Setting an example

There's an old saying that "actions speak louder than words". I'm sure that most people would even agree with this wholeheartedly. Unfortunately there are many who do not put this into practice. I can understand, in a way, because those of us who are old enough were probably brought up differently than children are today. It is also easier to preach, but not so easy to follow through with the actions.

Experience bringing up my three daughters has provided me with a lot of insight into this. They are truly wonderful, and there is not a day that goes by where I don't give thanks for them being in my life.

When I was battling cancer, I knew I had to set an example for them. When informed that I would need eight rounds of chemotherapy, the doctor immediately took out a paper to prescribe nine months of sick leave. I pushed the paper back to him and told him that I had no intention of taking any time off of work, other than that needed for my treatment. This provided an example to my daughters that you can lead a normal life under these circumstances, and you don't have to let illness take you down.

The same thing happened with running. Doctors had already told me that my recovery from the mastectomies operation was very successful due to my state of good physical fitness. There was no reason for me to stop running during these treatments. So I continued, and even ran a 5k race during that time. Even the slight nausea I had, during the first half of my treatments, was forgotten while out on a run

And what did my daughters do? They started running (ok, the youngest would follow on her bike) with me! Now, over three years later, my eldest daughter, Stephanie, runs on her own. I may be too slow for her now, but she gets out there on her own almost daily.......rain, snow or shine. Two years ago the four of us ran the Resolution Run sponsored by the Running Room together. Last year Stephanie and I ran two 5k races together.  One of them was to raise money for breast cancer research. We raised over $1000 for that particular event. 

I feel good about the examples I have set for my girls, and I hope it will make them stronger and more confident adults. I feel comfortable knowing that if they are faced with hardship, they can draw on a real, and positive, life example.