Our youth face many difficult challenges in today’s ever-changing world and often need guidance and support navigating these changes. They live in a world where there is intense scrutiny and pressure on how they look, what they wear, who they are friends with and the sharing of every detail of their lives on social media. All of these lead to assumptions and judgements on where they fit in (or don’t) with their peers. Mental health difficulties are increasing at an alarming rate and we all have a responsibility to help build self-confidence and self-belief through learning resilience and coping skills.
I am currently in remission from acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. My prognosis was extremely poor but I am now fortunate to be able to speak openly and honestly about my journey. I bring authenticity and many personal examples on how I dealt with my greatest ever challenge. The need to remain hopeful, positive, deal with change, step outside your comfort zone and become ever more resilient are just some of the tools that I have learned through adversity.
I believe that sharing the lessons I have learned through this life experience can be a catalyst to others becoming more determined, resilient, accepting of life’s challenging path and believing that anything is not only possible, but achievable.