What was the one experience that completely changed your life? What happened? What did it change? That is something to think about. I cannot answer for you. It is a thought provoking question. Is it that you wanted to change your relationships? Is it that you wanted to change jobs? Is it that your health changed or you wanted to change it?

What ever it is completely changing your life is an amazing journey. Today, I will discuss one of the biggest changes that ever happened to me that changed my life forever. I have so many so today I will pick health. I had cancer oh 11 years ago. While I was home after chemo therapy I would have a tremendous amount of energy. Who knows if it was the steroids!

What would happen is that I would go out and complete these amazing projects. I was very focused. My son was 10 years old and my mom came out from Texas to help me. I had just started my second year of my masters at Fordham University. I would have chemo on Thursday at Memorial Sloan Kettering and attend Fordham University on Saturday. It was on Saturday night where the chemo would kick in and make me tired for days. The couch was my bed.

It upsets me to this day that my son thought I was dead laying on the couch when I was sleeping. During this battle of the cancer cells I experienced many things. I had set my sights on the prize.The prize was completing the treatment and death was not an option for me. Each chemo treatment I was getting closer and closer to winning the battle. I actually saw a golden ring for each round of cancer treatment.  I was set for 8 rounds of chemo and then radiation.

During this time I had set up what was important and what was not important. I had my goals and values straight! Time passed and then I re-entered the work force. I had an employer who was kind to most but, it seemed to me that he never really appreciated who I was and had already made a snap decision on who I was. It was not the most comfortable interactions. He always appeared to me that he was uncomfortable with who I was.

One of my co-workers, we will call him DB. DB would always seem to find a very strange pleasure in sharing with me, of course in secret, that my employer had it out for me. Is there anyone one out there that can relate? There is always that one person who has personal issues who likes to make others uncomfortable. Not everyone was like that.There were plenty of good hearted individuals who made it a pleasure to be there.

You cannot take in what people say about you You know what is true about you and what is not! You know who you are and what your intentions are. It does not matter how someone else judges you or what they say about you. You need to hear your own voice and not give in to the voice of others.

I decided that travel was my passion. At least one of them. I wanted to share seeing the world with my son after I was finished with chemotherapy. It is something that I felt was extremely important. Since, I had a job that offered paid time off I took full advantage of my days off and planned accordingly. I scoured the internet and took hours upon hours looking for the best deals. I also looked at hotels vs bed and breakfasts. It seemed that most times B & B’s were the best bet for myself and my young son. He is a grown man now and we still have a great time. This was taken in Alaska.

For longer vacations I chose apartment style residents. It saves a tremendous amount on meals. Car rental vs trains, buses and the metro. It depended on where we were. The best days to fly. It is fly on a Wednesday and come home on a Monday. Short vacations vs. week long. Jet lag vs why the heck not!

I noticed once or twice I would come home from either Europe, Alaska, or Hawaii (This was on the beach at our resort in Maui )or where ever I had just come back from, my former employer would ask why I took so much time off? I know he had a different view of life. He was somewhat constricted at that time when he thought of time off. Many people do. He was a good man just not seeing the big picture. You never know when you may leave this planet. I did not know if I was going to live or die at that time. Evidently, my physicians felt the same way.

People in your life, workplace, or wherever have their own opinions of who and what you should and should not be. You do not have to follow the pack and live in a state of, “What will they think of me.” Honestly, if the truth be told they do not think of you at all. People who are toxic or unconscious say things and do not remember the next day. There are some people who are very lonely and scared on the inside and say terrible things to others so you do not look to deeply at them and see what they are really made of.

I have since left that place of employment. I work for myself and have taken a part time job that I enjoy. That is the key. Do something that  you enjoy. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot do what you want to to.

One thing I know to be true is that you can do what ever you want in this world. What ever your mind believes you are capable of you can do it! I throw the question back to you and please write back. What was the one experience that completely changed  your life?

I am committed to assisting others fulfill their hopes and dreams. No one on this earth should have to wonder what if. I have met many people along the way who have been dealt a hard life. I have watched in awe how they have pulled themselves out of the dire straits they had found themselves in and made life a life worth living. I will continue to share my experiences in the hopes your find inspiration or at least relate to life as life appears to me.

Travel well, eat wisely and never let yourself think you cannot. I know you are able to do great things. No matter where you are on your life’s journey I wish you well.