Woman Of The Year Self Magazine

First of all I have to say I am so honored and humbled! Several of my friends nominated ME for Self Magazines Women Doing Good in 2010. What an amazing honor to have friends that think so highly of little ole me :) So this post is a BIG THANK YOU to those who have nominated me ;)

So what is this Women Doing Good Award anyway? Self Magazine is putting on a contest looking for:

"extraordinary women—who make a difference and work tirelessly so others may live better lives. That woman could be you or someone you know—a woman driven by compassion, who truly strives to improve her community, the environment or the world around her."

"The judges will score entries based on the following criteria: Commitment to Others (33.3%), Ingenuity (33.3%), and Successfulness of execution (33.4%). The entry with highest overall score will be declared the potential winner"

I think its great that a magazine is taking the time to honor those who work to make our world a better, happier, safer and more caring place. Its not an easy task and often times the financial reward is small if at all. But, I can tell you first hand that helping others without any monetary motivation can be the most rewarding experience you will ever have.

After hearing about the nomination my first reaction, "wow why do I deserve such an honor". Then I sat down and started thinking about why those who know me think I should be considered for Women Of The Year Award and here is what I came up with:

I beat cancer! After being told I had little chance of surviving I took the bull by the horns and kicked some serious cancer ass! There was nothing I wouldn't do, chemo, external radiation, internal radiation, nephrostomy tubes, stents, weeks upon weeks of hospital stays and even a kidney removed.  If thats not EXTRODINARY then I don't know what is! Yea thats right im finally patting myself on the back and giving ME the credit that I deserve for winning my battle...Phew that felt good!

So that takes care of the Extraordinary Women part but what about the rest......"Who Make A Difference"  That is a very important sentence for me. When I was going through my battle I kept saying to myself and anyone who would listen, "this all has to be for a purpose". I thought long and hard during and after my battle about what I could do to make my terrible diagnosis meaningful.  As you all know thats when and why I started this blog, to reach out to others battling cancer. I wanted to share resources, stories and support. But that wasn't enough I felt I needed to do more to really make a difference. So I decided to forgo my career as a lawyer and instead run a nonprofit full time.  I wanted my nonprofit to help ALL people battling cancer no matter what their age, gender, staging, or type of cancer. Helping those who are going through the scary, lonely terrible battle I endured was what gave me a reason to live and so I started Spirit Jump So that is how I feel I make a difference.

Working Tirelessly So Others May Live Better Lives: well I will admit that I definitely do this and my friends and family are all too aware. I, along with my boyfriend Bryan, friend Dominique and Lillie work 7 days a week and often over 12 hours a day to reach and lift the spirits of those battling cancer. I know cancer never sleeps, it never gives up and does everything it can to win its battle. That means we cannot take days off or work 40 hour weeks.  But working tirelessly doesn't just mean you work long hours and many days. What you do while you are "working" is what really counts. I am proud to say that I work tirelessly by always looking for new ways to help, trying to find cancer fighters who may not know about our services, talking on the phone with people who are scared and confused by their cancer battle and trying to find ways to create new programs that are so needed. To me working tirelessly means you are always looking for new, creative ways to make a difference all while keeping yourself motivated and excited each day. So I know I work TIRELESSLY.

Finally The Women Doing Good Award should go to a woman driven by compassion, who truly strives to improve her community, the environment or the world around her. I am all these things. I am driven by my desire to help anyone who is unfortunate enough to be faced with a cancer diagnosis. I want to improve their battle by providing comfort and support because the comfort and support I received helped me win my very difficult battle. Even though some of those we help may not win their battle it is enough to know that they felt comfort and love during their last days.  Facing death I know life is short and therefore I want to spend each day on this earth helping those around me.  Driving a fancy car, living in a big house or wearing expensive jewelry does not motivate me. Im motivated by the bravery and courage of those battling cancer.

So I am proud to say I do think I am qualified to be nominated for Self Magazines Women Doing Good Award! The women who wins this award will be given 10,000 to donate to the charity of her choice and it should be no surprise that I would doante that to Spirit Jump so that we could start some much needed programs like, rides to chemotherapy, house cleaning and grocery delivery.

If you would like to nominate me for this I would be honored. You can do so through this LINK and will need the following information:

First Name: Meaghan

Last Name: Edelstein

Address: 2121 West Woolbright Road K101, Boynton Beach, FL 33246

Date Of Birth: 03/29/1978

Phone: 561-292-3853

Email: meaghan@spiritjump.com

Category: Cancer

Photo: You can take the picture from this post

Charitable Organization: Spirit Jump

Mission Statement: To lift the spirits of men, women and children battling cancer

Website: www.spiritjump.org