Trait # 3:
Focus more on the impact and consequences of your actions in the future rather than in the present moment
Terry Fox is widely known for his outstanding athletic and fundraising achievement as an amputee. Terry was a very active teenager and was only 18 years old when he was first diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a type of bone cancer that forced him to amputate his right leg six inches above the knee in 1977. During his stay at the hospital after his amputation, Terry was overcome with the amount of pain and suffering that he had shared and experienced with fellow younger cancer patients.
Despite losing his leg to cancer and being aware of the multitude of negative consequences that he might face while on his mission,
two years after his amputation, Terry started the Marathon of Hope
and decided that he would run across Canada to receive donations
and raise money and awareness for Cancer research in hope that a cure would quickly be found and less cancer patients would have to suffer. At first, it was difficult for him to gather much attention and many were skeptical and doubted his success, but Terry persevered and soon earned sponsors and promotions from the Cancer Society when he was finally able to dip his artificial leg in to the waters of St. John’s harbour.
Terry ran 364 days out of the entire year and during his journey, he neglected his medical appointments and tried his best to not let the immense pain he was in get to him, as his cancer spread from his leg to his lungs because he wanted to raise more awareness and money for the cancer patients. Terry said “I loved it, I enjoyed myself so much and that was what other people couldn’t realize. They thought I was going through a nightmare running all day long…people thought I was going through hell. Maybe I was partly, but still I was doing what I wanted and a dream was coming true and that, above everything else, made it all worthwhile to me. Even though it was so difficult, there was not another thing in the world I would have rather been doing... The pain was there, but the pain didn’t matter. But that’s all a lot of people could see; they couldn’t see the good that I was getting out of it myself.”
After finding out that the cancer had spread to his lungs, Terry spent the next 10 months battling the disease until he passed away on June 28, 1981. As Terry rested in peace, the nation remembered the efforts he took to find a cure for cancer patients and continued his mission for him. The first Terry Fox Run was held in September 1981 and more than 300,000 people walked and ran in his memory and raised $3.5 million. “How many people do something they really believe in? I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible, if you try; dreams are made, if people try. When I started this run, I said that if we all gave one dollar, we’d have $22 million for cancer research, and I don’t care man, there’s no reason that isn’t possible. No reason.”
We often fail to act upon situations that require heroic actions because we are short-sighted and tend to focus more on the immediate consequences versus the long-term ones. Sure you might receive negative reactions and responses from others during the moment you decide to take a take a stand, but that is only momentary. Think about the long-term consequences that will occur if you don’t start to take action now. How many more people will have to suffer in the future? How much more must people face before awareness and attention is brought upon them? How will you see yourself 20 years down the road knowing that you could have helped in a situation but decided not to because of momentary hardship? Focusing on the long-term impact of your heroic actions instead of the present and knowing that every little action that you take is a step closer to making the world a better place will help develop your heroic imagination and motivate and inspire you to take more heroic action.
Terry fox