A few days ago we all woke up to read about Chadwick Boseman's passing due to his long and quite battle with colon cancer.

I wanted to write a eulogy but I could not so I will share with you 10 lessons I have taken from his passing; hopeful one will resonate with you.

1. Life is short, focus on what matters (other matters are just a distraction)

2. Private means private: he endured his personal pain (he did not keep it a secret, his friends, some colleagues, and those who needed to know, knew) without drawing undue attention to himself.

3. Learn and hone your craft, you see Chadwick was not known as the fastest runner, a great singer, he was known and acknowledged as a great actor!

4. We all need a leg up to succeed: Chadwick story is not complete without Denzel Washington and Phylicia Rashad (Mrs. Huxtable). If you are going to go far in life you need people (also remember to help others – it will count for you now and in the hereafter)

5. Your Life and work is a stage; give you star performance always: Chadwick leveraged the movies 42, Marshall (Thurgood Marshall) and Black Panther (King T’challa), in your personal life what are you leveraging?

7. Heroes come in different form or shapes, ok and sizes: For many people, Chadwick came to limelight because of Black Panther but have you heard or read about his philanthropic work and all he did for others behind the scene even when he was battling cancer?

8. Cancer is still causing a health havoc around the world: We need to spend more money on research to fix the problem (it knows no age, gender, race or religion). Its painful to watch a loved one suffer from cancer (I should know , my mother-in-law lived with us for six months plus till her passing, I can tell you first hand about the pain that people that have cancer endure! )

9. Stop being in a hurry to judge people : You don’t know their story: Chadwick was being trolled on social media for his weight loss (well now, we know why he was losing weight) what about those people gaining weight, have you stopped for one minute to ask what could be responsible ?

10. Be authentic: we cannot be Chadwick, but we can be the best we can in our houses, in our neighborhood, in our community and most importantly we can be the best human being we can be. You were born an original don’t die a fake!.
    Remember this life is short, do what matters.

    
    

    Thanks, Chadwick, for all you did.

    
    

    impact #lifeisshort #purposedriven #Cancer