DAY 569 - Day 468 in Recovery Paradise

I have been an active participant in a Tonsil Cancer Support forum for quite a while with many others (mostly US and England). One of our own, Brooks, passed on this last week and we heard from his spouse in a very meaningful post about staying strong to the end. We are all planning a 'virtual' New Year's Eve celebration, where we all will have a photo taken "toasting another year on earth" from whereever we are around the world and have a technology savvy member morph it into a "group" paragraph. Should be memorable.

I have mentioned before how this past year's cancer diagnosis [526 days] was really a blessed opportunity in clever disguise to encourage me to refocus on the elements of my life that are truly important.

I have created a personal "Legacy" blog to share some of the interesting experiences I have had in this long wonderful life. For my children, my children's children and beyond, there will be a bit of me in their lives, long after I am gone.

I have been reading a business book called "12 Choices...That Lead to Your Success" by David Cottrell. The 12th choice is the "Legacy Choice - Your Gift". Here is a line in that chapter: "Many successful men and women hold in common the choice to leave behind a legacy that will live on long after their last breaths".

I have acquired a good amount of experience regarding small business and non-profit organizations over the years, some by doing it all wrong and learning the hard way. I have had grand opportunities and great mentors. Starting in January, I am launching my newest blog Small Biz Tips - Robert Welton to provide tips and suggestions for small business and local non-profits that I dispense everyday in my work with the chamber of commerce.

Prior to my Cancer diagnosis, I, like many others, had lived a good full life, but without much serious consideration about what I had to contribute, to give back, to pass on, etc. of the benefits of my experiences, relationships, some winning and some losing, etc. This past year's experience has provided me a curtain call opportunity to put things in perspective and in some sense of order before the last performance.

Last quote from the 12th chapter of the "12 Choices" I memtioned: "What is your legacy? What marks are you leaving along the path for the next generation?"

I am newly inspired and with appropriate homage to Grace Welton who inspired my love of poetry and to poet Robert Frost...

'The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. "