Giving Back Meaningfully with Aaron Horn of Beat Cancer Today - #107

The Formula Podcast with Trevor Carlson

Today’s episode covers loss, faith, perseverance, and giving back. Since losing his son Eli after a four-year battle with neuroblastoma and leukemia in 2008, Aaron Horn has devoted most of his life to volunteering for nonprofits fighting childhood cancer. Through his faith, blogging, and learning to “not sweat the small stuff,” Aaron persevered through one of the most difficult times that a parent could ever go through. He believes that giving back is a personal decision, but when you volunteer for something you are passionate about, it can be a rewarding and transformative experience.

In this episode, Trevor and Aaron will discuss:

• Aaron’s story
• How did it change your perspective?
• Faith and blogging
• “Don’t sweat the small stuff”
• “Eh, it could be worse”
• What is life like in the cancer ward?
• Memories of Eli
• How do you persevere through the hardest of times?
• How to get involved volunteering

18:31 When a child passes away, there’s a lot of different ways people handle that situation. Some people just want absolutely nothing to do with the world of childhood cancer ever again because it brings too much pain and hurt, and then there are people who really want to continue on the fight and raise money for research and try to make sure that this doesn’t happen again to more kids. And I’ve learned that all of those reactions are okay.

19:08 I’d say the biggest thing that I learned is ‘don’t sweat the small stuff.’ It’s not that big of a deal.

22:57 It is definitely normal to just lament when something bad happens to you or when something isn’t going exactly your way. I think we’re mostly just selfish people by nature… so you have to actively think when something bad happens, “Eh, it could be worse.” It’s super simple, but it’s very true.

37:52 It’s hard for somebody going through something very painful to immediately say, “Well, it could be worse.” Because at the time, it doesn’t feel that way. Maybe not even just talking about small stuff, but big stuff, like people who are sick or people who have been diagnosed with cancer or lost their loved one. That is a big deal. It really just depends on a person’s situation and what they have as far as a community or group of friends. If you have anyone that you can confide in and talk to… [don’t] just keep it all in and actually share with someone that you can trust.

42:04 When you’re looking at “How can I give back?” or “What can I do?”, look at the things that you’re passionate about and you care about.

VolunteerMatch - “match[ing] inspired people with inspiring causes”:

https://www.volunteermatch.org/

Buy merchandise to support Aaron’s non-profit, Beat Cancer Today:

http://beatcancertoday.storenvy.com/products

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