In this chaotic dash to the end of the year, I find myself wrestling with time. He’s like an unruly reindeer – chomping at the bit, hustling me to the finish line for 2018. Desperate to keep charging along when what I need is a moment to stop moving. To take a breath and feel the ground beneath my feet. Perhaps you can relate?

But as I look back on this year and on my years spent building A Fresh Chapter, I’m grateful for all the things I said YES to and wondering what would have happened if I had said NO.

• What if I had said no to first starting a blog and then the crazy vision I had of volunteering in Africa in 2011 less than 3 months after my final surgery for cancer? Would A Fresh Chapter exist?
• What if Kate had said no to a scholarship opportunity to join us in Peru? Would her family have moved? Would she be feeling fueled by possibility even while living with breast cancer (check out her story here on her blog – A Terminal Case of Hope).
• What if Bin had said no to a scholarship opportunity to join us in India in 2016? Would he have started M.A.C.H.O. and now be raising awareness and providing support to men impacted by cancer?

As I sit here thinking about all of the things I “have to do”, I want to make sure that in 2019, I continue to SAY YES to the big ideas – like bringing A Fresh Chapter to Kenya and building out a toolkit alongside Kenyan patients and survivors (stay tuned for a big announcement in January) and finding ways to grow our scholarship and fellowship fund to create more opportunities for people from all walks of life and all financial backgrounds to heal and create a ripple of good in their communities.

If you have been waiting for a chance to experience our programs, but it feels out of reach – keep believing – we are working on more opportunities to bring A Fresh Chapter to you.

And, if you are in a position to help OTHERS SAY YES to our programs, we hope you’ll consider our Connect. Serve. Heal. fundraising campaign and contribute to a 2019 scholarship today.* Thank you to the many donors who have already helped us fund 20 scholarships and 5 fellowships since 2013 – you are changing not only the lives of our patients/survivors/caregivers, but also their families and communities .

As we all seek a little quiet over the weeks ahead, I hope you have time to think about what you might want to SAY YES to in 2019. Here’s to a year of fresh possibility for all of us.

*All funds go directly towards our scholarship fund and donations of $100 USD or more are tax deductible.