Let’s face it: things are not going well. However, to be able to get through them, we need on the one hand to stay aware of these stories and act on them, but, on the other hand, we also need to stay aware of the inspiring stories. We also need to remember that “This, too, shall pass”.

Good Health is a Precious Gift, by Katherine Macklem (December 15th 2008)

In his own words, Ted Rogers was sickly as a child. At his birth, his mother was told he might not survive more than a few days. He suffered from celiac disease, which meant he could not digest gluten. He had limited vision in his right eye—only five to 10 per cent. Doctors were relieved when he made it to his fifth birthday, but for much of his life, health problems plagued him. Yet, in spite of the ongoing concerns or perhaps, in part, because of them, Rogers was extraordinarily driven. “He knew he had limitations,” says Bernie Gosevitz, Rogers’ long-time personal doctor, close friend and confidant. “But he never let them stop him.” Rather than resign himself to a catalogue of ailments—after the childhood troubles, there was a weak heart, glaucoma, skin cancer—Rogers instead built Rogers Communications, the country’s biggest multimedia conglomerate. More importantly, he fulfilled a goal set at a very young age to restore the family’s fortune and reputation in honour of his father, a legend in his own right. In doing so, Rogers created a legacy that his children and grandchildren can be proud of. All this, despite being ill much of the time. As a child, Rogers was fed sugar pills—“which I detested,” he wrote in his autobiography, Relentless—in an effort to strengthen and to put on some weight. The hated pills weren’t terribly successful. He was painfully thin, prompting fellow students at Upper Canada College, where he boarded from the age of seven to 17, to nickname him “Bones.” In his book, Rogers recalls: “I was a skinny little fellow, but I was a fighter.”

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