The saying "A journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step" is a saying that has been attributed to an ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, written probably between the 4th or 6th century.
There is an African proverb which says "Little by Little, A Little Becomes a Lot"
Another saying says "Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land.."
Ripple effect! Drop a pebble in a pool of water and watch it expand outwards. What is my point here. Eradicating cancer and its effects on humanity and every aspect of life may seem like an insurmountable task. Can cancer ever be eradicated? To be truthful, I do not have a clue. It is an ancient disease and has persisted for thousands and thousands of years. In spite of the bottomless pits of resources and money that has been thrown at it, it still is.
So then do we throw up our hands in surrender? Never! I read this book when I was going through my cancer challenge; The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. This book was very important to my understanding that cancer is an ancient disease. In the book, an account was given of an ancient mummy that was found that seemed to have had a mastectomy 2000 years BC. The book charts the progress that has been made in making the disease less deadly through the years and especially from the 20th century to now. There is hope. Things get better as the years pass by. Indeed, the "little" advancements that have been made through science, our faith in God and a positive outlook have chipped away at the behemoth that is Cancer.
Individuals such as myself who have gone through the challenge can do our part to reach the goal of the "million steps". No effort is too small or insignificant. My one step started when I shared my experience with one person who was going through a similar experience. I gave them hope to be positive and not to give up. I am still taking my steps towards the million by encouraging , counseling and educating one person at a time, one community group at time. Safe-haven is part of the" million step effort". Some big cancer organizations are taking their giant strides, we are doing our bit by reaching one cancer patient at a time. We provide one bra and one prosthesis at a time. Together our small steps and the giant strides by bigger organizations will bring us closer and closer to our goal to conquer the beast named cancer and its effects on humanity.
Lessons Learnt
We can all do our part. Share your experience with someone and give them the hope to do the same.
What the lesson in Romans 12:3 means to me :-We have each been given a measure of faith. It is a gift from God. Let us not think of ourselves more than we should or less than we should. Let us not compare ourselves to others. Let us use what we have been given to the best of our ability and God will accomplish much with us.
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