My Story
At the tender age of 21, I was faced with the toughest DNA moment of my life, I was diagnosed with stomach cancer and given a 20% chance of surviving 5 years, which resulted in a surgery to remove 2/3rds of my stomach 6 months of chemo and 25 days of radiation. My weight dropped drastically and my mental and physical strength were nowhere to be found.
Post-surgery, I realized that I had to turn my life around in order to avoid relapse at all costs and in order to give myself the best possible chance to be part of the 20%. I turned to fitness, nutrition, and good habits to make myself as strong as I possibly could be in order to never have to go through the nightmare that I was living. Little did I know that through fitness, nutrition, and good habits not only would I become part of the 20% but I was in the midst of transforming my life in the most positive way I could have ever imagined.
DNA MOMENTS
A DNA moment is an experience or collection of experiences that get filed away into your psyche and define who you are today. They help to shape your personality, how you make decisions, and how you chose to live your life. They could be major experiences such as marriage, becoming a parent, the loss of someone we love, having to face your own mortality (such as it was my case when I went through cancer), or simpler things such as making or missing a big shot at a sporting activity, or having a great or poor performance in front of people, or simply meeting someone that challenges or reinforces your beliefs.
Unlike our physical DNA which we get from our gene pool and will determine our physical makeup, DNA moments are collected throughout your lifetime and it is how you deal with these moments and how you use their teachings that will shape your personality and define who you are. The beauty of these moments is that although you cannot control the DNA moment itself, you can control how you perceive the moment and what you learn from it. You have the power to use the DNA moments to positively form a better version of yourself, a you that you can be proud of and that does not stop you from doing the things you want to do.
DNA Moments was published on June 21st 2018, 17 years to the date of Lina's surgery. The book (print and e-book) can be purchased on line through most on-line book ordering channels.