On Sunday, August 21, 2022, I participated in the Bras for the Cause ride in Des Moines. I was hesitant at first because I had
to wear pink and a bra while riding a bike through the city. But my nephews and friends participated, and it was so much fun. I told my coach that usually if I don’t have a hand in planning an event - I’m not super comfortable attending. I just literally went along for the ride and it was great! About 250 - 300 people participated, and it was a beautiful day and everyone got into the spirit of the ride*. We also drank a lot.
So, this thing about planning and participating … it’s a real thing for me. But I know I have to push my levels of comfort, and do things I don’t normally do if I want to experience life. We only grow and change by challenging our boundaries. My new goal is to find what makes me uncomfortable and then do it. (Easier said than done.)
How many times in our lives do we make assumptions?? All the time - at least I do. When people talk about rural healthcare, they automatically put ISH into a category. When I point out our statistics and all the things we do - people are shocked. When I talk in rounding to ISH employees, and they tell me they were in a KISS band or have run marathons or have hugged Oprah … well, I’m shocked, all the time.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said ““You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
*Bras for the Cause organization is committed to ensuring that all Iowans, uninsured or underinsured, have access to mammograms, cervical screenings and other related medical programs or projects.
