LIFE Support

“Cancer never sleeps.”…


As I listened to this heartfelt sentence roll off the tongue of a man speaking on behalf of his wife and her battle with cancer, I felt my throat tighten up and the silence of the moment stab through me like a knife. As the man spoke, his wife’s story unfolded as he choked out each word. Breast cancer was her first battle… “Cancer never sleeps.” Bone Cancer struck second… “Cancer never sleeps.” Brain cancer came next… “Cancer never sleeps.” Liver, kidney, and lung cancer are now her latest diagnosis… Cancer. Doesn’t. Sleep. Listening to him tell her story, I stood beside myself in devastating awe as I came to terms with the realization of passion, strength and courage this man bestowed.


Think of a situation in which you, Faithful Reader, experienced someone you know directly or indirectly suffering through a battle with disease. Recall the helplessness and urgency to find a way out. A way to take away the pain. A way to help FIGHT and defeat the battle.


Each year, each day, each moment, countless people are affected by disease. Each day, hundreds and thousands of people are up against great odds to overcome a never-ending combat that puts them in the middle of life and death. Until we or someone we know is impinged with one of Life’s dark angels, we seldom sit and think about the different things we could be doing to make a difference in the lives of many.


I was reminded of all these feelings and emotions and was influenced by the sense of urgency when I was seated at the ‘Relay For Life’ Kickoff Event held in Boulder City, NV this past Saturday the 23rd of January. Shortly after moving to Las Vegas last year, I remember crystal clear the first day I traversed to Boulder City with Dr. Darian Parker to meet with Marcie Gibson, who is the Fitness Center Supervisor of the City of Boulder City. She is highly involved in Boulder City’s community organizations and events and her passion radiates above and beyond most people I have ever met before. It was during that meeting where we discussed an alliance between the City of Boulder City and Connect To Fitness and how we could develop a helping relationship between Vegas and Boulder City. Both fans of this spectacular small town, Darian and myself couldn’t help but to be extremely excited about becoming more involved with this community and in having an excuse to venture out that way more often.


In meeting with Marcie, we discussed much about the fitness scene in Boulder City and how we can become a part of it. One of the events put on each year is the ‘Relay For Life’ walk in which the entire town gets together and supports this great cause to raise cancer awareness. One of the main objectives (aside from the fact that it’s a worthy cause) that caught our attention was Marcie’s explanation on how the volunteer committee, which is very, very small, work over 24 hours straight to make this event successful. This committee is dedicated to their accountability in making sure the event runs smoothly and in the process they end up volunteering a ton of their time to the cause. It is truly inspiring how dedicated these individuals are in their devotions and that, in itself, piqued my interest and sparked a light from underneath me that had me agreeing to come out and help this May before I could even hesitate to answer. The cause is just too great and they truly don’t have enough helping hands at their events. Although the CTF Team will probably be up for most of this 24 hours as well (setting up, working, and tearing down), knowing we are helping others and that we are contributing to something worthwhile. I also remember thinking how excited I was for the kick-off event after the New Year.


As I drove into Boulder City, I smiled to myself and basked in the sunlight washing over me through the driver’s side window and miraculously watched on as the desert became a small, green town. As I traversed down the 215 and slowed as it turned into Nevada Way, I was once again reminded of the small town I used to live in; Waterford, PA. Driving into Boulder City, you immediately forget about all things ‘Vegas’ as there is no huge or towering buildings, heavy traffic, casinos, flashing lights, or much of anything that stands out in particular. What you see is a historic town that encompasses and preserves its roots and foundation much like Las Vegas treasures and openly invites every new trend and disassociates itself with anything old or out of style. My hometown was much like Boulder City, right down to the one, small, main street of independent small business owners and mom and pop restaurants and shops amongst a sea of modest houses. Although I absolutely LOVE the big city mentality and rapidity of Las Vegas, it is really a great asset to know that if you want to relieve yourself of the city chaos, you can drive a half hour and be in a totally different atmosphere enjoying a completely different and fantastic experience.


As I pulled up to the Boulder Dam Brewery right on this main street, I followed the car in front of me and took a right at the single stop sign to find a parking spot. Having become accustomed to Las Vegas where you will rarely, if ever, find parking right away, I conveniently parked right across the street from the Brew Pub and walked across the 2-lane street and immediately saw the one and only Marcie Gibson (who basically is a one-woman show in running Boulder City’s fitness agenda) turning the same corner I was approaching. After greeting her, we walked together, chatting about what’s new and discussing our excitement about Relay For Life. Approaching the main site of the Event, which was taking place in the outdoor part of the restaurant, I then saw Dr. Darian Parker and his wife, Michelle and ran over and greeted them as well. I walked with Darian over to the registration table and he sat down and began the ‘official’ creation of our Connect To Fitness team. It was a really gratifying moment and it became an affirmation to begin our mission to prepare for the month of May. As Darian signed us up, I looked around and marveled at the beauty around me and reminisced of my own small town.


The event, appropriately called ‘Brewin’ and Stewin’, conjured up a great number of people and it was different to see how everyone knew each other. The chances of running into someone you know in Vegas are slim, but in Boulder City, everyone knows each other by name. Homeade stews and soups lined the tables in back and Darian, Michelle and I passed through the line numerous times to sample and devour the delicious temptations in each Crockpot. From beef, to chicken, to barley, to potato, to macaroni and cheese, to cornbread; there was something for everyone and plenty to go around. As we sat and enjoyed the taste of home-cooking, a few speakers, including Marcie, took center stage up front where the DJ was making noise and spoke on behalf of the event and it’s purpose. As Marcie introduced the rest of her committee (all of about 6 other people), she also reflected as to why they were chosen for their different positions and what inspired them to jump onboard. Each committee member had a specific story on how cancer impacted them directly or indirectly and it reminded me to remember that you never know what someone else is going through. Someone who has, had or will have cancer does or may look exactly like the person next to them who is not affected.

Ranking second in total deaths only after heart disease, cancer claimed nearly 1/3 of total deaths in the United States in 2009, and it is expected that over 1.5 million more cases will arise this year as well (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp?level=0). It is rapidly spreading like fire day by day and the statistics are showing it’s not slowing down anytime soon.


THINK if we had a cure! THINK if you and/or someone you know never again had to be affected. THINK how many more lives may be spared in such an event. Just THINK of the possibilities! The catch? It starts with US and us alone. While listening to that man speak on behalf of his wife, I became suddenly aware of it’s existence in my own life. It has gone through many times in my family, most recently with my own cousin who lost his life battle to this disease just a couple months ago. Knowing that statistically 1 in every 2 men may develop some type of cancer and that 1 in every 3 women may do the same, I feel uncomfortable knowing that statistics aren’t on my side. The number ‘3’ resonates in my mind and as I look around the event at all the attentive faces fixated on the man standing in front of me, I think how much easier and less-painful Life would be and would have been for so many of these individuals who have lived through experience. I think about how unexpectedly it lurks and how anyone in the world is at risk and not safe from cancer’s grasp. As my own eyes well with tears, I am reminded again of how precious the gift of Life is and how walking for a cause like cancer is actually a walk for LIFE. To help maybe get just a little bit closer to finding the cure. I am suddenly filled with honor and with LIFE and I listen intently to someone braver than I know how to be. Knowing how fortunate I am makes me want to be a better person in sharing the gift of LIFE with others. We ALL have so much to give, and to give the gift of volunteering is as gratifying as Life itself.


Come join us as we raise cancer awareness in Boulder City by walking for the Relay For LIFE. Connect To Fitness is dedicated to giving back as much as we have been given and the limits to our existence in both Vegas and beyond is… well… limitLESS. We are but one person. One truth. One Life. But we have the . capacity to make a vast difference together and NOW. Come with us on the walk to everlasting Life and support a great cause while having fun. If you don’t frequent Boulder City too often, take this opportunity and come enjoy a whole new world located just next door to Vegas.


“Cancer never sleeps.”… But one day it will. It all starts with YOU. It all starts right NOW. Let’s walk together and finish strong in the Relay For Life.


Until next time, Faithful Reader…


“Together we can help celebrate more birthdays…”
–Marcie Gibson


“Cancer is a word, not a sentence.”
-John Diamond


“During chemo, you're more tired than you've ever been. It's like a cloud passing over the sun, and suddenly you're out. You don't know how you'll answer the door when your groceries are delivered. But you also find that you're stronger than you've ever been. You're clear. Your mortality is at optimal distance, not up so close that it obscures everything else, but close enough to give you depth perception. Previously, it has taken you weeks, months, or years to discover the meaning of an experience. Now it's instantaneous.”
-Melissa Bank


“The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around.... Throughout history, "tender loving care" has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.”
-Larry Dossey


“It is in moments of illness that we are compelled to recognize that we live not alone but chained to a creature of a different kingdom, whole worlds apart, who has no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body.”
~Marcel Proust

YOU-nited Through Connections

“How did you get to where you are today?” As I thought about the best way to answer this in a short amount of time, I came to the conclusion that the answer could quite possibly be summed up in just one word: Networking. How did you get to where YOU are today?


During our Connect To Fitness Event at REI in Boca Park here in the luxurious and astonishing Summerlin area of Las Vegas, there was a portion of the event dedicated to about a half an hour of ‘speed networking’ (think ‘speed dating’… but less creepy). We were to travel around the room, exchanging seats with the person before us every couple minutes and hold a networking conversation with the person on the other side of the table. One of the questions someone asked me was that of how I came to be standing right where I am right now, and all I could find myself doing was reflecting on the process I had went through to get to where I am today. This question in itself is beyond a two or three minute conversation, but I remember thinking that overall I could sum up my answer in that one word: Networking.


A year and a half ago, if you’d have told me I’d be successfully living in Las Vegas, I would probably have laughed. Not because I wouldn’t have believed in my abilities to somehow pull it off, but because I had known literally NO one who lived in Vegas. How on earth would I be capable of moving cross-country 3,000 miles away from home without any connections to help make the process more efficient? The long and short of it is that it would have been a much greater challenge had I not made connections to assist my endeavors. The myth of the ‘self-made’ man is exactly that: A ‘Myth’. Although I can look back and pride myself in actually taking the steps up the ladder, I can’t credit that those steps were created alone or that I didn’t have a hand guiding me.


During the ‘speed networking’ experience, I found myself sitting in front of my bosses, colleagues, co-workers, friends, strangers, and mentors, all who have had (and continue to have) an impact on my life. I thought back to my moving experience, and how incredibly far 3,000 miles was but how close it felt with the help of other people. The struggles involved with making such a tremendous change and move were life-changing and during that time I really learned how strong of a person I truly was. I can remember telling someone back home I had considered myself 'close' to about my move and hearing the response of, “Oh… You’ll be back. Everyone comes back.”. Devastated, it caused me to shrink briefly into my shell, but to then immediately spring out and use it for inspiration as to why I have to work extra hard to make this happen.


During the event as well, Darian got up in front of everyone who attended and gave the shortened version of one of the lectures he does for the students at the Professional Fitness Institute for the students at Boot Camp. One of the points he makes that always resonates with me is that of surrounding yourself and networking with people who aspire and are similar to you. Each time I hear him deliver this great point, my mind reverts back to the people who really didn’t believe in me when all was said and done. The pain I experienced in my moving experience was both good and bad as it hurts to find out the people you rely on aren’t really there for you, but it also helps you to cherish and recognize the people who do stick by you through thick and through thin without question. Without the negative circumstances, we would have no way of recognizing and appreciating the positive and great people and experiences in our lives to the extent that is deserved. Sometimes it takes a life-altering experience to figure out how strong we are as individuals and who is really going to be there when it counts. Step back and look at your own life and ask yourself this: How many people would be there for you right now if it came down to a life-altering/changing situation? How many of the people around you could stick by you through whatever life endowed and through whatever sticks and stones were thrown your way? The few people you can say without a doubt would be by your side are the types of people you want to encompass your life around. When you have people around you that believe in and support your endeavors, there will be no resentment or question to your abilities because you will always have a constant support system behind you lifting you to the next level and surrounding you from every angle. Now let’s take this a step further; Think back to the most traumatic experience in your life. It can be anything on any scale. Who was there for you and who helped pick you back up when you felt you had stumbled for the last time? It is important to always seek out and keep close those select few individuals who will always be there to catch you when you fall and to help you surpass your ‘limitations’ and goals you set for yourself. When you are surrounded with people who constantly put you down and don’t believe in you, it becomes ingrained in our minds that maybe we aren’t good enough, smart enough, fast enough, strong enough, and we may not even try to take that risk or chance that could be the next step in our journey to success.


Success in itself is very much a mental game. Whether it’s reaching our goals personally or professionally, there is so much mental strength involved in doing something we may ‘fail’ at initially. It takes a certain type of person to push forward knowing there is a risk involved and possibly failure. When we have the right people around us reaching out a helping hand, we know that even if we make a mistake or ‘fail’ the first or 20th time that we will still have a great support system behind us cheering us on to the finish line. This can make all the difference when trying to accomplish something. Let go of all that holds you back and take the risk you have been putting off. What do you have to lose?


As Darian went through the basics of networking and why it’s so important to do for yourself and your career, all eyes were fixated on the screen in the front of the room and you could literally have heard a pin-drop. The response afterward was awesome and by incorporating the speed-networking game directly after, we were actually able to apply some of these things to real life that we had just learned about during the lecture.


One of the things I would encourage you to do, Faithful Reader, is step out of your box and reach out to the people you see everyday. Reach out to the people you admire. Reach out to the people who might need a helping hand to reach their next step. Reach out with the intention to ‘give’ and I promise you, it will be reciprocated. I think one of the things we fear when networking is that other people won’t be willing to put in what we are putting out. You make yourself vulnerable when networking as you are intentionally inviting another person to be involved with you and to help embellish your career while you are helping to do the same for them. One of the things I have really enjoyed about Connect To Fitness is that it has allowed me to network with some of the most amazing professionals in the area. Having just moved here less than eight months ago, I have had the opportunity to reach out to so many people I may never have had known about or had the opportunity to meet without networking.


Another valuable point Darian stresses heavily in his lecture that rings true in all walks of life is that there is truly no substitute for a one-on-one, face-to-face meeting with someone. Technology has taken a lot of face time out of our lives as seeing someone in person is no longer the only way to keep in touch. Neither is writing a letter, putting on a stamp and mailing it hoping it gets to the right person by the right time. We are no longer plagued by ‘long distance’ relationships as technology has made it so much easier to keep in touch through phones, internet, webcams, etc. Although this is breakthrough, exciting and absolutely necessary now-a-days, it has also left meeting in person a lost art and a lost cause. Now people meet over the internet and foster their relationships virtually. If there is one thing I can agree with, it’s that what Darian says is absolutely true as you will never be able to achieve the emotional ties and connections with someone through virtual reality. You will never see an expression through words, you will never hear the tone of someone’s voice through online chat, you will never ‘see’ what a person is truly passionate about unless you actually take the time to meet with them. This has become one of the things I look forward to most. It may be strange when I say that I meet with strangers on a weekly basis whom I either only met maybe once or never before prior to our meeting. But in the past, this was the only way of meeting someone and I still believe today that you should never substitute an actual and live conversation with emails and Facebook conversations. Meeting with some of the greatest professionals in all of Las Vegas has been an extremely honoring and humbling experience to me as each person has been above and beyond anything their profiles or online messages could have told me. I have walked out of meetings so inspired that it actually brought tears to my eyes and it always makes me wonder why more people don’t reach out to sit down, have a cup of coffee and just simply get to know each other and find out what the both of you are all about. I have never, ever had a meeting where something productive didn’t come out of it. But I HAVE had numerous occasions online where sending messages back and forth just didn’t fill that void. You are also able to foster an actual friendship using this method and you have the ability to connect on an emotional level with a person. Meeting with new people a couple times a week has really helped me both personally and professionally establish myself and get to know the area that I live in. Connect To Fitness has been a fantastic avenue for people to get involved with each other and to meet the other people in this industry who are vying to make a difference through personal connections and taking risks. There just isn’t a substitute. So, I encourage you, Faithful Reader, to reach out and meet the people you have relied on technology to keep you in touch with. Ask them out for coffee, lunch or dinner, or visit their facility or invite them into yours, and just talk. Call them on the phone if they live far away and hold a conversation. Ask questions. Find out how you can help them. What goes around, comes around. It’s tried and true, and it’s GOOD to step out of your comfort zone.


As our awesome event tied up and came to an end, we actually had to extend the event an entire hour as people stayed after to connect further through conversations. I was one of those people. One of the funny things was that a couple people whom I have been ‘friends’ with on Facebook for months, but never had the chance to meet in real life, attended and I couldn’t believe what I had been missing in my online ‘conversations’ with these individuals. It was quite awesome to meet the person behind the words and to actually see what they encompass in real life.


A good part of my last hour at the event was spent talking to two of the very people who have done so much for me this past year and a half, Dr. Darian Parker and Charles Ware. As we sat there and talked outside of the work environment, I was surprised to learn a lot about them that I never knew before. I also thought during our conversation how ‘giving’ truly does go full circle. I remembered my process of moving out to Las Vegas and having to so heavily rely on both of them for support, confidence and guidance in everything I was trying to do across the country (and I still rely on them heavily to this day!). I remember all that they reached out and did for me even though they didn’t even know me well and the risks that both of them took by taking me under their wing. I will never know how to repay them for all that they invested into me, but I do know that by leading from the example they constantly follow, I can give back little by little by following through with their expectations of me and the expectations I have made for myself. Since moving to Vegas, I have been blessed to be able to work alongside these very individuals who helped me through the biggest challenge of my life and I will spend my own time working to help them in any way I can. Giving is the world’s best gift, and you might surprise yourself with the irony of how things work out when you decide to allow your heart to be vulnerable to giving.


As I watched the remainder of the people pile out, I, too, packed up my belongings and said my ‘goodbyes’ to the people that were left at the event. On the way home, my phone buzzed and I realized I had received a text message from a friend all the way back home. I read the message and thought how ironic life works itself out. The message said, “I wanted to say thank you for your email the other day and that I miss you, miss seeing you and miss hearing your voice. Let me know when you are coming to town next because no amount of emails beats actual Emma-time.”. I couldn’t help but smile.


Until next time, Faithful Reader,


“It's not enough to hit the notes. There is no point in the singers just standing there and sounding wonderful if they're not connecting with the characters they are portraying.” –Bruce Beresford


“My parents told me that I could do and be anything I really wanted. I believed them.” -Molly McDonald


“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.” -Theodore H. White