I've somehow managed to gain automatic entry to the finals of the prestigious Miss Heart of Wales 2013 Beauty Pageant to be held in City Hall Cardiff on 23rd November 2013 at the grand old age of 43!It's not the usual Beauty Pageant but is more interested in finding inner as well as outer beauty and the Charity that all the finalists will be raising money for is the Welsh Cancer support charity which is very close to my heart and have helped me so much along my journey with cancer. I amazed myself by coming 2nd in the Miss Natural Beauty of Tenovus Pageant last year to find an ambassador for the charity and I loved every minute of it and made some wonderful friends!
If anyone would like to sponsor me I have set up a JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/Anne-Shingler2 or you can donate to me offline.
Life is going to be busier than ever over the next few months! It's been a very tricky start to the year for me as I have lost 9 amazing women known to me from breast cancer since Christmas Day and I know several women extremely poorly and suffering with the disease at the moment. In February it was 5 years since I was given the news I had Stage 4 terminal breast cancer and that my life expectancy would be severely shortened.I remember that day like it was yesterday and yet at the same time it really seems a lifetime away as my life has been transformed and largely for the better. I feel truly at peace with myself and have the most amazing and ever-increasing circle of incredible friends and am experiencing life from a very different viewpoint and feel so grateful and happy to be having the experiences I am!
As they said in Fiddler on the Roof "To life,to life,l'Chaim"!
However, November seems an awful long time away in relative terms of my life! I will have had another scan by then and my life may have changed again.
In order to keep myself looking forward and keeping motivated I have decided to set myself 7 personal challenges using my own skills and interests for my fundraising for Tenovus leading up to the Pageant in November. I find that keeping myself busy and getting stuck into projects I enjoy doing really helps me cope with the uncertainty and challenges of living with terminal illness.
My challenges are the following: 1.Writing challenge - I promise to do at least 4 posts a month on my blog and will keep updating it with news of my challenges.
2.Musical challenge - to prepare 9 substantial piano pieces to compete in the Cheltenham Performing Arts Festival in May and to prepare for 6 classes in the Birmingham Music Festival in October.
3.Self-confidence challenge - to memorize 3 poems and 2 prepared readings to compete in Cheltenham in May
4.Language challenge - to dust up my Italian for my holiday in Sardinia at the end of May and to read an Italian novel I bought 2 years ago and never started!Also to learn some basic Greek both written and spoken for my course there in July.
5.Reading challenge - to read 6 substantial books some of which I've had unread for years! They are:The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon,A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth,The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway,So Much for all That by Lionel Shriver,Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.
6.Creative challenge - to do 2 mosaic projects I got given as a gift 3 years ago and haven't got round to doing.
7. Baking Challenge - to make and sell cupcakes during the summer holidays.
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