“I want to try the impossible, to show it can be done” – Terry Fox

This is my annual post regarding the annual Terry Fox run scheduled for September 19th.?This will be my 41st time running the annual 10K run.?That’s right 41 years in a row, it is something I am proud of but perhaps more importantly to me I will do it with my wife and sons as we do every year.?I want to encourage you all to consider donating to fund Cancer research.?We still have much work to do to beat Cancer.?I, like so many people have been closely impacted by Cancer, I will be running in memory of my Father (Keith), my Mother (Barbara) and my Father-In-Law (Edward). I will also be running to honour my sister (Diane) who is has battled and beaten Cancer and who will continue to fight.?Unfortunately for me there are many more friends and acquaintances I could list (too many). If have know someone to fight Cancer during the COVID pandemic it has been very very hard and so I wanted to remind you all that we need to continue the mission to BEAT cancer.?I have my own donation page https://www.terryfox.ca/GSX if you are so inclined to support my run – but its much more important to me that we donate so feel free to start your own page or support someone else very close to you.

Clearly the story of Terry Fox is very personal and meaningful for me – and has been for 43 years.??There was a great documentary on CBC this year – you can see it here - CBC Gem - Terry Fox: The Power of One - Terry Fox: The Power of One. I thought it was a lovely story and very well done.?Over the course of my life and career I have often used the Terry for inspiration.?Firstly, his grit and resilience to run the equivalent of a marathon every single day for 143 days…remarkable.?By the way the picture of this article is me with my newest Terry Fox shirt and a pair of commemorative shoes -like the ones he wore.?Just a note that I love these shoes – but shoe technology has improved immensely in 40 years as have prosthetics and I can’t even imagine what running with Terry’s equipment would have been like.?So yes, every time the going got tough. Every time I faced adversity or a big challenge and every time it was so hard, I wanted to quit…I would think about Terry Fox and I knew that I had much more inside of me to continue.?

In recent years I think it has been Terry’s vision, passion and purpose that have really fueled my ambition.??My shoes came with special shoelaces with some of Terry’s quotes.?The title of this post – is one of my favourites. Some others that I love are “I want to set an example that will never be forgotten”, “Dreams are made if people try” and “The answer is to try to help others”.?I have used this inspiration to fuel my personal and career ambition.?There is no doubt that we are in a unique time in human history. Even before COVID there was Digital Technologies that created a new normal.?It also a very HUMAN period. Again, even before COVID we could see the focus on the human and enabling people to flourish as their authentic self was gaining momentum. Movements like “Black Lives Matter” and “Indigenous Reconciliation” are examples but we are in a more empathetic time where we are accepting diversity to create a much better world – but yes there is still a ton of work to be done.

I decide years ago that the entire learning system has not evolved quickly enough to help people flourish in this new world. I wanted to help organizations and people to transform for the Digital Age and I realized that they were equipped with the right competencies and skills for this next best normal.?So, I added the “Future Ready Workforce” we need to reimagine the work to be done and help people learn and develop in the flow of life and work to flourish.?

Like Terry Fox, I think we can make this happen. We can change the system to enable people to develop lifelong to flourish as their authentic self.?It’s a huge task for sure but let’s try – let’s try the impossible to show it can be done!

So, on Sunday September 19th – I will take some time to run 10K (mostly run). I will use this time to talk to my Mom and My Dad and my Father-in-Law to make sure they know I still love them and think of them often.?I will use this time to think about all those how fought for a better normal where we beat cancer. I will use it to think about how I am going to “Set an example that will never be forgotten” for my sons and I will use it be imagine the next best normal.