Linda Ockwell-Jenner's blog

October is my birthday month and also the month I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, 30 October, 1997. Not only the night before Haloween but also considered Devils night, when evil is out in force and does lots of damage.In real terms children egg cars and houses and do naughty things like that.

Early this morning as I was driving my daughter to her part time job we noticed a lone duck sitting in the middle of the road. The duck appeared to be looking around and I felt sorry for the duck because I wondered if he was lost. My daughter said goodbye, got out of the car and told me not to worry as she was sure the duck would be ok.

Today is Wednesay October 25th and I am struggling to keep up with my work and I know deep down I will feel guilty later on in the day if I give up and take a rest. As the founder of Motivational Steps I have faced many challenges in my business and personal life over the past few years. In fact, my business only came to be because I had made the decision to go back to school after having both my breasts removed due to breast cancer for the second time. Once at school I decide to persue my passion, speaking and here I am today not only a motivational speaker, life coach but an author of a published book!

Please do not get into the frame of mind that breast cancer only occurs in the month of October. There are so many awareness initiatives out there these days it is hard to realise that real people actually go through the challenges of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other such health challenges. Sometimes we get so tied up in al the initiatives out there to raise awareness or fundraise we forget why we started in the first place.

Awareness is vital every day of the year, recognizing you have a challenge whether it is a health related one, a business or personal challenge, early detection will help. As a breast cancer survivor and the founder of Motivational Steps I realised early on that talking about health & wellness, wearing some item of pink clothing all the time and being passionate about what I care about and believe in raises lots of awareness. Cancer can happen at any time, not just in October, remembering to lead a healthy lifestyle, practice prevention, moderation and not be scared to go to the doctor is an all year round habit. October does its bit to raise awareness but be aware every day of the year, it really will help!

Well I can sigh with relief, the fashion show I co-chaired with Melissa my daughter is over! What a success it was, almost 500 tickets sold, the first event Melissa and I had ever attempted and the praise in emails or telephone calls keeps coming. Obviously we did not arrange this fashion show for praise but I believe everyone likes a thank you or a pat on the back indicating a job well done. The Runway for the Cure: Our Vision of Hope was a new initiative bringing awareness about Breast Cancer to the publics attention during Think Pink Week here in Ontario ,Canada. We certainly raised awareness the t.v. and newspaper picked up on the story and I believe that even more men and women now know that prevention and early detection really does help. I was listening to a news story this morning and evidently Prostate Cancer statistics is not looking good, in fact it overtakes Breast Cancer. Men everywhere take note - there is a test for men over the age of 50. Here are some facts I found today:

Bear...yes he is. I thought to myself a few weeks ago I am always required to be motivational, and serious and know all the correct answers and, guess what? I too like to be silly and let my hair down, have a laugh. As most of you know who either receive my monthly digest, Stepping Stone, or who have read my book, A Life Like Mine, I am a two time breast cancer survivor. The second time I was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2000 I received the news with acceptance. The first time I was diagnosed in 1997 I was very scared, thought I was going to die from this terrible disease and, quite honestly, without the help of family and friends I dread to think how I would have coped.

I arrived at the Police Station and was shown into a holding cell where my poor little Bear of Hope, Trek, was sitting all alone looking very sad indeed. A Police officer told me that Trek had been given a stern telling off for scaring a woman whom I knew to be a business rival. When I asked what had happened Trek told me that he had gone to see the woman because he suspected the Honey she gave him and which I ate, had been posioned. He had tried to get the woman to eat some of the honey that was left in the jar and when she refused he decided to trick her into eating it. He spread honey all over her salad and when she discovered what Trek had done she promptly called the Police.

I woke up this morning with a funny tummy ache and I felt sick. Trek, my Company Director, the Bear of Hope, suggested that I may have eaten something that did not agree with my digestive system. After going over everything I ate the only thing we came up with that I ate that was different to my normal diet was - honey - the same honey that had been left just outside my home office front door. Trek immediately came to the conclusion that the honey had some poison in it, and he thought he knew who had left the honey for us to eat and why.....I cautioned Trek to be very careful and not go around making accusations that could lead to us being left with a law suite for libel! Whilst I struggled to answer my many emails and answer telephone calls Trek asked if he could be excused for an hour or two, so I waved him goodbye and told him not to be late back.

Wow, Wednesday already, I am so busy with Motivational Steps normal engagements, keynotes and workshops, but recently I have gained more clients who engage me as their life or business coach. I am also planning a second book, part of the title will be "Have you read the script dear"? My book is a manual for Men who seem to say the wrong thing or not say anything at all when their significant other is really looking for an honest answer. Reading "the script" will definitely help all the men out there! My volunteer work also takes up a big part of my time but recently, as you all know, I hired a Company Director,Trek the Hope Bear and he has agreed to help me with media and advertising, as well as fullfilling his duties to keep me "company" as I did find it very lonely in my home office. Unfortunately Trek disappeared yesterday and I thought he had terminated his employment with me. It came to light that he had been hiding under my car after a competitor of mine had tried to bribe him and scared him and he had fallen asleep, only waking up late this morning. Trek apologised and suggested we have a coffee break, another thing I forget to do when I am working alone in my home office.

Well, having a Company Director means never a dull moment in my home office, or anywhere else for that matter! Trek seems to be settling in nicely, Motivational Steps definitely finds him an asset. As you all know Trek became my Company Director because I was so lonely working in my home office and it is not always possible to be out and about meeting clients or networking. Trek is really good "Company". Trek is proving a useful addition and is really into media and attracting attention for Motivational Steps. Unfortunately, it seems my competitors will stop at nothing to emulate my success and they have an idea most of it is due to Trek, my Bear of Hope! Trek was taking a breath of fresh air outside my office yesterday and as he lounged on the sidewalk, we have no grass yet, he was looking into the blue sky and thinking of ideas to gain more media attention for Motivational Steps. He opened his eyes and looked up into the eyes of a monster, well it appeared to him to be a monster, it was really a very tall woman whom Trek recognized from a local company who hapened to be one of Motivational Steps competitors!" dum, dum, dum" sounds very sinister to me. She asked Trek if he was going to be a model for the fashion show event I am co-chairing and when he said no she asked him if it was because he was too short! What an insult, Trek was very hurt and indicated that he is not a breast cancer survivor, which all the models are, and that he takes care of other more important duties. At that point the woman offered Trek some Honey in return for information that may help her turn her business around and achieve global success, just like Motivational Steps.

After the reporters left me and Trek in peace we had a quiet moment together and vowed never to be parted again! Trek would become my shadow, where I went he would be there beside me. As a treat Trek came to my husbands company picnic on Sunday at Bingemans Water Park. We had to smuggle him in as we only had enough tickets for ourselves and two of our children.

Trek liked the water park but decided not to have a paddle as his fur takes too long to dry and he wanted to try out the go karts. Unfortunately there was no helmet small enough for him so he sat on a chair with me and we watched my husband race around the track. The picnic was exciting for Trek, he sat on the table and we shared a hot dog,he munched one end and I the other and we met in the middle.The fun stopped abruptly when a thunder storm meant we had to take shelter in our car and decided to go home to dry off.

Trek was quite the hero when the reporters were accusing me of being a poor example to him. He read from a prepared press release he had in his briefcase "When Ms Ockwell-Jenner took me along to the beer festival she did not know that I was actually an undercover agent for Bears R Us, which is an organization dedicated to ensuring the safety of entrepeneurs, such as Ms Ockwell-Jenner, the owner and founder of Motivational Steps. There are people out there who try to discredit small business owners in any way they can. In this instance a rival company wanted to show the world that Ms Ockwell-Jenner actually drank too much beer.

As Trek waved goodbye and walked out of my office I felt a twinge of sadness, my Bear of Hope was leaving me, I would be lonely again, what would I do without him. As I sat thinking about what I would do without Trek I heard a commotion outside and decided to go and investigate. There were at least 40 reporters outside and they were all talking at once and asking where I was. Evidently they all thought I was a bad employer for allowing my Company Director to fall prey to beer and that I had set a poor example to Trek by taking him to the Beer Festival. At that point Trek reached into his briefcase and took out a press release.

The paparazzi were out in full force at the Festival, one click of the camera and there it was a photo of my new Company Director, face down on the table,empty beer glass with Elvis looking on! What a disgrace to Motivational Steps, how would I ever be able to redeem my good name I asked myself as I scooped Trek into my purse and we drove home. Trek had quite a hangover the day after his disgraceful behaviour and I decided there was nothing else I could do but dispense with his services. Trek was to be fired with no references or pay, well he had only been in my employment for a day and a half, what could he expect?

Trek explained to me he has his own website http://www.trekthehopebear.ca/
and that he would only sign a contract of employment if we agreed travel was a crucial part of his job as company director, and to be honest, he could only keep me company if he was actually with me. After Trek had inspected my home office and decided it was an ok place I explained that there was not much work to do as it was late Friday afternoon but on Saturday we would be going to a festival in the town where I live and he might find that fun! I am finding it nice to have Trek with me wherever I go, I popped him in my purse when we drove to the Beer Tasting Festival and he kept an eye on my camera and made sure I did not lose it.