Roses are red violets are blue.
Amin, I am not a poet at all this entire day was set up to honor and surprise you.
What?
Oh, my God.
This video is going to be very different.
First, let me tell you why I'm going to surprise someone with $10,000.
And my hope is that this inspires you and empowers you to know, that when you own your
story and you share your story, you never know what could happen.
Last week, I shared with you that when I was getting started, I had so much support around
me, I had people who helped me, believed in me, and were there for me.
And I really want to pay that forward, I've been wanting to do this for so long, and randomly,
a few weeks ago, I asked on Instagram and I got people to share their stories with me,
not really having any expectations or knowing exactly what I was going to do with it.
But, then I met someone who truly defines what it means to be a hero.
This person has overcome the hardest thing that anybody can ever face in their life.
And I decided, "You know what, I think I'm going to surprise this person.
And I'm going to help them fulfill their life's dream."
And we're going to do that today, and she has no idea.
Meet Amin.
My name's Amin Jaswal, I am 30 years old.
June of 2019 I was diagnosed with a very rare form of gynecological cancer.
Three to maybe six months before I would have been terminal I felt really betrayed by my
body, and really feeling I broke my own heart in going through this situation.
I really had to mourn the person I was before this, before the cancer, and really get to
know this new person and grieve the parts of myself that I lost.
And a lot of that I did through writing.
So, I've been writing a lot, I wrote a lot of poetry, just there's something about writing
that forces you to really face your emotions.
In May I finally had a scan that didn't light up, so that means I'm technically in remission.
So, I've been in remission for almost five months now.
When I first went into remission I really wanted to figure out a way to give back to
the community that helped me, that saved my life.
So, I came up with the poetry book that I'm hoping that it can serve us up a space to
give, to inspire, and also just give some support.
With whatever life I have I really want to help give other people a chance, because I
think we all deserve a chance at life and we deserve a chance at achieving our dreams.
Amin's book is the most important thing in the entire world to her, and today she thinks
she's one of a bunch of people that we're interviewing about their hero story, and she
has no idea that this entire day is about her.
So, we've rented out a studio to make it look super legit and we're headed there now
and you're going to come with us.
I have been so nervous for days, leading up to this.
I'm the worst liar, I'm horrible at surprises.
Here we go.
Oh my God, it looks so good in here.
We are getting all set up for Amin's interview, she's going to be arriving any minute.
Hi.
I am so happy to finally see you, [crosstalk 00:03:48].
I feel like we know each other very well I know.
[crosstalk 00:03:51] The whole theme of what I'm doing is, I want
to showcase people who became the heroes of their own story this year.
This year has been insane, to say the least.
If you could take us back to the beginning and walk us through your own hero story, what
would that sound like?
I sat down with myself as soon as I found out and I cried, but then I also made some
decisions.
I was like, I decided, "I'm not going to be a victim of my circumstance."
What I realized was like, "If I lean into the unknown, that's of course we're fear lives,
that's where all the scary stuff lives, but that's also where your freedom lives.
That's also where peace is, and that's also where purpose lives and opportunity."
And I found that that's what, that for me was like a really freeing mindset, but it's
also really scary.
It's very scary, and I feel like it's so scary because you have no control over it, and it's
your body and you have no control over it.
And you're a woman and this is a gynecological cancer, and there was a key part of you that
really was taken away.
Can you speak to that and what that was like for you?
That was probably the most difficult part of this journey.
Within a week of me being diagnosed, I was also told that I would never be able to bear
children.
Being told you're not able to have children and then really being faced with a choice
immediately of, "Okay, what if I want children in the future?"
And you decided to freeze your eggs.
I had to pay about 10 grand out of pocket for that, and at that time I didn't have that
money.
So as you're going through everything, going through a very dark period in your life, you've
decided to basically channel all of that and write a book.
Tell me about the book?
Well, the funny thing is I didn't actually think I was writing a book.
For me, writing is really a process of working through my emotions, it forces me to face
whatever I'm feeling in that moment.
At the beginning of my treatment, trying to get used to the chemo, which it put me in
a really dark place where I really thought it was either, the cancer was going to take
me or the treatment was going to take me, and I didn't want to put any of that on anybody
around me.
So, for me, it made more sense for me to put it on paper, at least then that way I could
get it out so it wasn't living inside of teams.
So, it really helped me to get out all the scary stuff, and also a lot of the things
that I was learning.
And it's called, The Light Within My Light, which the way that you're talking about it
you're like, "Well, how do you find light in all of that?"
So, what does the title mean to you and what do you hope that people get out of it when
they read it?
When we love somebody we choose to accept them, we see the essence of who they are and
we love that piece of them.
And it it's really about loving the people around you, but also loving who you are, seeing
the light within yourself and accepting yourself for that.
And I really think that, that really ties into being the hero of your own story, because
at the end of the day one of the things I learned was, everything that I need in my
life is within who I am.
It's just really beautiful to get to know you better and get to know your story.
So, there's another reason that your story actually resonated so much with me, I actually
have been writing poetry for a really long time.
Really?
Yeah.
Oh, yay.
And- Are you going to share?
I'm going to share, I'm actually going to ask you to read it.
And I've never shared my poetry before.
Do you mind actually reading it out loud for me?
Yeah.
Okay.
I would love to.
There you go.
Roses are red violets are blue.
Amin, I am not a poet at all this entire day was set up to honor and surprise you.
What?
So we have a few surprises for you today.
What?
First one...
[inaudible 00:07:42].
Well, just wait.
So, the first thing is we want to give you $10,000.
No.
Yeah.
Oh, my God!
I'm like one of those people, I don't know what to do.
When I get surprised I get like...
But, I obviously have a greater skillset where I can help you, and I know how important this
book is to you, and I know how talented you are.
And so, most important thing when you launch a book, you have to have an audience for it.
So, there's going to be people watching this and we wanted, they're all in on this-
What? ... and we want them to be a part of your
army.
As you put this work out into the world that you really created out of so much pain and
have turned it into something so purposeful, and so beautiful.
So, we actually created a wait list for you.
What?
So, if you want to sign up and support Amin, go below the video and sign up to be a part
of the wait list for your book.
So, I know that you have big goals for your book, can you tell me some of your goals that
you have?
I think my big goal was always to have it in Indigo, and I want it like on the front
shelves, or in one of Heather's picks.
My God, I love her.
Okay.
Well, I can't guarantee that it's going to happen, but I do have a little something that
I wanted to do.
Did you contact her?
Okay, I'm going to lose my mind if you did.
Who is it?
Oh, my God!
[inaudible 00:09:24].
I'm good.
[inaudible 00:09:26].
How are you?
Oh my God, I'm so excited to talk to you.
So, to the extent that I have learned anything and felt anything strongly life is that, know
what your true values are, live by those values always.
And then recognize you're going to make trade offs and that life is a long journey.
It's a long journey, all things being equal, it's a long journey.
So, you don't need to achieve everything at once.
It's, live by those values, and sometimes some things will come to the fore and others
will have to take a back step.
So, nobody does it all, but if you're lucky to live long enough life over time, now it
does seem to be that you do get to experience so much.
Good luck to you both and, Sunny, congratulations.
Thank you.
And just for trying to make somebody else happy, I just love that and it's just a beautiful,
beautiful thing.
Thank you.
So, have a great day.
You too.
Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
I'm just so happy, I'm over the moon today.
Is today real?
Am I having a dream?
We did it, we pulled off the surprise.
And, yes, this was all about helping Amin's dreams come true, but this was such a lifelong
dream for me as well, and we're not stopping here.
If you want to nominate yourself, or someone that you know, to be our next hero in one
of my upcoming videos, then you can nominate them at the link below.
And don't forget to become a part of Amin's army and help her support her book when it
comes out, you can sign up for the wait list below this video.
If you liked it, like it, subscribe, and please share this to share a little light and joy,
and the light within your light.
I'll see you in the next video.