January 14, 2025

It comes as no surprise. Yet, when we come across a story of someone, going through it, the introspection runs deep. There was an article of a sports columnist and reporter named Adrian Wonarowski and he covered professional basketball. In the height of his professional, certainly surpassing even his own dreams, he stepped aside to go do something else. With an eight-figure salary, credibility, status and prestige. He walked away.

Why would someone dedicate their life to a profession just to walk away? Wonarowski, who went by "Woj," would go take the job as General Manager of the St. Bonaventure’s basketball program, his alma mater. But it turns out this decision had other roots. Initially, "Woj" said "time isn't in endless supply, and I want to spend mine in ways that are personally meaningful." Those roots for his decision came from a prostate cancer diagnosis in February of 2024.

That's it. The cancer word. Instantly life flashed before the eyes of "Woj," as it might for all of us. But why cancer? Why not just wake up one day and come to this perspective shift on your own? Because a terminal illness scare or diagnosis is the one real way to remind us that death can happen. Never mind a random act of violence, which appears to be more prevalent today or just a normal car wreck that turned deadly.

We don't need cancer to shape how we see our lives; unless you or someone you love has cancer or survived or you lost someone because of it. All we need to do is decide - to do different, to be different. Just like that (snap of a finger) we can decide. Because we all have a terminal illness we were born with - its called death. From the second the doctor calls out time of birth, we are beginning the clock towards death. Its a terminal diagnosis because we will all get there. When or how no one knows.

Since childhood I've had an interesting and close relationship with death. My late mother often coached me on its arrival. Death or the fear of it can make us do some crazy things. And as it was with "Woj" it can be the conduit for meaningful change in our lives. Where we walk away from the money, fame and status in pursuit of meaning and purpose. Now, we can all act in accordance of what matters, without the fear of dying or cancer. Today, right now, we can just decide.