I never set out to be a “survivor.” My life’s aspirations were pretty basic: become successful professionally, marry my soul mate, have two beautiful children and perhaps even retire early. Getting cancer certainly wasn’t on the list. But there I was, lying on the operating table the day of my surgery, shivering – not knowing how much longer I actually had to live and hoping that, when I opened my eyes, I would awaken from the nightmare. It didn’t happen. Cancer was a cold, hard reality that has certainly changed me. I look different, feel different and act different. Besides indelibly altering my outlook on life, cancer taught me hard-learned lessons on how to conduct business and realize success in a more significant and gratifying way.