do as i say, not as i do. (an introduction.)

do as i say, not as i do.

The short of the story is this…About three years ago I woke up with an idea. A great idea. It was one of those moments when you know your destiny and you believe, with every core of your being, that you can be a part of changing the world for the better. My dream and vision was a book full of life experiences from others, from you, from me, married up with calls to action.  A book to make us feel and think, but to also make each of us do.  Do something good, something great for ourselves, our community, our earth, the people we love the most.  The actions are simple.  They are the things we talk about doing, regret not doing and envy when someone else does them. 

But yet, they are the things we seldom do ourselves.   

In my draft of the introduction I describe how almost every movie with a storyline about someone terminally ill shows her living life to the fullest.  There’s usually a convertible and a scarf or a long-awaited conversation, a free fall out of an airplane, a first kiss or an uninhibited dive into the ocean waves.   Those of us watching these movies get out of our seats ready to take on the world.  We arm ourselves with the ideas and the strength to do the things we have always threatened to do.  We talk about making that call to an old friend.  We think about taking that crazy trip we have always dreamed of.  We imagine ourselves running into the arms of the one we deeply love for that romantic and sweet embrace.  And then life gets in the way.  Today becomes tomorrow and tomorrow becomes next week. 

The years begin to pass us by.


I talk about how we usually wait for something tragic to actually do the things we have always wanted to do – we wait for a diagnosis of cancer or divorce or some major life crisis. But the reality is that we shouldn’t wait – we are ready and hungry to do great things.  We all crave to do something good.  We want to improve our lives.  We want to make a difference in our world.  And we need to understand that our day, our good deeds within them, our best intention put into motion makes a difference.  Sometimes the difference is so little that we can’t even touch it and other times, it is so big that our eyes can’t take it all in. This introduction, along with thousands of scratch papers and printed words went into a lovely bag which snuggled its way into my desk and became a dust collector as it slipped into hibernation.  I doubted my talent, I questioned my time, I tortured myself over collaborations and which direction to turn. 

And then I was diagnosed with breast cancer on April 11, 2012. 

Silly me.  I didn’t listen to my own great advice.  I waited.  So here I am.  It’s been a whirlwind…I have a rolodex packed with medical business cards, my breasts have been removed, my physical wounds are healing and my mental wounds are leaps and bounds ahead of where I thought they would be.  I am also thrilled to share that I am cancer free.  I am a breast cancer survivor. 

And blogging through the blessing of carepages.com, I found myself craving to write more than ever.  I shared my medical journey, but more than that, I shared myself.  And in doing so, I received emails and cards and letters telling me how my journey had inspired others, not just through medical diagnoses, but to be true to themselves and to make changes in their lives that would impact their closest of friends as well as people they’ve never met.  I found that through sharing and through doing something, I could be part of a ripple effect of goodness, a movement for positive change.  It is exactly as the book was intended…the book I started and haven’t finished.  The book that I can’t shake from my soul, even though I have tried too many times to count. And once again I find myself positively haunted by the words that title that book…today is the day.

I will not wait any longer. 

So this blog is my chance at putting one foot in front of the other, to doing something.  I plan to write, enjoy, and collect life experiences and words of wisdom from you.  And together we will share these with anyone else who wants to join us.  And we’ll just see what happens when our collective best intentions are put into motion.  I can’t wait! Wouldn’t it be something if little old us bring change to the big world?  Or our individual worlds?  Or the world of someone we love? 

As a child, I remember my Dad Tom would tell me to do something and upon seeing him do the opposite, he would laugh and say, “Do as I say, not as I do.”  So here I am saying to you…please, please, oh please, do as I say, not as I do.  Don’t wait until you get a diagnosis of cancer or a divorce or have a major life crisis to make a change, to do something that you could easily do today. 

Join me and we’ll navigate this new adventure together. 

Today is the day, I have no doubt.  We’ll laugh, cry, smile, share, and do.  Some of these life experiences and actions will be easy to take in and others will challenge us to think and act outside of what we consider our normal.  But we’ll give it a try and see what happens…together. 

So, what do you think?  On Thursday at 12pm EST I plan to post my first real today is the day post.  Are you in? Should we get started? Oh, deep breaths, deep breaths.  This is very exciting.