comments about my use of this word, specifically that I use it much more often than even in the early games of my series. I would agree with those observations and feel that it is because my awareness of the love in my life and its importance has grown significantly over the past 27 months.
At this point in my life I feel quite comfortable to say that it is the most important thing in my life, and I would suggest it’s the most important thing in life, period. If I gave you a choice of love or food, and you could only have one without having the other, which would you take?
The interesting thing for me is to think about my answer and why I chose it. Then to think about how I spend my time, and if my answer of love is really put into action. Do I really act on that choice of love in my daily life?
Throughout the past 27 months my awareness of the fact that I am committed to a life of love has grown. And the word “love” has become a focus of my life.
Answering the “love vs. food” question is probably a very simple way of answering the “priority” question. There are many others that you could use in place of “food”: Love or a car, love or a house, love or a great job, etc. Those simple questions help me think through my personal priorities and where they lie.
I spoke to a group of high school students Friday and I told them that this theory of “Positive Attitude” works in all situations. I have tried it out in some pretty exceptional and trying situations, and the theory holds. That week I spent in ICU prior to being placed on life-support, my positive attitude worked just as well there as it did Friday in the assembly when I only had 4-5 minutes to share the things I want to spend a lifetime sharing. It works everywhere, all the time.
Just as your positive attitude works everywhere, so does sending and receiving love. When looking at my priorities I can tell you that love is at the top. I can tell you that when I was having chemotherapy, spending 31 days in protective isolation, waking from my 3½ week sleep, struggling to get back on my feet, pursuing my new goals, taking my life in a different direction, and continuing to share my experience so that others may benefit from it as I have — through all that time, all the ups and downs, it was love that mattered most.
My degree, my car, my bank account, my music, didn’t matter. It was the love sent and received within my circle that was most important. And I made the effort to give my love to those within it, and receiving it from those connected to me is the most exceptional gift I have experienced in my 25 years.
The love I received that was so important and exceptional often came in the form of support, and it came from all areas. Family, friends, docs, nurses, pharmacists, physios, and more. I believe that support is a major reason I’m here today and I am blessed to have had it in my series, and to have it in my life.
I do feel that I can’t share my thoughts about love without quickly mentioning my adopted personal motto which you have all read many times. While this isn’t a lesson I learned exclusively in past 27 months, it is one that has been continuously reinforced. If you were to ever take anything away from my experience, if you are to ever learn anything from my cancer challenge I would like it to be that each day is a gift that is best when loved.
You never know what tomorrow will bring, what challenges await you in a new day. All you have, completely, is this moment and I encourage you to live and love every one. A long time ago I decided that quality is far more important than quantity. From my perspective life isn’t as much about how long you are here, but more about what you do with the time that you are. I encourage you to love yourself, love others, and love life.
Always…
Live Life. Love Life.
Geoff
