Defeating the Odds

This weekend I ran the Sunburst 5k with my grandmother and my mom. My grandmother is in her early 60's and was recently diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. When I was a kid I looked at my grandmother as some sort of super star. She used to tell me when I was little that a women never left her house without her hair done and her lipstick on and you were to always to act like a lady. I always thought that she told me these things so I didn't embarrass myself in public but now that I am older and I am watching her fight this horrible fight I take a new meaning to those words.

Cancer affects people in different ways but when I am with my grandma, I can hardly tell she is sick -- She actually seems more positive than she has ever been. She still spends an hour a day doing her hair and fixing her makeup, she did not leave the house without her lipstick even on the day of this run, and she is still spouting the same little lessons about how to act like a lady to me and everyone else. The difference now is that when I see her and listen to her I see all of that as strength; strength to wake up every day and keep smiling and putting on your makeup no matter how tough life gets. The strength to look at the obstacles life throws at you and push back harder than you ever thought you could.

My grandma failed gym class all through school and the most athletic she has ever been is gardening in her yard; This year my grandma received her first medal ever for an athletic event in her very first 5k and than went even further then that and beat that 5k time by 7 minutes this weekend. She ran these races because she said that now that she has cancer "why not start running?"

I used to look up to my grandma because she was the definition of beauty and poise and her generosity was endless. While these traits are still some of my favorites, now I look up to her as a symbol of unparalleled strength and courage. Even on my worse days when there is way too much to do and not enough hours and all I want to do is give up, I remember that simple life lesson she has been teaching me since I was old enough to hold the lipstick container; Keep your head high, put on your makeup, and smile.

That's my tip to all the women out there doing too much in too short of a day; don't forget to step back sometimes and remember the little things. We only get so many hours in the course of so many days in the course of one lifetime and if you spend every one of those hours stressing and worrying and over analyzing you will miss the small things that make the biggest difference. (Like watching a women in her 60's fighting a terminal cancer do a remarkable thing like take up running just because) So breath, put on your lipstick, keep your head high, and do something you never thought you could, because, "why not?"