February 26, 2023

1 Quote

“One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted to do. Do it now.”

-Paulo Coelho

1 Way It Applies to Life & Business

In June of 2021, with 18 weddings left for the year, I found out that I had a massive 21 cm tumor growing through my pelvis.

You can read all about what it was like to be told the news here on the blog for my photography page over at Megan Hoffer Photography when I finally went public with the news in July 2021.

To say the least, I was devastated to eventually learn that it would be a “radical surgery” and that it was probable to be cancerous…low-grade but still the “C-word.” In fact, it was diagnosed based on imaging as liposarcoma cancer until they found out through laboratory testing a few weeks after the surgery that it was, in fact, benign.

To give you some perspective, from the first doctor’s appointment pointing out what I thought might be a lump in my abdomen to finding out it was NOT cancer after the surgery took 7 months. So, this was something I had to sit with for awhile.

I tell you this today, almost a year after getting that happy news that I did not have cancer, not to drudge up the past but to tell you a little about how those 7 months affected me in the long run.

Afterwards, I thought about what I would have regretted if it had been cancer and especially if it had been a more aggressive form of cancer. My thoughts kept coming back to the fact that I wanted to pass on my photography knowledge to others. I wanted to teach.

I felt complete in the success of my photography business.

I felt as at peace as one could feel about the effort I always had spent to fight for my family time and to really know and support my kids and husband. And, I’m just an not the type of person to have lofty bucket list goals like traveling to beautiful places. I would like to go but it’s not a priority.

The one thing that I felt was still an unexplored spark of joy in my soul was to help other photographers with the things that hold them back from the type of success I’ve enjoyed over time. While I’ve always worked incredibly hard and diligently towards my goals, I certainly had a few strokes of luck along the way.

I guess I wanted to find a way to implant a few of those strokes of luck in the stories of others starting out, hungry for personal achievement through the adversities of life, just like I was.

After a very scary and uncertain year that turned out as positively as I could possibly hope for, I realized that if I didn’t just do (or take the steps to start doing) the things that I wanted to do in life, the opportunity could close in the blink of an eye….at any given moment.

Just start.

One small step at a time. One small effort each day. It’s amazing to see in hindsight how those incredible efforts in the beginning start to build on one another and all the sudden you are moving forward like a freight train towards your goals.

As all the moments of effort I have painstakingly put in since my realization in 2021 come together as Lancaster Photography School takes shape, I’m currently in freight train mode behind the scenes and I can’t wait to share with you very soon where it’s heading. I hope you come along with me so I can be that stroke of luck in your photography journey. Thank you for being part of this crazy ride alongside me. This whole thing is pointless without YOU.

Just start. Keep moving forward.