How do you persist?

Today is National Cancer Survivors’ Day, and it’s a day that’s close to my heart. In 2014, I was diagnosed with leukaemia, and after a gruelling two month hospitalisation, I had to go through a month of physical therapy to re-learn how to walk, talk, swallow, everything that I had so easily done before. A few months later, despite having nearly died three times during my treatment, I boarded a plane to England to work on my PhD. It wasn’t easy, and two years out from my remission date, I still struggle every day. And I have met so many people with similar stories, who, against all odds, persisted and showed the world (and, most importantly, themselves) that they would not be brought down, that they would fight with every fibre of their being.

We at She Who Persisted want to take today to honour everyone who has persisted, through cancer, sexual assault, depression, university work, job interviews, activism… Every journey is unique, and we want to hear about your persistence!

Below is a link to a poster we’ve created to tell us about your persistence (you can see the example image and then we’ve included a download link below). We’d love it if you’d download it, print it out, and send us a picture with a few words about how you’ve persisted. We want to build up a community that can support and love each other. You can send it to us either on Facebook or tag us in your posts on Instagram! We’ll be putting together a collage of some of our favourites, so you may even be featured on our pages! We also want to invite you to send us a picture, even if you don’t want to be identified in the photo – simply take a picture of it in front of your face or on a flat surface, like a desk. We still want to hear about your story.

Here’s some inspiration: my two-year in remission transformation!

Cheers to you all, and stay nasty! <3

— Beth

Download the PDF here!

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