I have always been family orientated. My family comes first. I have a husband, two daughters and two cats and everything I do revolves around them. I gave up my job as a scientist when I was pregnant with my first daughter and set up an events company so that I could have quality time with my daughters as they grew up.
So my world was shaken when faced with a cancer diagnosis. I remember very clearly when the consultant told me that I had breast cancer. My first thought was,
What would happen to my family if I died?
The saying is that
No one wished they had worked more when on their death bed,
but when I was told I had cancer I just wanted to leave the doctors office and figure out a way to work harder or smarter so that if I were to die my family would be secure.
So I left the office, restructured my company, took more chances and did the things in business that I was too scared to do before. My thinking was that I had nothing to lose. I now had to make the business a success.
My company took off and I managed to sell it whilst still undergoing treatment for cancer (which took 5 years). Fortunately, I am also now cancer clear, but I learned three valuable lessons that I have taken with me to my new business and to how I live my life.
- Decide what is important to you and make sure your goal, every day, is to keep that safe.
- Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks if they help you keep or get what is most important to you.
- Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing and what their life path is, the only path worth taking care of is your own (and those you care about).
This is how I live now. My house is a mess, I don’t have the best/newest clothes, I haven’t seen/been to whatever the trend is at the moment. These things are not important to me. I started a new business which helps people with cancer and I am still focused on making sure that my two girls (who are now teenagers) are prepared for life.
The best thing my eldest daughter (she was 12) said to me when I was just diagnosed with cancer was
Don’t worry mum, if you die I will be OK.
This was just what I wanted to hear and I am sure every mother would agree with me.
And when I finally feel that I am no longer needed I will no longer worry about death.