Individual vs a Cause

Someone today saw me wearing my Livestrong band and asked me how was my hero doing? It took me a couple of minutes to realize that he/she was talking about Lance Armstrong and I replied that he was not my hero. I do not think they really understood this.

However it got me thinking, how easily we mix up a cause with an individual. The cause is and has to be greater than the individual. Individuals come and go but it takes a long time for a cause to be addressed. In this case the cause is cancer. The band is worn so that people are aware how real cancer and its impact is on people and NOT to demonstrate Lance's participation or win in another Tour de-France.

As we lead our lives we tend to ignore or not think about things like cancer, AIDs etc. Not because we do not care about it but because they are rather unpleasant to think about. However when these diseases affect us or near & dear ones, unpleasant turns to dispair and at times sadness. It is precisely for these reasons one must be aware of these diseases and the efforts to control and/or eradicate them, so that they can just be an unpleasant experience at worst.

However the reason for me wearing the band is that day has still not arrived and it serves as a reminder to me that help in any form to support eradication/control/education about these diseases it is and should be a necessary and important part of how to tackle these diseases.