Good Monday morning (for most of you), hope you had a great weekend. Today I am beginning to share a collection of thoughts that relate to my learning and growth throughout the past 27 months. My plan is to share this collection with you as we countdown to Victory Party.
Perspective
It is one of my favourite things to discuss, virtually or in person. I will define the term perspective as “the point or points of view possessed by someone or something.” I do feel it is possible to see a situation, object or entity from several perspectives. In fact I would suggest that the ability to see life from numerous perspectives is a great gift, whether we choose to accept that challenge is another issue entirely. I really feel we are, among other things, here to learn. And opening ourselves to other perspectives on life, and all things within it, is a major component of tackling that learning challenge. I have been extremely fortunate to experience many amazing connections and interact with many people who have shared some of their perspective on life, and the many aspects of it. But here I will only discuss my perspective, and I’ll be specific to my challenge as I feel it will illustrate my thoughts very well.
I do have a very specific concept I am wanting to share relating to my perspective topic, and of course it relates to my series. I am specifically thinking about a statement I made over two years ago, on November 17th, 1998, when I wrote to the existing My Friends Email Group members and assured them that “Victory has never been in question.” I’m sure some of you remember that statement. I have talked about it many times since to a variety of groups, most specifically when speaking about my series.
For those of you who aren’t completely sure, November 17th, 1998 was during one of the last days of Game 1 chemo.
At the time I wrote that statement I didn’t explain, I just wrote it. I assumed that many, most, people would figure that my definition of Victory meant cure. And that would have been an accurate thought. What I didn’t explain was that I had a much larger definition of Victory, and to narrow it to the word “cure” would not have been accurate.
It wasn’t too long after I wrote that Victory thought that I began to write my “last notes”, which is a speech that I wanted read at my funeral should that possibility become a reality. Within the lines of that speech I talked about several topics, and addressed some of the favourite experiences of my life, and of course I included some words of wisdom. One of those thoughts was the following.
I talked briefly about the concept of victory, and specifically how perspective influences your definition of the term. I talked about my definition of victory, and what that term meant to me in relation to my series. When I came up with the thought of “victory has never been in question” I defined victory in my mind. In business it would be called setting objectives, and victory was/is an objective of mine. In defining the term I seemed to pose questions, and some of them are rhetorical. The question that really lead to the development of my perspective is this: “if I lose my Series, but in doing so I touch one, a thousand or a million lives, can you consider my experience anything but a victory?”
My perspective says no. From the very early stages of my experience I developed the mindset that if I could positively impact the lives of other people, then no matter what happened medically my series would be a victory. At this point in my series I feel extremely fortunate to have have made a positive impact on the lives of many. My series was a victory a long time ago, and with each day the margin of victory grows.
I really feel that a major reason why I adopted that perspective is that I have always been a big fan of focusing on the things you can control/influence. Personal perspective is certainly something that we all have control of, and I took control of mine. No matter the uncertainty relating to, and significance of, the unknowns I faced I always had control of my perspective. Being able to positively influence my view of my challenge was a major step in my life and it has dramatically contributed to my experience with life while having cancer. And that contribution continues, and will continue for as long as I choose to have it play a role in my life.
Many of you have certainly heard me say that “No matter how tough your situation is, look around, as there is always someone who is in a tougher spot.” I think the ability to do that looking around is largely dependent on perspective; specifically our ability to see things from other people’s perspective. And doing that helps me understand my own situation and decide just what’s really important.
Hope you enjoyed a little view of my perspective. Have a great day!
Always…
Live Life. Love Life.
Geoff
#4
