"When you die, it doesn't mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live."- Stuart Scott
This is not the first time I've blogged about cancer, and I can guarantee this will not be the last. You see, there's something so evil about this disease, something so unfair about it's infectious control over undeserving people, that constantly pulls at my heart strings. I can't help but have all the feels when a new story surfaces about someone else fighting the cancer battle. It's hard to ignore that cancer affects millions of people every year- millions of families, friends, and children all battling for their lives every single year.
Let that sink in.
I often find myself thinking about how hard my life is. With school, jobs, starting a new series on Netflix, what to eat, etc. There are days where I just sit in self-pity and expect the world to cater to me and fix life's "horrible" inconveniences while my wi-fi is out and theres snow stuck the windshield of my car. But then it strikes me like a shot out of left-field--I am so beyond lucky to have these amenities to even worry about. Besides my occasional broken bone, or an unpleasant surgery every now-and-then, I've never once had to experience the devastation of a life-altering diagnosis. When I sit in the doctors office and cringe at the OB/GYN, it's hard to even imagine what it's like to have to go through months of chemo, countless needle pokes, and excruciating spinal taps.
Once cancer has affected you on a personal level, it's hard to let the angst you have toward it's evil slip away. Because once you know someone who battled it, you will never be able to hear the word "cancer" and turn the other cheek. It becomes more than a word, it now holds meaning and memories.
When I heard that legendary Sports Center anchor, Stuart Scott, had succumbed to cancer- I instantly had a flash back to the ESPYS this summer as he accepted the Jimmy V Perseverance award. I vividly remember being at work, a busy pub in summertime Iowa City, but I stopped-still in my tracks as I watched Stuart confidently strut up to the podium and gave one of the most heart-wrenching speeches I had ever heard. I stood there, dumbfounded with tears beginning to well-up, as he talked about his condition and how cancer wouldn't dictate how he lived his life; which he lived to the absolute fullest. Even in his weakest moments, he still went on air, he still cracked his catch phrases with the upmost punch, he proved he was still was the same Stuart Scott regardless of his fate.
Cancer sucks. Plain and simple. There's not one positive to it, and as I said before, it's completely unfair and unjust. But, if there's something we can learn from Stuart Scott, or anyone who has ever had their fate altered by this disease, it's that cancer doesn't define who you are or where you're going. Cancer isn't a final destination, or a word that can sum up an entire life before or after cancer. It's a word that would undeniably take your breath away the first time you hear it, but it does not have the power to leave your life breathless.
Stuart Scott, as an aspiring ESPN anchor, I can't thank you enough for your role in changing the face of Sports Center. You'll forever be cooler than the other side of the pillow, and may your memory and legacy live on forever in the lives of your daughters, your family, and at the Sports Center table.
Booyah.
This is not the first time I've blogged about cancer, and I can guarantee this will not be the last. You see, there's something so evil about this disease, something so unfair about it's infectious control over undeserving people, that constantly pulls at my heart strings. I can't help but have all the feels when a new story surfaces about someone else fighting the cancer battle. It's hard to ignore that cancer affects millions of people every year- millions of families, friends, and children all battling for their lives every single year.
Let that sink in.
I often find myself thinking about how hard my life is. With school, jobs, starting a new series on Netflix, what to eat, etc. There are days where I just sit in self-pity and expect the world to cater to me and fix life's "horrible" inconveniences while my wi-fi is out and theres snow stuck the windshield of my car. But then it strikes me like a shot out of left-field--I am so beyond lucky to have these amenities to even worry about. Besides my occasional broken bone, or an unpleasant surgery every now-and-then, I've never once had to experience the devastation of a life-altering diagnosis. When I sit in the doctors office and cringe at the OB/GYN, it's hard to even imagine what it's like to have to go through months of chemo, countless needle pokes, and excruciating spinal taps.
Once cancer has affected you on a personal level, it's hard to let the angst you have toward it's evil slip away. Because once you know someone who battled it, you will never be able to hear the word "cancer" and turn the other cheek. It becomes more than a word, it now holds meaning and memories.
When I heard that legendary Sports Center anchor, Stuart Scott, had succumbed to cancer- I instantly had a flash back to the ESPYS this summer as he accepted the Jimmy V Perseverance award. I vividly remember being at work, a busy pub in summertime Iowa City, but I stopped-still in my tracks as I watched Stuart confidently strut up to the podium and gave one of the most heart-wrenching speeches I had ever heard. I stood there, dumbfounded with tears beginning to well-up, as he talked about his condition and how cancer wouldn't dictate how he lived his life; which he lived to the absolute fullest. Even in his weakest moments, he still went on air, he still cracked his catch phrases with the upmost punch, he proved he was still was the same Stuart Scott regardless of his fate.
Cancer sucks. Plain and simple. There's not one positive to it, and as I said before, it's completely unfair and unjust. But, if there's something we can learn from Stuart Scott, or anyone who has ever had their fate altered by this disease, it's that cancer doesn't define who you are or where you're going. Cancer isn't a final destination, or a word that can sum up an entire life before or after cancer. It's a word that would undeniably take your breath away the first time you hear it, but it does not have the power to leave your life breathless.
Stuart Scott, as an aspiring ESPN anchor, I can't thank you enough for your role in changing the face of Sports Center. You'll forever be cooler than the other side of the pillow, and may your memory and legacy live on forever in the lives of your daughters, your family, and at the Sports Center table.
Booyah.
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