Journey to Owning Your Power
I took control of the power of my life when diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of thirty-two. At eighty years today, I continue to be grateful for the direction I took by thriving in the right path. The process was a long one and not a smooth one, but I persevered. The disease involved multiple surgeries with my existence at risk. At the time, I recently married a prominent physician and had a thriving hairstyling business. Previously, I had worked for the late Jay Sebring (killed in the Manson murders and was the office manager and his personal secretary).
Through hunting and pecking and getting myself mentally, emotionally, and physically fit through the surgeries, I decided to get a divorce because I knew my independence was at stake because my husband was characteristic of a control freak. I was not only fighting for my life but my freedom as well. Feeling overwhelmed with the process of letting go of the old, I slipped backwards and attempted suicide, but fortunately survived. When the divorce was finalized, the judge asked me, “What are you going to do with your life,” and he suggested going back to the educational system. My intuition knew he was right as his words kept resonating in my head, so I took the plunge at forty-four.
I was learning disability and had struggled with the educational system before, because at that time, no one knew about learning disability. The turning point pointed me in the right direction as I challenged myself with my young school chum and took a running class coached by Tommie Smith,the gentleman who put up his fist for black power and the Olympic gold medalist in 1968 which made history. He saw me run and asked me to compete on his track team with another school with kids half my age.I witnessed the effects that finding a sport I loved bettered all areas in my life, including my ability to retain information. I graduated with honors and went on to Loyola Marymount University to continue acquiring knowledge and running. When I met with the coach, he told me my time clock ran out because I had entered college earlier but dropped out with my difficulties to retain information. I decided to challenge the NCAA to a duel and took it out with the media. Through the ups and downs discovering my strength, I changed the rule: nicknamed, “The Bonnie Rule,” and was the first to indict it, not with running but swimming.
I opened the door for all women who were denied to compete in a division one collegiate school of their choice. The importance was integrating the older and younger students to join hands because they could learn from one another as I experienced. I discovered being blessed with enormous talent, to become a world class runner via masters running and try to qualify for the Olympic Trials. Unfortunately, I got diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia which put me at risk for accomplishing this. This didn’t stop my efforts and traveled to Palm Springs where John Carlos, the gentleman who put up his fist for black power and the Olympic Bronze medalist) took on my challenge. Although I didn’t qualify, I went on to extend the importance of athletics, becoming one of the 10% of women that were head coaches in a division one sport, coaching others individually to assist others to find the right exercise. I authored a book called “Bonnie’s Theory Finding the Right Exercise.”
Today at eighty, I still train with the mindset of going for the gold. Being diagnosed with breast cancer changed my life for the better as I discovered my purpose to motivate people to engage in a physical movement they enjoy doing and to live a life they choose, not please another. You never know when you get bad news, that you can reverse it to good news. Living a life by engaging in a physical activity will assist you to live a healthy fit independent life. You will thrive mentally, emotionally, and physically and live in a joyous community.