Tuesday, January 12, 2010

New Years Resolutions - go big or go home

Have you made any New Year's resolutions? Whether you have or not, chances are you fall into one of these two groups:the Easy Goers (EG) or the Nay Sayers (NS)

The EGs say you should make resolutions that are easy to keep and readily attainable. And don't make too many of those either. Something along the lines of "I will limit myself to 3 restaurant meals a week instead of four", or "I will reduce my smoking by one pack per month" That way, you can be pleased with yourself when the new new year comes along and you have kept your resolutions from last year.

The NSs go around proclaiming loudly that they are not making any resolutions this year. That way there are none to break. (Although technically, that is a resolution in itself and some people can't even keep that one!)

I am here to usher in a new school of thought - the GBGH school of new year's resolutions. Our philisofy regarding resolutions is simple: Go Big or Go Home! And I don't mean big as in "I'll stop smoking" big. I mean "I'll cure cancer" big!

Ow! I was just hit by a blast of air from a thousand eyebrows going up simultaneously in a "Are you f*ing serious" motion (note: f*ing is short for...fishing ;). Well yes, I am very serious. Here's why:

Because getting involved in something so much bigger than you makes every other little problem look small in comparison.

One of my favourite quotes is from Napoleon: "Small plans do not inflame the hearts of men."

Like many other historical leaders, good and bad, Napoleon understood that in order to for people to stick with the plan, it had to be something grandiose that they could feel a part of; something that would inflame their passion.

So, go ahead, think big, and pick something that has meaning to you. Say for example that you know someone close to you who is batteling cancer. Make a resolution to help beat cancer this year. Try to find ways that you can help make this happen. In this case, it could be something like:

  • Donating money for cancer research
  • Participating in a local march against cancer or a funding drive
  • Better yet, organizing a car wash with local students to raise money for a local cancer unit

And if, like me, you are more "computer oriented" than most (i.e. spend most waking hours in front of a computer) than you can still do a lot:

  • Make it a point to post cancer related news article on your Facebook profile or Twitter account
  • Look for people involved in cancer research/treatment and try to put them into contact with each other
  • Join cancer related Facebook groups or create one of your own.

So, will this cure cancer this year? Probably not. But what if your actions inspire someone and it leads them to a possible cure? Or what if you bring to researchers together whose work complements each other in a way that does lead to a treatment? In the final analysis, when a cure is found for this terrible disease, you will have been part of the solution, and that is something worth making a resolution over.

I will leave you with two quotes to help inspire you (just don't forget me when you help cure cancer or whatever). I suggest you print them out and keep them in plain sight.

- "The ones we call crazy for trying to change the world are the ones that do." - anonymous

- “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” - Gandhi

1 comment:

FAMEDS said...

Hi Alain. Great to stumble on your blog! Best of luck with everything! Have you heard of FAMEDS? Freedom of Access to Medicines is leading the effort against the FDA from disproving Avastin this month, which is the drug working for 17,500 women surviving with Metastatic Breast Cancer! Please sign and share the urgent petition: http://fameds.org/petition.php