American Cancer Society Speech

I never thought I would be up in front of people to talk about my cancer, but if I can reach out to one person and help one person, I will feel like I have accomplished a lot. When I was a young girl in 1956, my mom was in the hospital in Atlanta for almost a month….next door to her room was a man with tubes running through his body and each day there seemed to be more. One day I asked the nurse, “What’s wrong with that man” The nun responded “He has cancer.” I looked at her with childlike belief and in a voice of conviction I said, “I am never dying of cancer” I remember that day like it was yesterday that image of someone losing out to cancer. In those days, the treatment was almost barbaric. When people hear the word cancer they often see death. The reality of cancer is that it’s not pretty. Not everybody survives. My 78 year old Aunt did not survive. About a month ago, I got an email that my aunt wasn’t looking too good so my family took her to the doctor. She was immediately admitted into hospice for her ovarian cancer. 4 days later I got another email that she had died. To think she was walking around with cancer and did not even know that it was growing inside her. The same thing happened to me. I shouldn’t be here but I am. Had I not bumped my head and needed an MRI, and the attendant did not read the order correctly, I would not have discovered that I had 4th stage ovarian cancer and lymphoma. When I found out, I was ready to accept death because I knew that not everybody survives. I knew that I had worked hard to be the best I could be and I was very willing to go if it was my time. When I prayed, it was never that I lived but I prayed for God’s will to be done. For months I was very sick…I remember when I had cancer that I did not have the energy to do anything. I could barely make it to the bathroom and making a pot of water was the hardest thing I had ever encountered. Cancer taught me that I have to take care of me. I needed to quit doing the things that were not good for my health and start doing the things that made me feel better about myself. I spent my life too busy helping others to take care of myself. I am always trying to do better and to make better choices…we all have the power of choice and as much as we have the choice to make the decision…many continue their bad habits like a badge of courage. I tried my very best to learn to LOVE the cancer not see it as my enemy but a part of me that I needed to make peace with if I had any hopes of surviving. Each day I would get up and write until the flow stopped and those pages breathed life into me as I was quickly dying. I would ask the question…what do I do today..and what would flow would be anything from eat collards to forgive your mother for the time she beat you. I healed a lot of past pain. I forgave people who hurt me and I asked God to forgive me for anything I had mistakenly created. Forgiveness is important. After all that was done, I was pretty much left with only LOVE in my heart and with that LOVE in my heart somehow CANCER lost it’s grip on me and I survived. I always say to my friends it is not really necessary to go over and over a sad story and today I am going to leave you this. Create each day as you want it. If you get cancer or if you are helping someone through cancer…remember each moment we have an opportunity to let our hearts overflow with LOVE. Try your best to live in a state of gratitude for everything ... most importantly the lessons that almost get us…because the truth is that we are never given more than we can handle. I would like to close with this words…..People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Another Interview with @TambraHarck

My second interview...be prepared because I had been writing for 2 days without sleep and SAID MORE THAN I MEANT..it was the most HEALING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE.. releasing all those hurts that I NEVER felt as a child. I felt them that night as I spoke and for a few weeks was drained...(I felt I had said too much) then I started to get BETTER AND BETTER.

I hear myself LAUGHING OUT LOUD more than ever and I finally FEEL TOTALLY FREE OF THE PAIN I FELT AS A CHILD. Although I have spent my life healing those wounds, I never felt the pain that I STUFFED as the child being inflicted with such torture. I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams and would go through every bit of it again TO BE THE WOMAN I AM TODAY!!

http://ht.ly/5m7md

A GLIMPSE INTO MY LIFE

I would like to thank @TambraHarck and @JoyLoveandLife RADIO for allowing me to tell my story to help others know that WE ARE NEVER GIVEN MORE THAN WE CAN HANDLE!!

My first interview .. on BlogTalk Radio with Tambra Harck This is the link to an interview with @TambraHarck on @JoyLoveandLife radio...Hope you enjoy! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/joyofloveandlife/2009/12/30/healing-power-grace-of-love

I CAME TO THIS WORLD TO LEARN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92dXMQ3MyJU

Please play the video...it is a very sweet song.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about my life. I have lived a rather interesting life and somehow I have been able to walk through life with blessings pouring around me.

Most of my life has been about trying to fix myself. I have studied many books of wisdom, attended workshops from rebirthing to manifesting your heart's desires and done more spiritual retreats than I can count. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church where everything was about black and white..good or bad...heaven or hell. I learned to LOVE GOD as well as FEAR GOD!

Since those years, I have struggled to find a place where I fit in with any organized group...I have a very hard time with hypocrites and people who live their lives in judgment of others. As I have grown spiritually and emotionally, I am always shocked when I find myself having to take a hard look at myself because I thought I should have been fixed by now. The first time I attended EST, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training, I was sure I would be fixed after those 2 week-ends of personal growth.

So here I sit here tonight...pondering what words to use in a speech for the American Cancer Society RELAY FOR LIFE this weekend and thinking about how Twitter has touched my life.

My message to people always is WE ARE NEVER GIVEN MORE THAN WE CAN HANDLE!

BE GRATEFUL FOR ALL YOU HAVE and FORGIVE THOSE WHO CAUSE YOU PAIN AND THOSE WHO YOU MAY HAVE CAUSED PAIN!

Pay attention as you walk on your path ... sometimes there are twists and turns, valleys and mountain tops, oceans and rivers and the moon and the stars as well as flowers blooming all around you.

Reach to lend a hand when someone is hurting and remind them that LOVE IS THE STRONGEST FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE! FEEL THE SUN and say thank you!

PEACE TO YOU
LOVE TO YOU
BLESSINGS TO YOU

Painting: Christine Haberstock

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

As we move closer to THE HOLIDAY SEASON, let us not forget that we are on this planet together to learn how to LOVE.

HOW TO PREVENT RAPE

How to Prevent Rape

If a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
If a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don't rape her.
If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
If a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her.
If a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her.
If a woman is in a coma, don't rape her.
If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her.
If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her.
If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her.
If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her.
If your step-daughter is watching TV, don't rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her.
If your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend.
If your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and tell the guy he's a rapist.
Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it's not okay to rape someone.
Don't tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
Don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x.
Don't imply that it's in any way her fault.
Don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl.

And if you are still confused, try this:

How to Prevent Sexual Assault

1. Don't put drugs in people's drinks in order to control their behavior.

2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!

3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!

4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.

5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON'T ASSAULT THEM!

6. Remember, people go to laundry rooms to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.

7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.

8. Always be honest with people! Don't pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don't communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.

9. Don't forget: you can't have sex with someone unless they are awake!

10. Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone "on accident" you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

And, ALWAYS REMEMBER: if you didn't ask permission and then respect the answer the first time, you are committing a crime- no matter how "into it" others appear to be.

Print it out. Pass it around.

LOVE

The more I love, the happier that I AM.

Learn to love with no agendas.
Learn to love with no conditions.

LEARN LOVE
TEACH LOVE

LOVE IS THE STRONGEST FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE.

LOVE heals hearts.
LOVE heals wounds.

LOVE HEALS THE EARTH!

LOVE HEALS ME.
LOVE HEALS YOU.

LOVEWAVES: Sending billions of LOVE ELECTRONS through the airwaves to a person, place or thing. Quantum Physics

LOVEWAVES HEAL