This week is podcast episode number 80, and it’s especially important because I have a guest joining me who I’ll introduce in a second. We are celebrating all kinds of things on this vacation and taking time to realize that even with all of the things we have fighting against us in this world, we have to fight back. We have to get back up time and time again, no matter how often we are knocked to the ground. And that takes resilience.
The guest I’ve welcomed onto the show with me today is someone who embodies resilience more than anyone else I know, my friend Vanessa. Not only is she one of my closest friends, but she was also my first mentor in business. We’ve been through countless ups and downs together, and she has been through plenty on her own with her battle with cancer. But she is strong and thriving and refuses to give up.
We’ve known each other for probably 25 years now. We worked together in corporate America and eventually left that to pursue our own business. What started as an online venture quickly turned into not one, but three brick and mortar stores. In 2016, however, Vanessa was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer almost out of nowhere. Surgery was needed and tons of treatments following it. From chemo to multiple clinical trials, she was in and out the whole year. 2017 was a bit better of a year, but the cancer quickly returned in 2018 which led to another surgery. Having to remain strong through stuff like this is the hardest part, but it is so important to never stop trying, to never give up the fight.
When life throws huge curve balls at you, it really makes you sit back and think about what you’re doing in your life. It makes you come to the realization of the things that are important and the things that we are wasting our energy and time on. When faced with our own mortality, the nonsense seems to fade into the background, because there’s no time to sit and feel bad or wish things were different. All we can do is work with what we are given and keep looking forward towards the future and all it could hold.
Vanessa and I and our husbands were on a vacation a few years ago and we went to go snorkelling. I thought we would be in shallow waters near the shoreline, that is until the boat took us to the middle of the ocean. I was terrified, but Vanessa jumped right in. I remember yelling to her, because we both have vertigo and being on open waters can be very debilitating, “How did you get over that fear?” She told me something that day that I always think of when I’m afraid to do something. She said “ You have a choice in life. You can either let those obstacles and those challenges prevent you from experiencing the amazing things in life or you can decide to not let them hold you back.”
Through all of her surgeries and diagnoses, Vanessa has not only had a positive and uplifting mindset, but she has been blessed to be surrounded by a team of supporters the whole way. All of her friends and family have been her biggest cheerleaders in her battle with her own body and, in hard times especially, surrounding yourself with really good people and energies can have a huge impact on your own. And our energies are quite literally what will get us to where we want to be in life.
Obstacles are always going to be there. Whether it’s health problems, social issues, global pandemics, what have you. But to sit and think of nothing but how unfair the world is or let these things hold you back from the things you really want out of life is silly. We are all faced with some kind of adversity at some point or another and the key to being resilient is to not let that adversity define us. Using it to our advantage to think of new solutions or look at things in a new way can be all we really need to do to overcome our problems. And most of all, being resilient, being persistent, and powering through towards a brighter future is what will get you through even the darkest of times.
If you’d like to support pancreatic cancer research, the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation is a major organization that is always researching new and different ways to combat this type of cancer.
If you enjoyed this episode and in some way it inspired you to start taking action, I’d love to hear about it and know your biggest take away. Send me a DM on Instagram @theresacantley and let me know what your favorite part was.
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If there is a topic you would love me to talk about or a question you may have send it to us at theresa@theresacantley.com and we’ll feature it on one of our future episodes.
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