The window of “Cupcake.” King St. CharlestonIn 1982, when Komen for the cure was founded, breast cancer was on the fringe of people’s list of concerns. In 1982, 70% of women did not receive clinical breast exams. In 1982, the government only spent $30 million a year on research for a cure. In less than 30 years the world of breast cancer has been flipped on it’s head. Now, over 75% of women receive regular breast exams, and in 2009 the government will have spent over $900 million on breast cancer research!
These statistics are amazing and something that we can all celebrate. What these statistics can also do is TEACH us. These huge strides over the past thirty years are not a result of chance. These advances didn’t take place because people hoped for them. The death rate from breast cancer didn’t drop by more than 25% just because. These incredible changes in our social consciousness happened because people CHOSE to do something great.
So what does it mean to do something great? Modern life doesn’t lend itself to lesuire, in fact it seems that we’re all too busy, we’re all struggling to find time, money, and energy to do the things that we already love. How can we rise above and beyond our own daily struggle to do great things? American thinker Orison Marden puts it well, “the greatest thing a man can do in this world is to make the most possible out of the stuff that has been given him.” This is true greatness. To be able to do your part and give what you have. No one person can save the world, but if everyone performs their own act of greatness the world inevitably becomes a better place.
Breast Cancer awarness month should provide inspiration to all of us in our daily lives, and for us at Darkness to Light it provides us hope and inspiration that if we all keep doing our daily duty we will see the horror of child sexual abuse begin to see it’s way out of our world.
For more information on Darkness to Light and the PREVENTION of child sexual abuse please visit DarknesstoLight.org
