For those of you who know me, I am an avid ESPN and sports junkie. Many times throughout the year, ESPN participates in recognition of cancer research through the V Foundation, a Foundation created to honor the late Jim Valvano (NC State basketball coach and inspirational speaker). If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he is often quoted in his famous speech as saying “Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.” Jimmy V, as he was commonly referred to, let nothing, not even cancer; stand in his way from accomplishing his life’s goals.
Many times in this area of law, we have clients who are personally affected with such diseases and often times this is the cause of why they are choosing to engage in estate planning. However, all of us in some form of fashion have been affected personally or know a friend or family member dealing with such a disease. As some of you may know, I myself am a cancer survivor. That, in many respects, has led me to the field of estate planning and helping others accomplish their goals.
On March 4, 1993, Jimmy V received the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the first annual ESPY Awards. What then followed was an 11 minute inspirational and emotional thank you speech that has become as famous as the cause for which it was recited. In the spirit of Jimmy V week, I’d like to share an excerpt with our readers. The speech and particularly this excerpt have helped me put into perspective daily life and daily goals.
“When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” - Jimmy V, March 4, 1993
The Holiday season is upon us. I encourage everyone to give some thought to the excerpt above and how it encourages the continuance of strong family relationships this time of year. Many of our blogs are estate planning centric because that is our practice here at Altman & Associates. But estate planning at its core is about life planning and accomplishing each individual’s life goals, which ties directly into the sentiments of the speech stated above. (Full speech can be watched and read here).
Happy Holidays Everyone!
-Adam Abramowitz, Esq.