“We are always hungry for more”
Greetings everyone! This is my last message of the summer of 2022, fall starts Thursday September 22 in the northern hemisphere. For those of you that love the falling leaves and the crisp Fall mornings I am sure you are smiling wide!
For me personally the summer of 2022 couldn’t end quick enough. This is not because I don’t like summer, I actually love summer! I love the weather and the family and friends gatherings and the extended daylight that summer provides. I love the sunrises and the sunsets and walking outside without a jacket. Summer is the best season in my eyes but this year it’s been different.
This year summer hit me with something I didn’t see coming (pun intended). Summer 2022 started on June 21 this year but for me it ended before it even started or at least that’s what I thought. Most of you know that on June 13, 2022 I was diagnosed with cancer (melanoma) in my left eye. What most of you don’t know is on that day my world stopped. You see, today I am not writing about being hungry for more, I am writing about how I actually had the hunger sucked out of me.
My journey has been pretty transparent and many have seen and heard my story. I have had 3 surgeries, permanent vision loss, many restrictions that caused me to “lose” the summer and I still live in doubt to this day with my future prognosis. Those that are close to me know this and even some that are not so close to me but almost nobody knows what I am about to share today.
Mr Gianni Licari, the positive guy, the one trying to inspire people everyday, the one smiling all the time and trying to get people fired up everyday has been struggling personally this summer. I have been scared, I have been in constant pain, I have been mad at God a few times and I have cried in private many many times from the physical pain of the surgeries and the mental pain of my circumstance.
I have questioned living a healthy lifestyle including exercise and diet. I have questioned if it even mattered if I didn’t show up at work daily or go live daily. I even went through days and weeks where I didn’t feel like doing anything but I reminded myself that many were depending on me so I pushed myself to do it. This summer has been one with so many sunny days but pretty dark ones for me and it is one I will never forget of course. I thankfully became even closer to God and even more grateful for every single day of life this summer and that is where my blessings were found.
Why am I telling you this? How does this relate to always being hungry for more? Well it doesn’t but it has been my truth this summer. I have struggled to stay motivated and stay positive and I wanted to share that with you all. The reason I wanted to share was not because I want you to feel bad for me but rather because I want you to know that if you have trouble dealing with adversity or challenges in life you are not alone!
The world does a pretty good job of making it seem like everyone is tougher than us but most of us really do share the same emotions. The fears, the doubts and the frustrations. We all go through it and I wanted to let you know today that you are not alone! You are not the only one who is going through these things or going through challenges, we all are and we all have good and bad days.
We need each other and we need to start sharing our feelings with one another. I have failed this year at that, I have not talked to anyone about how I felt mentally on many days, instead I tried pushing through alone. I am sure I did ok and many didn’t notice but I know I could have done a better job serving others and it bothers me.
Our culture here at TLC really is one that makes you always hungry for more and when I stayed busy I was able to do so but when it was quiet it became hard to stay positive. I hope my admission here today can help you decide to talk to someone next time you’re having a bad day or feel like giving up. I need you to keep going, I need you to get back up and try again, I need you to smile and be grateful for this day.
I have not been a great example of this but Summer is over! I am stepping into a new season, just like the world is! Summer is ending, fall is beginning and so is my new chapter. I have learned a lot about me this year and so have you but together we can learn a lot about each other. In my new season I plan on getting back to being myself and sharing my true emotions with someone when I need to so I can stay on track.
Rest assured that I am going to always be hungry for more the rest of this year. Hungry for life and the pursuit of happiness for others. Maybe some of you have been in a season that has not been easy this year or even recently and I just ask you to enter into this new season with me as a new man or woman. It’s so much easier to stay hungry when you have a crowd of hungry people that are as awesome as you so please join me!
Thank you for reading this week and thank you for all you do to help make the world a better place. I am grateful to be connected to you and to be loved by you all. Please know that you are loved by me and that I will always be hungry for more of that!
