I am the Survivor Speaker
 

At our local Relay for Life. I leave in 20 minutes. I'm "on" at approximately 6pm. I am nervous beyond belief (and didn't practice enough). It's about the lessons I learned. Wish me luck. Can you hear my knees knocking?

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Hi Becky,

I think you'll do a fantastic job.

All the best,
Tonya

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

They are incredibly fortunate that it is YOU! You are more than up to this task! ma

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Hi Becky, You'll be great and thank you for speaking.

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Good luck, Becky! Hope it goes wonderfully well.

Barb A.

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Becky,

You are a great writer and researcher. You will do great. Thank you for all the posts on this site.

Amelia

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

I'd go to listen, and I know I'd be glad I did.

AlaskaAngel

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

They couldn't have anyone better!

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Becky,

I know you did a fabulous job! You are a great source of info for all of us here and I am sure you speak even better than you write. I would really enjoy reading what you had to say. Please share!

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Wonderful no one could do a better job.
They will love you like we do!

Wish I knew ahead of time I would have been there.
Update us...

Love and Hugs,
Jean

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

You'll do great Becky, good luck but you won't need it! :)

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

They couldnt have picked anyone better....wish I could have heard you speak Becky...the tears would have been flowing!

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Becky,
Are you breathing yet? How did it go? Fabulously, I'm sure

Henny

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Well, I made it through and once I got going I was fine. I hate to say it but I knew I did a good job. I did not write a speech because then you read but I had points to make written down so that I stayed on track. It kinda went like this..

I told them I didn't want to do a speech on my story because my story really isn't more important than anyone else's whether you've had cancer or not. I told them that being a survivor has to do with being alive and if you're alive, you can live your life and impact others. And all that, and looking death in the eye makes you look at things differently. You realize that life learning is really backwards from how you learn in school. In school the teacher teaches a lesson and then you have lots of hard work - homework, studying, projects and tests but real life is alot of hard work and then you learn the lessons. So I shared the lessons that I learned. (I said more than I will write below)

1. Be who you are. You are perfect. No one is a more perfect you than you . It won't always be easy and it won't be without conflict...

2. Listen - you have 2 ears and 1 mouth and you should use them in that proportion. No one ever learned anything by talking but by hearing and seeing. There will be things you hear that you don't agree with, maybe not agree with now or ever but one day you might....

3. Embrace Change - you can still be happy even if things are different. Different broadens your horizons and your skills. You will become a better you

4. Bad things will happen but you can always think of something worse. You can't win the rodeo without a bunch of scrapes and bruises but you have to get back up on the horse. Some days it will be a slow loping horse and other days a bucking bronco but chances are, it will never be a raging bull..

5. Sometimes you still have to say yes when you mean no. All self help articles tell you the contrary but if you must, you have to take your Grandma grocery shopping once a week or to the doctor. It makes you a responsible person. Responsible people do these things. No one wants to change a poopy diaper but we do it....

6. Make time - we have all heard the old adage of a person on their deathbed looking up at their loved ones and they never say " I should have spent more time at the office". So make time to be with the people you love. Time is a precious commodity and it goes by quickly in our busy lives so spend it wisely with family and good friends. Also, do not forget to give alittle time to yourself. You can't take care of others without caring for yourself. You also need to make some time for your community (and this was my conclusion - that these people were doing that by doing the Relay for Life etc)

It went very well and I was very happy with it. I lost my nervousness almost immediately and the whole thing flowed. I just had a piece of paper that said the "cue" words. I knew what I would say.

I should have told you all earlier!!!

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Well, as we all knew, you did wonderfully. You brought me to tears just reading this. You're AWESOME.

Tonya

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Great talk with good points for everyone.
Congratulations
patb

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Well done, Becky.

If ever I'm invited to make a speech on being a survivor, I'm going to start with: "One of my on-line support group members did a speech the other day. Here are the points she had shared with us ..." :)

Thanks for sharing.

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

I knew you would do a great job! Congrats:)

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Awesome as usual. Now you will be relaxed the NEXT time you give a speech.

Re: I am the Survivor Speaker
 

Thank you Becky for reminding me what is important to realize in this struggle we all are dealing with. Some times when dealing with the minutia of details involved with cancer, the important stuff can get lost in the weeds. You really seem to have figured it out.

bird