I have..I am the queen of making lemonade though I prefer sugar free. When I first got sick with cancer everyone kept encouraging me to make lemonade out of lemons, while I kept thinking, “Whatever, don’t you know I may die!”.

That feeling sorry for myself and the pity party I was having eventually passed and I got MAD at my cancer. I was going to get revenge by living the best life I could. I set VERY specific goals for myself and started taking steps towards achieving them, very methodical, written out steps!

I see so many people talk a good game, tell me their dreams and plans for the future or retirement. One day I am going to….

Well we are all going to die and it’s a matter of when and how…WHY do people wait to live their lives? They somehow think they are going to live forever and they have all the time in the world. Or maybe they are scared so they are just presenting an excuse to themselves. Or maybe they are scared they actually WILL succeed.

Some people even over think, over research, they are almost trying to find a reason to NOT live their dreams.

The time is now-you have today and now! Take a piece of paper and write a list of dreams you have for yourself. Under each dream, write out broad steps to achieve that dream. Yes, SOME dreams take money, but not all of them! Don’t use that as an excuse either. Where there is a will there is a way.

Put it on the refrigerator and start the thinking on how to change your life and make the best tasting lemonade possible.

Jennifer Varner is the CEO and Founder of http://www.pure-ecommerce.com. Pure-Ecommerce.com offers ready to go ecommerce businesses for sale.

Imagine two life changing events: the happiest day of my life, followed by one of the saddest.

Only three short weeks after my husband and I were married, my life changed forever. My husband was diagnosed with colon cancer. The doctors told us my husband had a 50% chance of survival. We learned that day that odds only matter if you’re on the right side of them. Soon after receiving the diagnosis my husband began the long hard battle to survive. He began intensive chemotherapy to fight the cancer. Despite the doctors telling us we would never have children due to the cancer treatments, I prayed for a child, believing this would be the sign my husband would recover. Shortly thereafter, and to the surprise of many, I became pregnant with our first child! During this time we were both sick – my husband was sick from the chemotherapy and I was sick from my pregnancy. It was one body fighting to survive and another to create life. For six months I cared for my husband while going through my first pregnancy. This was definitely not how either of us envisioned the start of our life together.

On the anniversary of my husband’s 10th year cancer free I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, I was also pregnant. All I thought was, “No! Not again!” This time I would be the one undergoing chemotherapy WHILE being pregnant. To say I was scared is an understatement; how could I get through this? So my battle began, for me and my unborn child. I underwent six months of chemotherapy and two surgeries’, all while worrying about what this might be doing to my baby. Then after many answered prayers I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy little boy… and then underwent twelve additional weeks of chemotherapy. There are no words really to express what it feels like to be creating life while fighting for your own, so I will stop right here.

People tell me I am a strong woman… perhaps that’s true, but at this point, after dealing with cancer twice I am tired of being that strong woman. However, I am grateful. I cherish every day because this is my life, the cards I was dealt, and I believe there are indeed blessings in every situation. I have been given so much and I am nothing but thankful for the life I am living.

Today my husband is cancer free! Today I am cancer free! Most importantly, my baby, Kilian, is perfect! He is a survivor too; he took that long hard journey with me. Through these events I have gained so much knowledge, wisdom and strength – more than I ever had, and more then I knew I could gain in a lifetime. I live every moment, every day like it’s my last. But I know it’s not, I plan on having an amazing future. I have overcome and thrived.

I don’t want a pat on the back or to be told how amazing and resilient I am…I simply want others to hear my story and realize that there is life after tragedy. You CAN go on and make your life the absolute best it can be. Decide what you want and go for it. Each and every one of us will have tragedy and pain in our life. That is what we are here for. It is on life’s journey we will learn great lessons. How you deal with the pain, and how you change your life for the better as a result of the pain, will dictate and shape your future.

Be sure to check out www.kilianskids.com or bid on our newest site up for bid at www.pure-ecommerce.com.

Everyday I speak to someone who wants to start their own business. They often tell me it’s a been dream of theirs for a long time or they want to be home with their children or they simply want to leave a job that they are not happy with.

After they’re done with the reasons why they want to own their business they begin to tell me the reasons why they can’t start or own their own business. I listen and acknowledge but wonder. At the end of the day most people don’t move forward out of fear. Fear of their own ability to make a business successful, fear that they won’t like it, fear even that they will be successful. If you could set your fear aside and look at it like a ball sitting on a table, recognize that it’s stopping you from a lot of things you want to do in your life. By overcoming your fears, you are allowing yourself the opportunity to make your life be so different!

For instance, I had a fear of flying..I never traveled far because my fear never let me. My fear would say to me, “stay home-your are not going anywhere”. At the time, I listened and obeyed my fear – I let it rule my life.

Then I was diagnosed with  cancer and my life flashed before me…The words came to me over the phone and all I thought at that moment is what I wasn’t going to be able to do-I thought about all the things that I had not done. I knew it was time for me to take control of my life, my destiny!

I won my battle with cancer and since then I have flown to Costa Rica with a 1 year old and 4 kids, Hawaii twice, San Diego, Florida, New York and Tennessee.

Not only did I win my battle with cancer, but I won my battle with my fear! I live the life I was meant to live and I am able to put fear aside and recognize it for what it is.

You have one life, one chance, one moment… You decide what to do with it …YOU DECIDE…Not Your Fear!!!!

I am often asked how I was able to become so successful so fast with my first ecommerce company. Luck? Low Competition? Nope!

MY success was the result of hard HARD work and effective marketing ideas. I had no background in business as I was a teacher by trade. What I did have was a strong motivation to succeed and the ability to think outside of the box.

I was a self taught entrepreneur with a talent for marketing. My first business was selling rocks door to door-who buys rocks? Well if an adorable 5 year old shows up at your door saying they are raising money to buy ice cream from the ice cream man my guess is you would pay MORE the the asking price for that rock! I knew how to market even at 5. I knew how move people to act and feel for the product I was selling.

When I first started my maternity clothing company I wanted the feel of the site to emulate the mood of the shopper. How does one feel when they are pregnant? How can the look of this site intensify and become one with their mood and stage of life. Women are emotional by nature, but pregnant women tend to be even more emotional. My site was actually pink with a beautiful pregnant women on the front in a high end pajama set.  Clean, beautiful, soft, emotional-these are all words that I would use to describe my website design.

The single biggest piece of feedback I heard about my maternity website business is how beautiful the design was. I backed up the design with a quality product offering and a unique way to shop. I studied my 3 main competitors and found what they WERE NOT doing. I found my own niche, my own way to standout and offer something unique and different then anyone else.

I found my own unique place in the maternity clothing market.

Customers remembered my site due to the product offering, the unique way I marketed the clothes, and the design.It was more then a website that sold maternity clothing, it was an experience that they would remember the next time they thought of buying maternity clothes.

Take some time to REALLY study your competition.

• What can you offer or do that is different?
• How can you find your place in whatever market you are in and offer something unique?
• Does your design of your site emulate the mood and feeling of your shopper?
• Your future and your success is in your hands. No one but you can it happen!

I LOVE New Year’s Eve and most importantly New Years Day. I love having hope and what New Years Eve offers is the possbility of anything! Last year we spent New Years Eve at the beach. Me and my kids headed down to the beach and we watched the sun come up. I remember having this overwhelming feeling as that sun rose out of the ocean, that they year ahead was going to be big and that great things were going to happen. That moment on the beach was filled with so much hope and the energy I felt was so awesome.

For 2011 I had goals and dreams but most importantly I had a PLAN on how to make those goals and dreams happen. I worked hard to achieve those goals and I never gave up. Great things don’t happen to great people, great things happen to those who work for it….

Decide what you want, then devise a plan on how to achieve those goals. Dream big and dream small..Have short terms goals for the year as well as long term goals for the year.

Most importantly believe in yourself…Take a chance on yourself…. Pain and failure does and will happen..Your bigger then pain and failure and if and when that happens you will deal with it but if you don’t take a chance on yourself you will never know failure but most importantly you will never know success.

Here is to the best 2012 you can create for yourself!