Health – Cancer – Survivor: After the Attack: Are You Ready to Start Healing?
Program Titles
- The Adversity Within Diversity
- Aim High — And — No Matter What Happens to You — Keep Aiming High!
- Using Adversity to Your Advantage
- Supercharge Your Human Spirit To Not Only Survive, But Thrive!
- Finding Balance and Fulfillment in Your Home and at Work
- The Art of Resilience: How High Do YOU Bounce?
Bill Goss specializes in conveying to your specific audience how lucky they really are — and how lucky they are to be a part of your fine organization. Thirty years ago I was in a cave-in 5000 feet underground in an accident that occurred in a copper mine. I was working as miner trying to pay my way through the University. The whole experience was terrifying.
Ten years later, I was a pilot in a U.S. Navy spy plane during a major crash landing in Spain. That was frightening as well.
Five years after that, I was struck by a speeding out-of-control car that knocked me 45 feet through the air — providing me a brief look at the “other side.”
Four years later, I was diagnosed with a very deadly and rare form of a cancer caused by the sun. I was told I would be dead in less than 6 months. I was a 38-year-old Navy pilot with two young children at the time. It was a very hard time for myself and my entire family.
Thankfully, after 12 hours of radical surgery on my face and neck, I’ve remained cancer-free since that mind numbing cancer diagnosis, seven years ago.
Through those various adversities, I learned a lot. And despite the challenges and struggles of my past, I still consider myself a lucky and very blessed person.
How is this possible, you might ask?
And what lessons can I freely share with you as you try to recover from the attack on your psyche — and your heart and soul — ever since September 11, 2001?
Here are 3 of several steps I’ve come to learn about healing and moving forward during times of great personal adversity.
You and your loved ones might wish to use them in your struggle to move forward with your lives.
First, you must ask yourself this very important question — is this a tragedy or an adversity for you? You must learn the difference between tragedies and adversities. Don’t confuse them. Someone who lost an immediate family member in one of the terrorist attacks suffered an incredible tragedy. Tragedy is uniquely different than adversity, taking far greater amounts of time for healing to take place than when with dealing with an adversity. It is impossible to adequately address how to deal with tragedy in a short article like this. In tragedy there is rarely a hidden blessing.
But for people who did not directly lose a loved one, you might consider the attack on America more of an adversity for you, rather than a tragedy. Please reserve the very personal word “tragedy” for those people who suffered the lose of an immediate family member or an extremely close friend.
Using my definition, if you are considering the attack as an adversity, rather than tragedy, you must rise up to the challenge presented before you, by dreaming bigger dreams about your future than ever before. And you must proactively move forward on your dreams in a positive way to overcome your present struggles. You can be both a realist and a person who dreams big dreams. You will prove you are a realist when you act on your dreams and turn them into reality despite circumstances that may slow others down.
Secondly, don’t let fear and anger get the better of you — ever. And especially don’t let fear-based hate get the better of you, like it often does with fanatics. Fanaticism is a trait common among highly unstable people. Realize this, be aware of it, and move away from this tendency. Give your logical and clear thinking mind equal time with the passionate feelings of your heart. And exercise your body to reduce stress. So, what I am saying is this: give your mind, heart and body equal time. This will lead you down a positive, rather than a negative path. Always try to go down the positive paths that present themselves daily before you. Always.
And third, don’t forget the 5 Fs of Fulfillment. It is something I came to understand several years ago when I was getting a CAT scan for cancer. The 5 things I discovered that have gotten me through so many of my past adversities are as easy to remember as the 5 fingers on your hand: Family, Friends, Faith, Focus, and Fun. Keep these 5 things in proper priority and perspective in your life, and you will not only survive your great challenges, you will THRIVE in the very face of them.
Bill Goss
Lt. Commander
USN (Ret.)
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