May 13th is LiveStrong Day

What is LIVESTRONG Day?

LIVESTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation's one-day initiative to raise awareness and funds for the cancer fight. This year more than 500 events will take place in communities across the country to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer.

The Manifesto of the Lance Armstrong Foundation

We believe in life.
Your life.
We believe in living every minute of it with every ounce of your being.
And that you must not let cancer take control of it.
We believe in energy: channeled and fierce.
We believe in focus: getting smart and living strong.
Unity is strength. Knowledge is power. Attitude is everything.
This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

We kick in the moment you’re diagnosed.
We help you accept the tears. Acknowledge the rage.
We believe in your right to live without pain.
We believe in information. Not pity.
And in straight, open talk about cancer.
With husbands, wives and partners. With kids, friends and neighbors. And the people you live with, work with, cry and laugh with.
This is no time to pull punches.
You’re in the fight of your life.

We’re about the hard stuff.
Like finding the nerve to ask for a second opinion.
And a third, or a fourth, if that’s what it takes.
We’re about getting smart about clinical trials.
And if it comes to it, being in control of how your life ends.
It’s your life. You will have it your way.

We’re about the practical stuff.
Planning for surviving. Banking your sperm. Preserving your fertility. Organizing your finances. Dealing with hospitals, specialists, insurance companies and employers.
It’s knowing your rights.
It’s your life.
Take no prisoners.

We’re about the fight.
We’re your champion on Capitol Hill. Your advocate with the healthcare system. Your sponsor in the research labs.
And we know the fight never ends.
Cancer may leave your body, but it never leaves your life.
This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Founded and inspired by one of the toughest cancer survivors on the planet.

LIVESTRONG™

Today, I am grateful for supportive people around me who look out for me-family and friends and God.

Rachel

Obsessed With Life is in a LiveStrong Newsletter!

After attending the LiveStrong Summit (with the Lance Armstrong Foundation) in the fall of 2006 with my fiance, I have been getting a newsletter from them in my e-mail. I just got one that features this blog! Thanks to all of you who read it and make my life better!

Rachel is a delegate from the Midwest. Her personal action plan is to launch a website that helps others (including cancer survivors) and is a place to share stories, poetry, writing, art, and just about anything. She successfully started a daily blog in September of this year, and has already been able to help and connect with many survivors, writers, doctors, and others around the world. This blog is a wonderful space to share with others, and includes things she knows about that are going on in the cancer world, about organizations she thinks are noteworthy, about writing and art that she and others are doing; some days it has nothing to do with cancer. It is a great way to appeal to a broader audience and provide information to help them learn about the cancer world. Learn more about Rachel and her blog!

Hope everyone is doing well-please check in and say hi!

Today, I am grateful to be in the home-stretch of school, a beautiful day, friends, family, health and God.

Rachel

Inspirational Video

As some of you know, I am a sort of representative for the Lance Armstrong Foundation...I was honored to be accepted to their summit in the fall of '06 and then I was one of two people from my state chosen to represent them in Washington D.C. to talk to Congressional members last May...I really connect with their manifesto and here's a neat video of it:





Today, I am thankful for: time with family and friends, love, joy, God.

Love,
Rachel