Agents of Transformation: Living Well with Uncertainty

In the US and around the world, we are living in a time of uncertainty and stress. So I’ve been in the inquiry: how can we stay happy and healthy, living our best life, when so much is uncertain and uncomfortable? I’m very blessed to have a 50-year friendship with a woman who has good answers to these questions.

Twelve years ago, my high school friend Rebecca Sullivan, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. She made an interesting choice: she decided to run marathons in all 50 states. Despite several relapses (including one metastasis to the brain at which time she was told she had a 5% chance of living another year), and continued cancer treatment, she continues to live life to the fullest.

At present, she has run over 50 marathons and has only 6 states to go in reaching her 50 state goal. In this interview Rebecca shares her secrets to thriving, running 26.2 mile marathons by

  • taking just the next step,

  • savoring the present moment, and

  • staying curious about cancer.

In our interview, Rebecca shares the ups and downs of her cancer journey and how she has created a path to joy, peace, and resilience. Her answers to my questions about how she deals with bad news, and how she works with anger were illuminating!

Her wisdom about trust, focus, anxiety, despair and anger will expand your perspective as it did mine.

In her professional life, Rebecca spent the first 15 years of her working life as a professional actor. She studied at The Drama Studio in London, England, and then lived and worked in New York City and Chicago. She worked in numerous regional theatre around the country, made commercials and corporate training films, and taught acting. She then became a psychotherapist where she utilized Hakomi Psychotherapy (based on Buddhist principles of mindfulness and a body centered approach), hypnotherapy, shamanism, and developmental and systems theory. She and her husband, David Kiser, also a psychotherapist, worked for many years in their practice, Stillpoint Counseling Services, in Lafayette, Indiana, the home of Purdue University. In the last 7 years of her career, she became the Executive Director of Willowstone Family Services, a non profit providing mental health and supportive services to the Lafayette community.

Melody LeBaron