A thousand goals a day.
Who hasn’t heard his name? Who hasn’t witnessed his story? Who hasn’t known someone who’s been affected by the same devastating disease that took his life?
Terry Fox. Terry’s story is one of an ordinary young man (so described by his mother) who had the courage to dream extraordinary things and in this quest made things happen that even he could not dream of.
In 1977 at age of 18, while pursuing a degree in kinesiology, Terry’s world was rocked when knee pain revealed a form of bone cancer and within only 3 days of this diagnosis, Terry’s right leg was amputated above the knee.
It might tell you something about his character if you knew that he was fitted with a new prosthetic and was out golfing only 6 weeks after the operation. It might also tell you something about his character if you knew that the inspiration for Terry’s achievements was not his own situation but seeing the suffering of all the children in the cancer ward undergoing chemo and radiation treatment. His legendary motto, “somewhere the hurting must stop” was born here.
Terry had an idea, but interestingly, he kept his idea a secret. He began training. Imagine learning to walk all over again and then learning to run. I wonder how many times he fell and got up on that old track. I wonder what was going through his head as he silently dreamt of running across the country hoping to raise 1 million dollars?
For a year he told his family he was training for the Vancouver marathon. 4800 km later Terry announced his plans to run 8000 km in 6 months in the hopes of raising 1 million dollars for cancer research. Initially his family was not supportive and who could blame them?
On Friday April 12, 1980 armed with his best friend & a donated Ford Van, Terry Fox age 22, dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean to St John’s NFLD and The Marathon of Hope began.
Terry received very little coverage until he reached Ottawa where he met Trudeau (who knew nothing of his dream). Now things started happening & Terry raised his goal to a brazen $24 million dollars (the approx pop. of Canada at that time which was the approx equivalent of $1 from each Canadian for cancer research).
Terry was running the equivalent of a marathon a day. Imagine… shoes ,socks, prosthetic, rain, pain, wind, hills.
On September 1, 1980 143 days after beginning his journey, more than ½ way across the country near Thunder Bay, Ontario, Terry was forced to stop his run when the cancer, which had spread to his lungs affected his breathing too much to go on. Imagine… anguish, defeat
Terry died on June 28th, 1981 but not before being the youngest person ever to be awarded the “Order of Canada” the highest Canadian Civilian award, not before becoming one of the greatest Canadian heroes of the 21st century.
The most inspiring quote, one I think of many times when I want to give up is this…
“I set a thousand goals a day, past this sign, past that tree…”
How can we apply this to our own lives. It is doubtful that you want to run across the country, but there IS something you DO want. What is it?
Whatever your dream, desire, wish, hope is-set a BIG goal, then break it down into a thousand ‘little’ goals and pass one ‘tree’ at a time.
Thanks Terry, for the inspiration.
Stephanie Staples
www.YourLifeUnlimited.ca
PS To date over $400 million dollars has been raised in Terry’s name. Visit www.terryfox.org to find out how you can help honour his dream.
About the author: Stephanie Staples is an award-winning speaker, coach and author who sets the wheels in motion for folks to live their lives with full GUSTO! You can find her sharing her expertise on personal growth & opportunities on radio, TV and in print. To ask her a question, send a comment, get some free resources or if your group could use a lift and a shift, contact her at www.YourLifeUnlimited.ca.
