I am in an unusual position with my place in Forever Friends. Part of me sees the problems that exist in the world but the other part of me is very grateful for what we do have. As a registered charity we can not advocate in the traditional way. I have no time or energy to go pounding on politicians doors. Nor do I have the real desire.
I also feel like politics is like football. Everybody sitting on their couch yelling at the TV is the expert. Only a chosen few actually do what it takes to get there. But on Sunday afternoon, everyone is a champion. I don't have what it takes to be a politician. Believe it or not, I am too nice. I don't have a thick enough skin.
I do respect politicians. It is a thankless job. One I am very grateful they do. We live in a democracy. We get to vote. If we don't like what we see, we get to complain about it. And the best part is that we don't live in fear of repercussions of our complaints. There are countries in the world that would send authorities to my home tonight to drag me to jail for this blog post. In Canada, I don't worry about that.
The reason I don't worry is because politicians that have come before us have laid a groundwork down for our society and culture to evolve to where it is now. There is always a debate, a chicken or the egg, type of argument. Does the government form policies because of public pressure or does the public form opinions because of the direction of the government? I'm not sure about that.
Forever Friends was asked a few weekends ago to attend a meeting of Breast Cancer Rehab Advocacy Working group. Forever Friends is now considered one of the stakeholders in woman's cancer's. This amazes me. We have all worked really hard for this and I love watching it unfold.
It was a meeting to identify some of the short comings in the cancer system now. There are some, I won't lie. But like everything else including my life, we are all limited by money. Change happens from the inside up sometimes. There was no shortage of care and concern in the room I was in. There were some folks from the business world, some charity groups and some health workers. Each member there believes in a better way for people in treatment. I think we all came away with more knowledge of the other organizations.
The hardest part is developing the connections of the organizations. Forever Friends has been doing this for years and it wasn't until two years ago when I started into my spiel at a trade show "We're Forever Friends of Hope, a registered charity that provides financial support to women with cancer." that someone stopped me an said "I've heard of you guys". That was a great moment.
The connections are the hardest to make. That is why I am so grateful for the "shares" and "likes" on facebook. The reads on linkin and Twitter. We never know who is going to read this and who is going to need us next.
Feel free to talk about us. Mention us if you think someone might need us. These connections pay off. We talk everyday to people, hairdressers, waitresses, nurses with three kids. Any one of these people could need us at any time. And we would love to help.
Thanks for the read today!
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