resilient & resourced podcast - season 2, episode 9

  When his sister was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, David struggled to face the difficult emotions of losing the one person in his life who had known him the longest.  After many end-of-life conversations with his sister, David committed to engage in yearly endurance activities in her memory. Those activities have now included over 50 triathlons, more than 50 runs longer than marathon distance, several 24-hour runs and an 85-mile run in Mexico during the summer.  It also included a solo, six-week, 5,000-mile cross-country bike ride from California to Florida to New York.The cycling adventure was a chance for him to visit the 15 people he had interviewed for his most recent book, Cycle of Lives. The book chronicles a unique cross-section of humans who have been changed by cancer either as patients, survivors, loved ones, or caregivers. Instead of being heavy and grim, the book tackles the trauma head on while still shining light on the hope and meaning of the challenges we face.   While supporting his sister during her cancer journey and before writing his book, Cycle of Lives, David learned a lot. Some of these included how much support there was for the concrete tasks of dealing with a cancer diagnosis but how little resources were available for the emotional side of things and how ill-prepared people were to face the emotional work of a cancer diagnosis. He wanted to connect with people at a deep level and knew he needed to form authentic connections with them to understand what they were going through.  He also learned that this skill of authentic connection is crucial when asking for help or offering help to others.This work of building relationships allowed David to hear powerful stories of grief, abandonment and isolation that still incredibly radiated hope, empowerment and that deep sense of connection. David also learned that so many of us are familiar with trauma either directly or indirectly and can learn so much from the trauma stories of others. 100% of the net proceeds from the Cycle of Lives book are allocated to raise money for organizations chosen by the fifteen participants of the project. Order yours wherever books are sold and consider leaving an online review to boost this important work.   https://youtu.be/aaWLuiRuH_M 

Connect with David:

Site - david-richman.com (cycleoflives.org)Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidrichman_cycleoflives/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cycleoflivesTwitter - https://twitter.com/cycleoflivesBook - https://www.amazon.ca/Cycle-Lives-Peoples-Stories-Emotional-ebook/dp/B08KBYPVJV