Strategic Discipline Blog

My journey through Acute Myeloid Leukemia continues with Chapter VI from CANCER CURED – Support

(Previous segments of CANCER CURED are available here:  CANCER CURED BOOK -to read from the beginning you’ll need to scroll through to the bottom to find CANCER CURED – What do You Feed?, which is the first in the series.)

This is Chapter VI 6^th and first segment from this chapter, Prayer – Did I Do This Alone?

One of my favorite movies is It’s a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the Savings & Loan President who gets an opportunity to discover what life would be like without him through his aspiring “to get his wings” angel Clarence.

What you might have forgotten in the movie is how it starts. Watching it now, I cry when it starts. People are praying for George. I’m overwhelmed by my thoughts, emotions, and gratitude for the many people who prayed for my welfare, some of whom didn’t even know me.

The outcome of these people who prayed for George Bailey is revealed at the end of the movie, when hundreds of people pour into his house donating money to get the Building & Loan out of debt and preventing him from going to prison.

People did send my family and me money, gift cards, and meals.  The thought that so many people would take time to pray for my welfare is staggering. There is no way I can repay these people for their efforts. Part of my effort to give back to others is the debt of gratitude I owe to those of you who prayed for me. Prayers work, I sincerely hope this book illustrates the power of faith and prayer.

VI Support

“Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.”

― African saying

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

– Hellen Keller

Prayer

It’s a warm Saturday morning in May 2015. I’ve volunteered for a Welcome team meeting for new members at St. Mark’s Lutheran church. Because this is my first event, I arrived early to prepare for instructions to facilitate at one of the tables where St. Mark’s new “partners” will learn about the church and its principles.

It’s 30 minutes before the start of the meeting, and Marlys Fruhling, the pastor’s wife and organizer for this event meets me as I walk into the meeting room. Her husband, Pastor Perry Fruhling, along with several other church members I don’t know are present. Marlys, immediately says, “I’d like to introduce you to your two partners today who will be facilitating at a table as well. Barry & Sandy Christiansen.” “Barry and Sandy,“ she calls out, “I’d like you to meet Doug Wick.” Suddenly a deep voice shouts out, “Doug Wick? You’re Doug Wick? We’re so happy to see you and finally meet you. We’ve been praying for you, Doug. All through your cancer, we’ve had you in our prayers, and we are so very happy to see you out and about and participating in our church now!”

Barry has a giant smile on his face. He’s a personable and affable character, extremely friendly, gracious, and pleasant, and I’ve learned after this first meeting, extremely generous and caring. He and his wife are mirror images of these characteristics. As they stand smiling before me, it’s difficult to contain the tears I feel welling in my eyes!

I discovered Sandy and Barry were bible study members at St Mark's Church. One of the members of their group was Jon Burbridge. Our two sons played sports: basketball, and baseball, together for years. We’d gotten to know them and of course, saw a lot of them while attending these games. Each week Jon would ask the group to pray for me, as well as update them on my progress. It had been almost 3 years since they’d started praying for me, yet they still remembered.

This is just one example of the type of help and support I received from people I didn’t know were praying and contributing to my welfare.

Did I do this alone?

If you had to live inside one room for seven months, you would understand the happiness you feel when you’re able to get outside of it.

A walk in the hallway of my floor, seeing someone other than a nurse or a doctor, being able to look out a different window at a new scene, and even trips to other testing rooms in the hospital were something to look forward to.

My happy place at the hospital was the roof tower. At the time, the floor also held the burn center for children. The first time I went there was with my family. I was able to go outside on the roof deck. To feel the wind, the sun, and breathe the air, I felt like I was human again. I sensed freedom, the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature, and the elements I was deprived of for 7 long months.

There was a lounge there, and frequently they served sandwiches and drinks during the noon hour.

This haven was often part of my meditation practice. In the induction portion of meditation, you imagine your energy rising from the base of your spinal cord up to your head. It reminded me of my elevator flight up to the 11^th floor where this outside paradise became a reality for me.

Have you stayed in a hospital room?

Maybe it was to be with a loved one?

I didn’t just stay in a hospital; it was my home for 7 months.

Taking a shower with my little buddy (IV pole), deciding what to eat, waiting hours for it to arrive, and being interrupted by nurses and doctors at all hours of the day and night. That’s just the routine.

A day or two in a hospital is difficult. You lose so much of your freedom. In Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi, the author, and brain surgeon, shares how he moved from being the doctor to being a patient. He became so sick he finally turned over the responsibility for his health to his doctor.

I never reached the point where I felt so sick, so tired, I had to discharge the responsibility for my health to anyone else.

My relatively “good health” helped me maintain control over my environment and condition. And as it turned out it played a major role in my eligibility for getting a clinical trial.

Three things significantly impacted my ability to cope, maintain control, and keep a positive outlook.

Call to Action

Challenge your team, your business, yourself. Contact Positioning Systems to schedule a free exploratory meeting to challenge, inspire, and ignite purpose and passion in your business!  

Create an environment where everyone is inspired to give their best.

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

My ability to work while in the hospital turned into one of the significant reasons, I was able to cope, maintain control, and keep a positive outlook while I was in the hospital for 7 months. Next blog I’ll share more on the support I received from my customers.

Building an enduring great organization requires disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action, superior results, producing a distinctive impact on the world.

Discipline sustains momentum, over a long period, laying the foundations for lasting endurance.

A winning habit starts with 3 Strategic Disciplines: Priority, Metrics, and Meeting Rhythms.   Forecasting, accountability, individual, and team performance improve dramatically.

Meeting Rhythms achieve a disciplined focus on performance metrics to drive growth.

Let Positioning Systems help your business achieve these outcomes on the Four most Important Decisions your business faces:

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized ($5M - $500M+) businesses Scale-UP. We align your business to focus on Your One Thing! Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

NEXT BLOG – CHAPTER VI – Support from My Customers