Roxanne Birney

Accept yourself and everything in your life as an opportunity for growth and learning. Be grateful. When you mess up, forgive yourself, learn what you can from the experience and then move on and keep a sense of humor. Make a commitment to health and well-being, and develop a belief in the possibility of total health. Develop your own healing program, drawing on the support and advice of experts. Do things that bring you a sense of fulfillment, joy and purpose, that validate your worth. See your life as your own creation, and strive to make it a positive one. Pay close and loving attention to yourself, nourishing, supporting and encouraging yourself. Hold positive images and goals in your mind, pictures of what you truly want in your life. Love yourself an everyone else. I am a love agent of life and living having survived major health issues with cancer and open heart surgery. Roxanne has an ease within her presentations that makes the audience feel comfortable and attentive. She simply loves to inspire.

How many people do you meet that are a cancer survivor and open heart survivor? Remember when the "Big C" was a stigma you carried like a scarlet A? Roxanne Birney, a bubbly and gregarious 50 something old has those memories burned into her brain. Cancer was a dirty word, when the fear was so overwhelming and the uncertainty so strong that people didn't know how to react in the presence of someone with that diagnosis. Part of that purpose is to tell her story, But it's not about her battles with cancer and open heart surgery that led her to self-publish a children's book about her daughter Johannah, and her challenges with a "lazy eye" - amblyopia. Her daughter was OK with glasses, but like many youngsters, being different didn't go unnoticed. This book is about being different and how children should cultivate compassion for those who are. There is an upside: Johannah can now see that, like her mother, suffering through illness or disability can make you stronger. Being positive in the face of cancer and strong in the face of bullying are strengths worth sharing. Roxanne's platform is speaking about battles and overcoming them with a spirit that is defined by a survivor.