The stream of Covid-19 updates has held me prisoner for the past week. Throughout each hour, my phone buzzes as reports detail the latest developments of the virus. Life as we know it has changed. My primary thoughts are about my family. Will my parents be ok? What about my children? What about graduation? What about everything we have planned for the Spring?

My next thoughts are about Bisousweet. Will my team remain healthy? How will this impact the business? What can we do to remain safe, positive and strong?

Next, our community, our country, people, the world as we know it. We can’t know what we don’t know, so how can we prepare for what is going to happen?

Finally, woven throughout all of this is the question of whether the Boston Marathon is going to happen on April 20th, if it will be postponed, or cancelled. The marathon is minor in light of the big picture. I know this, and  still find it difficult to end the restless, anxious chatter in my head.

So many times this week I’ve said to myself – I just wish I knew what was going to happen. 

I try to keep everything in perspective. It’s a marathon, not life. I remind myself that I’m running to raise money for cancer research and treatment. And then, it hits me: this tiny sliver of angst and uncertainty I’ve been feeling all week is what people and families fighting cancer deal with every single day.

How blissfully lucky I’ve been to be able to go about my life without any major obstacles hindering my progress. 

People who are fighting cancer don’t have this luxury of being able to do whatever they want to do. Cancer changes everything. It forces people to learn how to bend and flex around a new normal. Cancer makes everything uncertain, and it’s up to each person to learn to take this uncertainty and handle it in the best possible way. 

To choose to remain optimistic even when you might be filled with doubt.

To decide to keep fighting even when you’re tired.

To find a way to be grateful when life feels bleak.

To focus on what can be done instead of what has been taken.

To breathe in peace, to breathe in strength, to breathe in love.

Sending light, good health and love to everyone. 

xo