Justin Sandler is a director, actor, drummer, writer, speaker, and cancer survivor. He and wife Mary Lou Sandler own 3 cubed studios, LLC and have 5 adopted rescue cats.
A graduate of Indiana University, he has directed and produced cable TV in Chicago; wrote, directed, and produced commercials for ABC & FOX in Palm Springs; and has been long established in Los Angeles as a professional actor, as well as a recording and touring musician.
His film, “Welcome to Where You’ve Always Been” (writer, director, actor, editor, producer) appeared in 21 festivals, won 4 awards (including his award for Best Actor in a Leading Role), and is now available on ShortsTV and Amazon Prime.
Justin and Mary Lou are currently developing 2 new documentary films, “Caregiving Cancer: The Silent Heroes” and “MANtimacy.”
Justin debuted his solo show “EMBRACE LOVE FREE” at SoloFest in March 2019 and he continued to perform his show throughout the year. In 2020, he took the show online and it is now available to view “On-Demand.” Since 2018, Justin has been inspirationally speaking about his cancer journey, including his appearance at TEDxNormal. He is currently writing a book on the same theme of his TEDx talk… “Embrace Love Free… 3 Steps to Overcome Any Obstacle.”
Justin Sandler – director, actor, drummer, writer
Talk Summary: 3 Steps to Overcome Any Obstacle
“3 Steps to Overcome Any Obstacle” is centered around the philosophy “EMBRACE LOVE FREE.” This philosophy came to me during my cancer journey of 2017 and changed my life forever. I had a tumor aggressively growing into my heart and lung and I had to immediately begin an equally aggressive treatment plan of chemotherapy and surgeries if I wanted to live. I found myself facing the biggest challenge of my life and I realized that I needed a way to help me overcome it. That’s when this philosophy came to me. It allowed me to see my obstacle from an entirely different perspective. It removed negativity and victimhood and replaced those with empowerment and inspiration. I was facing a life-threatening illness and I realized that I simply had a choice. I couldn’t just wish it away or deny its existence, so instead I chose to embrace it. That didn’t mean I had to like it, but I did have to accept it and honor it. I had to take control of my choices and how I reacted to what was happening to me. I simply chose to embrace it as step one and seek out the silver lining. Once I did that, I felt like I had taken some of the power back. Cancer was no longer happening to me… it was happening through me. I now felt ready to face my obstacle head on and so I moved into step two… love. I realized that I could either hate it and be mad at it, or I could choose to love it and that’s what I did. I couldn’t hate something that was part of me and inside of me. I didn’t see any benefit in that. But I did see the benefit in showing it love and remaining in a place of gratitude. When I did this, it just felt right. By holding space for love and gratitude, I was able to continuously see all of the ways that going through this could benefit both my life as well as the lives of others. I was able to learn more and grow as a human. I was able to see the beauty all around me. And I was able to stay strong and hopeful even when things got really hard. I continued to embrace and love my obstacle right through the end. And thanks to my amazing medical team, I survived. I was cancer-free. But I was still feeling the heaviness of it. I was having trouble during my long and difficult recovery. I was a shell of my former self and just couldn’t physically do much. This weighed heavy on my mind and I began to question why I even wanted to survive in the first place. And that’s when it hit me. There was a third and final step to this philosophy… free. I realized that I was still holding onto my tumor even though it was physically gone. It was somehow safer as that was the life I had gotten used to. Therefore, I was still acting like a cancer patient. I was still feeling helpless and at times, I even fantasized about being sick again. Life seemed easier when I was living in the hospital. Now I was left to somehow put the pieces back together on my own. I had overcome the obstacle of cancer but I wasn’t reaping any of the benefits from my survival. That’s when I realized that it was time to make peace with it. I had to free myself from the idea that I was still sick or suffering. I had to accept the fact that I had overcome my cancer and it was time to honor the journey I had been on. It was time to stand in my power and free myself from the obstacle so that I couldn’t move forward with life. I was ready to rebuild and to share my message. And thanks to following the mindset of “Embrace Love Free,” I am here today to continue my mission of helping and inspiring as many people as I can. And the best way I can do that is by sharing this philosophy, as I have realized that regardless of what the challenge is, we can always choose how we react. Therefore, “Embrace Love Free” is a perspective that can be used by anyone to help them face their obstacles in a way that will benefit their lives and maybe even the lives of others.
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