| When Kathy Delaney-Smith was a little girl, her | | | | bulldozer is clearing the negativity from your mind |
| mother taught her a very simple lesson: act as if | | | | to create a blank slate. From there you add in the |
| you know how to do something and you will. Act | | | | winning thoughts and images that will then lead |
| as if you're okay and you are okay. This meant if | | | | you to greatness. |
| you were sick, you went to school and acted as | | | | A few years ago, Kathy received the devastating |
| if you were well. If you fell down and hurt your | | | | news that she had breast cancer. |
| ankle, you got right up and pretended it didn't hurt. | | | | The most recent estimates for breast cancer in |
| For the past 40 years, Kathy as been imparting | | | | America, from the American Cancer Society, are |
| her "Act As If" philosophy everywhere she goes, | | | | startling: 192,370 new cases of invasive breast |
| most notably with her championship women's | | | | cancer each year and 40,170 deaths. Breast |
| basketball team at Harvard, where she has been | | | | cancer continues to be the most common cancer |
| Head Coach for the past 26 years. | | | | among women in the United States after skin |
| A former synchronized swimmer, Kathy had no | | | | cancer. It's also the second leading cause of |
| experience in basketball when she was offered | | | | cancer death in women after lung cancer. |
| her first job as a basketball coach at a local | | | | Despite the odds, the dire diagnosis and her initial |
| Newton, MA high school. In the early days, she | | | | fear, Kathy was determined to "Act As If" she |
| "pretended that she knew how to be a coach." | | | | was already a survivor. Throughout the |
| And, through books, and "Acting As If," she | | | | discomfort of chemotherapy, radiation and |
| taught herself the skills needed to rapidly become | | | | surgery, Kathy continued to "Act As If." She |
| a great coach while she quickly led her young | | | | learned that it was okay to ask for help when |
| team to the championships. That early success | | | | she needed it, and she learned to make fun of |
| led to her cherished position at Harvard. | | | | herself when the chemotherapy wreaked havoc |
| Drawing on her "Acting As If" experience, Kathy | | | | with her short-term memory. Throughout this |
| convinces her student athletes that 80% of | | | | entire phase of her life, she never missed a |
| sports is mental, and she constantly drills this into | | | | practice session or a game and eventually fully |
| them - with winning results. Not only are they | | | | recovered. |
| taught to "act as if," she also uses various | | | | Whether on the basketball court or faced with |
| mediation and guided visualization techniques to | | | | the rigors of daily life, this brave and gutsy |
| keep them in top form. One favorite exercise for | | | | woman has proven over and over again that |
| banishing negative thoughts involves imagining a | | | | "Acting As If" will lead you to the winner's circle. |