One morning this past week, I was watching/listening to the Today Show while checking email, reading blogs, etc as I do every weekday early morning. On that particular day Ann Curry, one of the Today Show anchors was interviewing one of the other anchors, Hoda Kotb. Hoda was disusing her battle with breast cancer. As I listened to her describe what she has been through, I found it very inspiring and things she said are things that I could apply to my own life.


First of all, let me say, that I am not trying to make light of Hoda or anyone else’s struggle with breast cancer nor am I trying to compare adoption or being a birthmother to breast cancer. However, I was moved by the things that she said and felt that I could apply those thoughts to my trials.


Hoda began to discuss that she has been very reluctant to discuss her battle with breast cancer in the public eye. Although she is on television everyday, she prefers to keep her private life private but a chance encounter with a stranger on airplane convinced her to go public and share her story. The stranger on the airplane told her, “don’t hog your journey.” Hoda recalls that “when he said that, my eyes just opened wide. I knew right then and there, I told myself that when it’s time, I’m going to do it.”

That really made sense to me and I can apply it to my own life when I sometimes feel like sharing my adoption journey with the world has become too much of a burden for me to bear anymore. As this man told Hoda, “if sharing your story helps others, then it was worth it in sharing it.” While part of sharing my own story at times is for my own personal healing, I also that others can find comfort and support in my words and know that they are not alone.

One reason that Hoda said that she was hesitant in sharing her journey was because she didn’t want to be “that girl with cancer.” I completely related to that statement as I don’t want to be known as “that girl who placed her child for adoption.”


I’m an avid Today Show viewer, I watch it almost every morning and sometimes I am truly inspired by the stories that they share and this was one of those times. It’s nice to be watching the news and hear a story like this that can inspire you and you can apply it to your own life.


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Other things I have found inspirational:
Tough by Craig Morgan http://open.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/tough-by-craig-morgan
A Healing Prayer
God is in the Details