9/03/05

Lets just pause for the story. I just want to type out this ill feeling inside regarding one of the graded case study essay that was handed up. The essay was returned. Its the second C I got for a graded essay throughout these 2 years. Not that I didn't get a worst grade. I got a D for one of my essay before. But then.... this essay is a group effort. And I was the one typing the bulk of the essay. I feel like i'm pulling my friends down. So useless.

can't type much now. Its late night. I'll leave today's blog with 3 slice of life. I guess their email system cock up.

Slice of life 1

We Never Told Him He Couldn't Do It

It's amazing what we can achieve, if only people would stop telling us we can't. The power of negativity cannot be underestimated. Seemingly harmless comments like "Are you sure you can do it?", "No, I don't think it will work", "You'll never be able to do that!" can be very debilitating, especially to a child.

Today's story, by Kathy Lamancusa, illustrates the things that are possible if only we don't stifle them with our negativity and pessimism.

My son Joey was born with club feet. The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally - but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery, casts and braces. By the time he was eight, you wouldn't know he had a problem when you saw him walk.

The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during play, and Joey would jump right in and run and play, too. We never told him that he probably wouldn't be able to run as well as the other children. So he didn't know.

In seventh grade he decided to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others - perhaps he sensed that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the potential to score points for the school. We didn't tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn't know.

He continued to run four to five miles a day, every day - even the day he had a 103-degree fever. I was worried, so I went to look for him after school. I found him running all alone. I asked him how he felt. "Okay," he said. He had two more miles to go. The sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and kept running. We never told him he couldn't run four miles with a 103-degree fever. So he didn't know.

Two weeks later, the names of the team runners were called. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in seventh grade - the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn't expect to make the team. We never told him he couldn't do it. We never told him he couldn't do it...so he didn't know. He just did it.

A true story written by Kathy Lamancusa. Sometimes we can succeed purely because we didn't know we could fail.

Slice of Life 2

Be Thankful For What You Have

Have you been feeling out of sorts lately? Something bothering you at work? Are your worries burdening you to breaking point?

Struggle and suffering is all part and parcel of life. No one escapes from it, but that doesn't mean you have to lose any sleep because of it.

If you're feeling down or troubled, remember how lucky you are to be alive, to be able to listen to the radio, to be able to enjoy your meals, spend time with your loved ones, and appreciate the beauty that this world has to offer. Because you have no idea how many people in this world don't.

An unknown author once wrote:

Should you find it hard to get to sleep tonight, just remember the homeless family who has no bed to lie in.

Should you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have bad day at work, pray from the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you grieve for the passing of another weekend, pray for the women around the world who work twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed their children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance, think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror, remember the cancer patient in chemotherapy who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what life is all about, asking "What is my purpose?", be thankful. There are thse who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities, remember: things could be worse. You could be them!

And so laugh a little, live a little, give a little more, and everything will sort itself out. No matter how bad you've got it, millions of others have it worse. And they have every right to be half as favoured as you are.

Slice of life 3

Giving

In a world where selfishness has permeated almost every level of society, too much emphasis is placed on trampling on others to win, and on taking whatever you can get your hands on. But do we grow and develop simply by taking all the time? And how much of what we take can we really hold on to?

Someone once wrote:

Whatever you give away today, or think or say or do will multiply about tenfold and then return to you. It may not come immediately, nor from the obvious source but the law applies unfailingly, through some invisible force.

Whatever you feel about another, be it love or hate or passion will surely bounce right back to you in some clear (or secret) fashion If you speak about some person, a word of praise or two, soon, tens of other people will speak kind words of you.

Our thoughts are broadcasts of the soul, not secrets of the brain. Kind ones bring us happiness; petty ones, untold pain. Giving works as surely as reflections in a mirror. If hate you send, hate you'll get back, but loving brings love nearer.

Remember, as you start this day and duty crowds your mind, that kindness comes so quickly back to those who first are kind. Let that thought and this one direct us through each day.

The only things we ever keep are the things we give away.

Many things in this life are temporal and fleeting. Money, power, position, fame? these are the things which ultimately contribute to the emptiness in our hearts. However, the good things we do for others, and the love and concern we give away are the only things which will remain with us for the rest of our lives.