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Social Media is…

iStockphoto © Ismail Akin Bostanci

In an effort to lighten things up here at Leveraging Life and take a break from the cancer topics, I thought now would be as good of a time as any to drift into the social media arena, something near and dear to my heart as it has changed the way we interact with each other on a daily basis.

If we were to take a survey and ask people what social media is to you…the answers would be as random as the demographic of the people surveyed.

–It is something I use to connected

-It is a form of advertising and marketing

-It is a distraction 

-It is channel for communication

-It is just another form of noise

Regardless of what your opinion is or where you land on this subject there is no escaping the impact and influence social media is having on our lives. Like most things in our lives there is both good and bad depending on how we how we use them and if we find a healthy balance. With social media I think the same can be true and for the most part our lives are better because of it, provided we have a balance.

In my opinion there are three areas where social media has made has made the greatest impact in our lives. 

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Save Blue Like Jazz

Most Fridays I feature a website or a blog that for me has become a favorite. It maybe a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just some distraction I frequent. Give the Friday Favorite a look, read, or listen, and please feel free to comment about mine and share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows maybe we will feature one of yours as a future Friday Favorite.  

 

Friday October 22, 2010

Turning Donald Miller’s best selling book Blue Like Jazz into a movie was actually the inspiration for Miller’s latest book A Million Miles and a 1000 years. One of the few books I’ve read which I would classify as a personal game-changer for the reader if they choose to apply what Don shares about creating a better personal life story. 

I chose Save Blue Like Jazz as a Friday Favorite because of the story is itself is equally as important as what was accomplished in only 36 days. Something that what was thought to be impossible….became probable. This story  illustrates how dreams can become reality when passionate people apply a simple 3C (creativity + connectivity + cause) formula in conjunction with community (in this case online) to mobilize the masses for success. 

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False Alarm….It’s All Good!

Based on the comments, emails, and private messages I received all day it would appear that my poor choice of words led more than a few folks to worry unnecessarily about the place I was in this morning after reading my Facebook update about a new post to this blog. 

When facing adversity you always have a choice, succumb to it or rise above it…..I’m trying to rise above it and I could use your help today!

The better choice of words would have been…..this is my way of rising above it…..and then went on to describe how I felt my fundraising project for Charity Water was an example of that.

If you didn’t get the chance to read the post, please take a minute to do so and consider partnering with me to help build a well which will bring clean drinking water to a place where this is none.

While my choice of words might have led to some to possibly doubt my mental health;  for me there is NO DOUBTING how much support and prayers I have coming my way on a daily basis, something which humbles me to the point of not really having the words other than to say: 

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, one and all!

Which brings me to something I want and need to ask YOU…..

How can I be praying for you?

One thing I’m learning in all this is, for me to be able to leverage my faith in the midst of cancer, my focus has to be redirected from within and shifted UP and OUT.

By UP, I mean my focus has to be on God and the lessons He wants me to learn.

By OUT, my focus has to include the community around me, especially the relationships both old and new from which I draw so much strength.

So would you please allow me the opportunity to leverage my faith by letting me know how or what I can be praying for you?

  • One way would be to leave a comment at the bottom of this post which would allow the entire Leveraging Life community the opportunity to pray for you….something I think would be incredible especially when those who do prayed acknowledge it with a comment like so many of you did for me today on Facebook.
  • If you would like to keep the prayer request private click here or on the contact tab at the top and it will stay between you and me.

Thanks again traveling this journey with me!

trust God period!

~Tom

trusting God period

 

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Cancer Road Trip – Part Three

Traveling to Seattle

traveling-to-seattle-part-three

One of the things I looked forward to when I was planning my cancer road trip to Seattle was the planning of what I would do in the down time away from the cancer center. Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to plan with all the work I had to do at my Subaru dealership before I left town. I literally boarded the plane with only the address of my hotel, what time my three doctor’s appointments were at, and no real game plan for my downtime in Seattle.

The randomness actually started in the seating assignments. Booking the trip within two weeks of the flight left me in a middle seat flying from Atlanta. The thought of over 5 hours sandwiched between two people compelled me to play the medical sympathy card which helped me secure a window seat. Once settled into my seat I began to read Pete Wilson’s Plan B book. Reading held my attention for the first hour or so until I glanced at Delta’s flight tracking map to see how far we had traveled. As gazed where we were and we would go as we were traveling to Seattle, realized how little I have seen of this country.

Not enough personal time, too focused on career, stuck in a routine of visiting the same places because it’s easy…comfortable…and safe.

It was in this moment my cancer road trip to Seattle turned into an adventure rather than a quest for clarity in my cancer journey. Traveling to Seattle offered me a break from my routine, an opportunity to explore the city I had never visited, and a means for personal growth I would not have experienced staying home in Atlanta.

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Early Cancer Update

Let me start out with a quick cancer update my sister Molly prepared a few days ago that I never had a chance to share. Keep reading after her update to see what went on this weekend and will be going on tomorrow. 

Simpsons-blackboard-update

Hi everyone, 

Thought it was time for a cancer update on Tom. He got back the results today – out of the 25 or so lymph nodes that were taken out two showed Merkel Cell cancer – one was 6 centimeters and the other was over 5….which is considered quite large.

So what do we do next?

We spoke with several medical oncologists and found one we feel can handle this type of cancer. Because this cancer is so rare and doesn’t look like other cancers Tom’s received very different advice from three different oncologists on what the next step should be. Some say to do chemo and radiation and another says to only do radiation.

So first Tom has to heal for the next 5 weeks from the surgery before he can start treatment and he’s currently battling an infection so that needs to be taken care of.