You may think a health crisis will never happen to you, especially if you consider yourself pretty healthy. It can happen, though. I didn't think cancer would ever strike me. But it did. It got Hoda Kotb too.

The co-anchor of the fourth hour of Today, correspondent for Dateline NBC, and host of the weekly syndicated series Your Total Health says she was sure she wouldn't ever get cancer.

Three breast lumps and one mastectomy prove that Kotb did in fact get the disease. It was shocking, she says, since she didn't ever give much thought to her body before her diagnosis.

Now, Kotb knows her body. And here' s what she thinks you should know about yours.

• Think about your body. Care for it. Eat well. Exercise well. Report any and all symptoms to a physician. Get screened. Be proactive.

• "Forward." That's the work Kotb kept repeating to propel herself through each cancer day. Just get through it, she'd tell herself. Good everyday advice, I think. Having trouble eating healthy? Just move forward and get through it. Need to stick to a better exercise routine? Forward. Need to get through a stressful time. Forward.
  

• Cancer survivors know how to live. Think about how many times we say, "I'm going to change. I'm going to be different" yet make no change at all -- think in terms of stress, diet, and fitness. Cancer survivors, though. They want to live differently. And usually, they make good on their wishes. Call it clarity. See if you can embrace it. Before cancer forces you to do so.
  
  

For more words of wisdom from Kotb, click here.