Make a Difference!

com-mu-ni-ty

kəˈmyo͞onitē/

noun

1. A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

friend-ship

ˈfrendˌSHip/

noun

1. The emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends.

synonyms: relationship, attachment, association, bond, tie, link, union

1. • noun

Tomorrow at this time (if everything goes as planned), I'll be waking up in the Hamilton General recovery room, most likely slightly dazed and confused, but nonetheless...TUMOR FREE!  I definitely had my doubts about sharing my story but after a lot of skepticism and some coaxing, I am SO  glad that I did.  Since starting my blog, I have received an overwhelming response from friends (old and new) and family, I have been reached out to by complete strangers who have similar stories of their own or who just want to send well wishes, I have been cheered on by co-workers, and most of all, I have gained an entirely new sense of friendship and community. It has taken something like this to open my eyes to all the love, support, and generosity that surrounds me every single day!

So, here I sit in my hotel room with weird Cheerios stuck all over my face and neck in preparation for surgery, eagerly awaiting 6am tomorrow morning, looking at all the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter shoutouts I've gotten today alone, and feeling like one lucky girl!

I spoke with a friend last night who has recently undergone some struggles of his own; after hearing his story and being unable to fathom his hardships, I took note of his incredible ability to hold his head high and continue radiating positivity.  He said something to me that I wanted to share: 

"I think this part of our lives is important; how we evade it, how we succumb to it, how we deal with it, and how we transcend it".

He was absolutely right in saying so.  All of your experiences (especially the hardest ones) become a part of who you are and how you choose to react to them makes all the difference in the world!  

Ever since I was little, before every basketball game, my Dad would tell me to make a difference; I've since decided to stop playing ball based on the fact that my motivation to go to practice, on a scale from 1 to 10, fell somewhere in the negatives, but I continue to tell my Dad to make a difference every Tuesday night before he hits the ice to defend the net for his Oldtimer hockey team.  Now, each one of you has made a difference to me if even just by reading this, and if I have in any way inspired just one person to stay positive through tough times then I have done my job!  I now want to share the same advice with you. Strive to make a difference in everything you do and I promise it won't go unnoticed!    

As it may be evident by the jumbled structure of this blog, there are so many things I want to say...so many stories I want to share, but with the chaos that is my brain right now (in both the physical and mental sense) it's hard to organize my thoughts, but I'll leave you with a few 'Janeisms' that you can look back on when life kicks you around:

• ALWAYS strive to make a difference
• ALWAYS keep your head up
• LIVE everyday as if it's your last 
• LOVE unconditionally 
• CHERISH everyone and everything you've got 
• NEVER take life for granted

I can't wait to fill you all in and get back at it once this is all said and done. Take a good look ya'll; this may be the last time you see me with a full head of hair (and less noticeably, a tumor)!! Catch ya on the flip side.

Over & Out ;)

xox