It's a good day to be alive!

Today was a very good day. Woke up early to go to my first post-glioma race, after a long night where I finished my first analytical research on brain tumor. For those than know me well there is nothing like sports or analytics to get me going.
I am creating a new blog based on my "scientific" discoveries, I want to generate insights for students or doctors that are getting into brain tumor research, I hope I can help open new avenues for research on brain tumor. This new blog will be called "We can think with glioma".
I ran a 10k with a good old friend of mine who was also a great runner but got off the wagon after getting married a few months ago. It was an incredible day, perfect weather, about 8,000 people running and a great route close to downtown São Paulo (Pacaembu). This was the first "run-only" race I've done and the energy was incredible, I think I am ready to set more ambitious plans, and I will create a sports blog to talk about my goals and achievements called "We Can Run With Glioma".
On Friday I had dinner with a good old friend. I was set to have beer with him nearly one year ago but disappeared and never got back to him with a meeting spot. I was hospitalized right after having a seizure and when he finally got hold of me I shared that I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. While stunned by the initial shock, he and his mom, who I am yet to meet, always cheared me up with very cool messages.
My friend shared with me a video that captures my feelings in a way I would have never been able to describe, check this out: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/stacey_kramer_the_best_gift_i_ever_survived.html
This is the same friend that shared with me 12 years ago a phrase I repeat until today when someone tells me they don't have time - "What separates us from death?".
He shared a moving story about a relative diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer, one of those with poor recovery prospects. I am sure I am butchering the details but I hope I got the essence. They consulted a psychologist to understand what might happen in that person's mind with that prognostic, and he shared that it depends on the person's attittude towards those last days.
Some people have the best time of their lives in that period, telling people they've dettached themselves from how much they missed and love them. They would also check-off their bucket lists or simply reject anything that was not fully endorsed by their hearts.
On the other hand some decided to die right there, living a life of misery and pessimism, forgetting that they still had precious days. months or even years to do the best they could with their time left.
What a profound impact attittude can have on anyone's life, wether with or without cancer. In Steve Job's biography he shared that he always had a feeling that he would die early, so he decided to use every precious second he had to change the world. What a success!
I really think we should all live like this before we are reminded of how much time we've divested making poor choices or simply not following our hearts due to lame excuses. We all have a mission or more in life, your heart will tell you where to go, be open because an unwanted experience -- frightening, traumatic, costly -- can turn out to be a priceless gift, just like Stacey Kramer shared. Thank you Stacey for sharing your experience, you have made the world a better place by choosing optimism instead of pessimism.
One of my favorite Esopus paraboles is the one about the fox and the grapes. The fox really wanted to catch some grapes that were too high for it to reach. Instead of figuring out a way to get to those grapes the fox told itself it didn't want grapes anymore.
Always remember that pain is temporary, quitting is forever, like my Mount Lebanon Caffeine and Cycling Club friends had taught me. Those nuts just finished the most painful bike race I've heard off (seemed worse than The Dirty Dozen!), the Diabolical Double. Hats-off to you my friends, I hope to join you again, maybe in the same shape you have seen me last. Yesterday I biked for about an hour searching for hills that replicated the same painful experience of climbing Mount Washington. I dearly remember when I climbed Mount Washington for the first time, then followed Liberty Ave. all the way to the Zoo, going into the long observatory climb to finally bonk at Greentree! Luckily those guys had a cereal bar to share with that inexperienced Brazilian that showed up to bike with them for the first time.
What a great time, I will never quit!