Not a month has passed since I came home from the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge,
a first for a Japanese woman, and already it seems the gods
have more challenges in mind for me.
That is rather how it feels just now.
Four years ago a friend introduced me to Diana’s methods, and they put a full stop
to my dieting life.
The balance in my figure that no amount of dieting had ever given me —
once I had it, I entered a proportion contest.
More friends joined in, all of us working towards the competition, and at the regional round in March I won.
That piece is here:
Cancer, with a smile — courage and hope after breast cancer: to the proportion contest, Vol. 13
Do have a look.
And then, having gone with the friends who had won places at the national final to do the entry photography,
I forgot all about it, drove Peking to Paris, and came home.
Let’s all aim for that national stage. With friends alongside, you can keep going.
When I decided to enter the proportion contest, and when I decided to take on the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge,
I did not yet have breast cancer. Perhaps back then
it was simply about pleasing myself.
So right up to the entry photography, part of me wondered whether to withdraw.
But then — perhaps this challenge toocan carry something: how much it matters to go on living as yourself,whatever difficulty you are facing. That is what I came to think.
I want to hand people courage and hope
My body carries the mark of the fight with breast cancer. I have one breast.
And I am going to enter without hiding it, exactly as I am.
In a contest judging women’s figures, perhaps I stand there with a handicap.
But my hope is that this contest is about more than the outside — that inner beauty and strength count too.
I will show, with a smile, the strength that came from coming through breast cancer and the way of living that goes with it.
And I will say what it means to stand there.
Voting has opened.
Your vote would be very welcome.
Voting for the final:
closes Tuesday 30 July at 12:00
🌈 URL
You can watch each entrant’s video.
I am in the D style contest, entry number 50-32.
🌈 Voting form
Vote here.
If you would vote as below, including for my friends, I would be delighted.
First line, 40-7 — that is my friend.
Second line, me:50-32
Third line, my friend again, 13.
Through this challenge I mean to go past my own limits and grow further.
And to anyone going through something similar, I want to say: keep facing forward and refuse to give up, and a road will open.
Please do cheer this challenge on.
I will keep sharing how it goes and what I feel here on the blog,
so I hope you will keep reading.
One last thing.
For someone who lost a breast to cancer, entering a proportion contest is a large challenge — but it means more than that.
I hope that seeing me does something for as many people as possible: a little courage, a sense of hope.
Never give up!
If this blog brings even a little light into your heart, I am glad.
Thank you for your support.