My friend and WOW alumni, Les Whitney, plays the ukulele every morning … until one day, several weeks ago, when his left hand simply wouldn’t cooperate. Not dissimilar to my experience of a few years ago – when some weird health thing shows up; you go to the doctor and they say (in carefully-worded language that never uses the dreaded “C” word), “You’ve got cancer.” And the obvious response, “You’ve GOT to be kidding!”

But in that moment, everything changes. Everything.

Some of you have traveled with Les (to Peru, Africa or Puglia). He and his wife, Teresa, are two of the healthiest people I know … both in body and spirit.

Naturally, the news hit close to home for me – but if I can survive a cancer diagnosis – it’s a no-brainer for a guy like Les. A few weeks ago, Scott and I visited Teresa and Les at their home in San Clemente. It was interesting to speak about my cancer journey in past-tense and to learn that much of the way I coped with the information, Les is handling it similarly…

• After my diagnosis, I immediately began to write into my experience and published entries on this blog – which was very therapeutic. Les is sharing his thoughts and feelings regularly on his Caring Bridge website – letting it all out.
• People found my blog posts inspiring – and reached out to me with kudos and well wishes. For me, it was the best possible medicine – to know how much people cared. Les is getting similar accolades.
• Even though I knew the diagnosis was real – I did not give in to the diagnosis. I had plans for my future. There was no way I was gonna let this take me down! Les is of the same mindset.

Why am I sharing all this? Because Les has asked a favor. He’s got a BHAG: Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goal. His mission in life is to help others achieve their greatness. He wants to publicize his experience as a way to offer hope and encouragement to someone who needs it.

So far, he’s had a few hundred unique visitors to his journal. He wants to reach 10,000, with a goal to provide hope or inspiration to just 1% (100) of those people. He’d like his thought-provoking questions to fuel conversations around the fragility of life – and the importance of living each day to the fullest.

To honor him – and me – I’m sharing his request, and hope you’ll log onto his website and read his honest, courageous, inspirational entries. I’m sure this will all be content for a best-selling book one day. He writes about his fears, frailties, hopes, and sadness as well as very specific information about his treatments and conversations with his medical team. Please share this with anyone in your life who might need a bit of hope and inspiration.

Here’s the link:  Les Whitney’s Caring Bridge website

Following are a few interesting journey entries that Les has posted: (His references to the Camino are about the centuries-old pilgrimage in northern Spain – Camino de Santiago – that he and Teresa walked several years ago. It was a physical challenge, but mostly a transformational journey for the soul …)

• …from his first post on Jan 25:  I/we are looking at this as simply another journey in our lives together.  I see this journey as being similar to walking the Camino de Santiago, not knowing where I will be going, what my day will be like or what challenges we will face.  I am so glad I walked the Camino and believe it was placed in front of me just so that I would have this perspective.  And, I have a clear vision of success: Teresa and me walking into Santiago de Compestelo hand in hand with my Ukulele hanging from my backpack.
• …from his Feb 2 journal: Interesting note. Every one of us has cancer cells trying to take hold at some point or another in our bodies.  For the most part, our immune system takes care of it.  But, a statistic I read says that 58% of Americans will visit a doctor/hospital with some form of cancer in their lives.  It just shows us that the survivors outnumber the others by a huge number.  I’m looking forward to the day I have tattooed on my ass, “I am a cancer survivor!”
• … from Feb 10:  I am not afraid of the outcome of our cancer journey.  We are going to get the result we are going to get.  Our results will be a product of who I am today and the choices we make moving forward.  We choose to focus on those choices, take in the journey with all its ups and downs, joys and sorrows, happiness and fear.  So staying focused on the next step while embracing the wonders of our community walking along with us is how we will continue to walk our Camino.

Thank you for reading this.

And now, a word about me.

“How are you doing?” you ask? Excellent, I’m happy to say. Happy, healthy and loving everything about my life. More grateful than ever. And, though Scott might disagree, I am working a little less than before. And of course, I’m still traveling – with no plans to ever stop. In fact, when that day inevitably comes, I’ve asked that my ashes be spread on all seven continents.

Once Les and Teresa are past the scary part of the disease and Les gets his butt tattooed, I’ll be planning a “Survivor’s Adventure” to any destination they choose. I’ll keep you posted. It will most certainly be a trip of a lifetime!