I have said before that if you wait
until you are 100% ready you will never start anything. Total readiness is not
something we generally feel. There is always a small amount of doubt, a bit of
worry, a slight uncertainty. We must get over these thoughts and take that last
step to accomplish anything. A friend recently put it rather clearly like this…
“You’ll
never feel ready, because ready is not a feeling. It is a decision.”
Twenty-two years ago. I
finished my last chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The notes in my diary
from that day simply state, “This is my final treatment, and I thought it would
never be finished. I kept watching for the last drop.”
That was a long time ago. Even
though my diagnosis was considered treatable but not curable, the longer I
remain in remission the lower the odds are of recurrence. That was true at ten,
fifteen years, and even more true now at twenty-two years! I am blessed to have had a tolerable
treatment regimen and a favorable outcome.
Many of you know that our
family took my diagnosis combined with the loss of my father to leukemia and
turned it into a passion of raising money for blood cancer research. Over the
past twenty-one years our family (The Blanton Bunch) has raised and donated almost
$780,000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, now known as Blood Cancer
United. In addition, The Light The Night Walk has become a key event in The
Woodlands raising funds for blood cancers. Lemons to Lemonade, my friends!
I can’t believe it has been
twenty-two years…
Our
world focuses a lot on the concept of power. We pursue power. We admire power.
We curse power. We are measured on power. But power does not equate excellence.
There
is a big difference between a passion for excellence and a passion for power.
The pursuit of excellence is a God given gift. It is a critical component in
society. It is characterized by a healthy respect for quality, and the use of
God given talents in ways that please Him.
The
pursuit of excellence glorifies God. The pursuit of power glorifies oneself.
The quest for excellence is a sign of maturity. The quest for power, not so
much.
