Terry Fox: A humble hero

I wanted to take some time in my busy day to reflect on a man who has inspired and brought hope to a city, a nation...the world.

This weekend in Canada has become an important weekend to remember a truly remarkable man and his amazing dream to raise money for cancer research. The Terry Fox run has been held every year for 26 years. I grew up in the area near to where Terry Fox lived and was about 11 when he began his Marathon of Hope. I can remember the first time my whole school ran the Terry Fox Run. Now my own children ask to bring a "twoonie for Terry" on their Terry Fox run days.

When things are going really tough for me I often think about his determination and perseverance. What do you think he would have thought about in those hours as he pushed himself through a marathon a day? How did he overcome doubt, fear,...pain.

I train for my own fitness, for my own accomplishment. I often don't think much about how this may impact on those around me. I may not be training for cancer research or anything loftier than maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But here is something that I just recently become aware of. We touch and impact people around us all the time, when we are not even aware of it.

A few days ago a parent of one of my daughters friends told me that I had inspired her to change her lifestyle. She said that she changed her eating habits and has started walking everyday. She said that since I had made my health and physical fitness such a priority in my life when I had to overcome much more time constraints than her that she could see no reason why she shouldn't be able to do the same. The thing is that sometimes we set out to do things but it is our commitment to our values and goals, the little things that we do day in day out that says far more about us than just one race or one shining moment in the sun. It's the getting up early riding out in the dark, swimming across the cold water or running in the rain, its moving forward when we are unsure, scared beaten down.

Terry Fox didn't set out to move and inspire a nation all he wanted to do was inspire each of us to donate one dollar. He said that if everyone donated one dollar that 22 million would be raised for cancer research. Terry did many things besides raise money and awareness for cancer research. He showed that one man can do miracles, he showed that often it is our minds that limit what our bodies can do and finally he showed the world that believing in your dream is possible.