Today I am going to share a secret with you. It is something that only a "select" few get exposed to. But instead of letting each of you wait to have to go through something like cancer to become privy to this wonderful lesson, I thought I would share it with each and everyone of you.
When going through a life altering event such as cancer we are often faced with many serious challenges and obstacles. Most people when faced with these challenges don't have the ability to personally take action and overcome this obstacle because of the immense challenges they are facing. At this moment for them, it is just about getting through the situation.
But when we are faced with these setbacks should we get disapointed that they we can't personally do much to improve it and move on or should we seek another option?
My experience going through leukemia has taught me many great things, but nothing more important than this:
Influencing others is a life skill that many of are not that strong with.
There will come a time when you can no longer act for yourself and will require others help
This shouldn't be the case, it would be wonderful if we could all take care of our own problems without the help of others but this isn't reality. When we can't act we should find ways to inspire others to act in our place.
In the early days of my diagnosis many people were signing up for one match to become potential stem cell donors in the hopes of maybe saving someone's life. I remember one day I just talking to my mom who came to me super disapointed because she was no longer eligible to become a member of the one match database because of her age. This was one of her moments when her world was being rocked because she no longer could personally act to achieve her desired goals.
I told her everything was going to be okay. This just meant that it was no longer her time in life to be the person who acts but rather now is her time to inspire others to act.
This is not a skill that comes that naturally to any of us, and so we need to practice it often. I decided to challenge my own ability to influence others last year and started a blood donation challenge because I could no longer donate blood. It was a huge success and if you are interested you can check out a write up I did on it; The Blood Donation Challenge
We aren't always going to be successful in influencing others when we first try as it really is a skill, like all others, that needs time and practice to master. So I offer you a little challenge to help you practice. Each one of you finds enjoyment in reading this blog whether it be you find inspiration, reflection, or just enjoyment in it. I have a simple challenge for you. Go out and influence a minimum of three other people to sign up for the email updates so they to can share in your enjoyment.
It may seem like a small challenge at first but most of you have probably already gotten the closest people in you life to perhaps read this, so there will be a little bit of a stretch involved in finding other people. I would hazard each of you from just getting anyone to sign up though, remember this is a life lesson we are practicing here. Focus on influencing people you think would enjoy it as much as you do.
I hope each of you takes me up on this challenge. It is small, but will pay so many dividends in helping you each work on mastering the skill of influencing others.
To close I thought I would leave you with the words of Hellen Keller:
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
I would love to hear if any of you will answer my call and accept this challenge, I am looking forward to your comments :)
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