inspiration – Page 2 – Living Well While Surviving Cancer

We Wish You a Happy and HEALTHY Thanksgiving

In recognition of Thanksgiving, here are several special wishes.

For inspirational quotes, click here.

Museums Inspire Good Thoughts

Yes, museums can do more than entertain, inform, and radiate brilliance. They can help us to reach a better state of mind.

Let’s see how.

Consider this story from TrendWatching:

“The Montreal Museum of Fine Art (MMFA) partnered with the Médecins francophones du Canada doctors’ organization to let doctors write prescriptions for museum visits. Medical professionals can write a maximum of 50 prescriptions. They will grant each patient an admission-free trip to the museum. The doctors involved cited the ability of art to improve mood, help patients take a respite from serious illnesses, and more – all, of course, with zero-side effects.”

“This program brings new meaning to ’art therapy’! It also shows how the pursuit of health and wellbeing is increasingly breaking free from traditional channels and formats: from cardio-meets-CPR fitness classes in Thailand to STI testing at music festivals in New Zealand to Costa’s low-budget loneliness-fighting coffee tables.”

“The benefits of consuming art aren’t the most immediate or tangible. New audiences may be skeptical or resistant. By partnering with doctors, the MMFA benefits from a trusted and credible voice. And with the prescriptions making visits free, patients have no reason not to go!”

Click the image to read more from MMFA.

Good News Network

The Good News Network runs a nonprofit Web site dedicated to GOOD News.

The Good News Network runs a nonprofit Web site dedicated to GOOD News. As it notes: “From its beginnings, the Web site [in 1997] has been a clearinghouse for the gathering and dissemination of positive news stories from around the globe, confirming what people already know — that good news itself is not in short supply; the broadcasting of it is.”

Among Good News Network’s sub-sites are these:

Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture

This inspirational video is from a speech made by Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University. To date, it has been viewed more than 19 million times. Sit back and watch. Note: It is 75 minutes long, so it may take a couple of viewings on your part. It is worth it!!

“Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more on Randy, visit: http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture .”

Today’s presentation is the third of three of the most inspiring speeches that I have ever seen. The first one we shared was Jim Valvano’s ESPY speech. The second was Steve Jobs’ incredible commencement speech at Stanford University.

Steve Jobs Commencement Speech

Many people know Steve Jobs as the charismatic founder and CEO of Apple. He was truly one of a kind. And when his shares in Pixar were acquired by Disney, he became the largest shareholder at Disney.

Fewer people know that Steve Jobs fought a long and tenacious battle with pancreatic cancer. He tried every possible treatment to prolong his life. But ultimately, he succumbed in October 2011. [He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003.]

Today, we present the second of three of the most inspiring speeches that I have ever seen. The first one we shared was Jim Valvano’s ESPY speech. Below is Steve Jobs’ incredible and very personal commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005.

Jim Valvano ESPY Awards Video

To me, there are three tremendous videos of presentations by those suffering from a terminal illness. Today, we cover Jim Valvano’s speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards show. Jim was a championship college basketball coach.

As the V Foundation Web site notes:

“Don’t Give Up . . . Don’t Ever Give Up!”®

“With these words, Jim Valvano announced the beginning of the V Foundation for Cancer Research with ESPN’s support. During Jim’s memorable speech accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the inaugural ESPYS on March 4, 1993, his message was simple: cancer research needs our support.”

“Despite being weakened from his fight against cancer, he delivered an energetic and inspiring speech that brought the crowd to its feet. Although he passed shortly after his speech, Jim’s legacy lives on through the V Foundation.”

“For the past 25 years, the V Foundation has continued Jim’s message by funding incredible projects and researchers focused on finding and end to cancer. Because of the V Foundation’s generous supporters: More than $200 million has been awarded to cancer research and programs. 100% of every direct donation goes to cancer research. There are 16 million cancer survivors in the U.S., with that number expected to grow to 20.3 million by 2026.”