How many can drive cars? Almost everyone of us. How many of us have a black-belt in tae kwon do? A good number of you people out there do, I believe. How many people can surf a board on the waves? A small number, perhaps And how many can fly a plane? Very few of us, I think. Now those answers are for folks like you and me. How about if you are born without two arms? That’s right! No arms!
Last night, I slept rather late as I could not stop searching for everything there is to know about this one beautiful fantastic lady I was introduced to by Youtube. There she was standing with the greatest of confidence I have ever encountered in such a little 26 year old, 5 foot one inch tall, armless lady beside a plane and from Youtube I was to discover that this little beautiful lass was capable of everything on earth. That is the impression I get anyway and I think I cannot be wrong as she has proved to the world she can do things many people could not have done.
As I read on I realised I have encountered one of the greatest achiever of all times. She must have been sent by God to show others that the only limits to our lives are all in our minds. And she is the living walking proof of that undeniable fact. Here is a gal who believes that through creativity, persistence and the determination to conquer her fears, everything is possible.
Here is this lady, Jessica Cox, a Pilipino-American who was born in Tucson, Arizona, without arms. No doctor knew how that came about. Anyone would have thought people without arms would just sit helplessly and give up on life. However, as I searched the internet till late I discovered that there are quite a number of people who not only did not just throw down the towel but are successful with their lives.
One of the youngest happen to be a little girl who entered primary school this year at the age of seven. She is from Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia and her name is Huang Zhaoqian. Despite being born with no arms, she copes with her homework very well by writing with a pencil between her toes. She attracted sufficient attention from Malaysia’s Moral Education Curriculum Committee to have them request for permission from her parents to have her story in next year’s moral education textbook. Then there is this very healthy lady, Barbara Guerra, who lost her arms in an accident at the age of two and a half. She can look after herself well, dressing up, doing her own make-up, brushing her teeth and other everyday activities and even driving her own car wherever she wants and a place she frequents often is the gym. So, people who make use of whatever they have instead of concentrating on whatever they do not have can still live life to the full. And Jessica Cox is one of three armless people who appeared in a one-hour documentary called ‘Born without Arms’ where these people reveal their struggles and talked about their accomplishments. The other two are Nadia and Mark.
When it comes to Jessica Cox, she went to school and just like Malaysia’s Huang Zhaoqian used her toes to turn the pages and write. Well, Jessica did use artificial arms from time to time but she threw them away as she found that they prevented her from doing what came naturally to her. She did wonder why she was not given two arms just like other people. However, she did not wonder too long. Instead she did what she could with what has. She has legs and toes, legs and toes which through practice and work became strong, flexible and capable of feats that helped her to handle things which normally require hands. With those legs and toes she is able to perform anything others use their hands to do. Thus, she is able to dress up, do her own make-up and look after herself such as eat, type, play the piano and even put in her own contact lenses. Even without arms, she also learned how to swim. She swam at the pool in the University of Arizona. Yes, at the university of Arizona for it was there that She studied well to emerge as a Psychology graduate with a bachelor’s degree. (Hope young Malaysian Huang Zhaoqian and her parents read this and be inspired by it.)
The second of three children, Jessica attributes part of her success in life to her parents, William Cox, a retired music teacher and her mother, Inez Macabare from the Philipines, a nurse as well as the support of her older brother, Jason and her younger sister, Jackie. Her parents gave her the confidence by treating her no different from her other children and so it was that she learned early to feed herself, play with toys, comb her hair and write with a pencil with her own feet. When she was three years old, the parents did not stop her from activities where others need their hands. Instead she was enrolled in gymnastic classes. (I know of so many parents who fear so much that their children would hurt themselves that their children were forbidden to take part in such activities. Imagine that! Parents instilling fear instead of providing confidence.) They did not stop at that. At the age of six years, Jessica was already attending swimming and dance classes. By age ten, she was into tae-kwon-do until she obtained her black belt in the seventh grade. And she went on to get her black belt twice! What a tough petite lass. Now we know where and how she became strong with her legs and gained so much agility and confidence in all her activities despite her slender frame.
Jessica Cox who is as fiercely independent as her mother, believes that that sort of attitude is the most important factor she had inherited from her mother. For that kind of independence to be possible, she had to overcome the odds with what she had, two strong legs. That is the formula for success; look for what is in us or what we have and use it. Unfortunately, most of us merely compare with others and complain about what we do not have instead of turning to what we have and using it.
And she is not just tough. She has artistic talent too. She can play the piano. Of course, she can write as she has her own website: www.rightfooted.com and that is where you can avail yourself of her photographs. Isn’t she a beauty? Oh, yes! She will be writing a book on her life with the title ‘Disarming prejudice.’.
Oh, yes, she can drive her own car without any adjustments to the controls. Like Barbara Guerra, she drives very well. When first learning to drive, Jessica was encouraged to use special modifications in her car. But even after her car was modified, she decided to remove them and drove without the changes. She holds an unrestricted driver’s license. With her right foot she grabs the buckles of her seat belt and locked the belt before slipping her body into it. She then turns on the ignition, adjusts the window and air conditioning controls, puts on the direction indicator signal and flips down her sun visor before driving off to her destination, steering with her right foot on the wheel as her left foot works the gas and brake pedals.
And last year in 2009, she became the first armless pilot to obtain a licence to fly a plane using her feet - one manning the steering column and the other the controls. Her license allows her to fly up to 10,000 ft on light sports aircraft. She took three years to gain her licence with her teacher Parrish Traweek guiding her on how to use the controls of the Ercoupe 415 plane with her feet. She was helped by the Able Flight organization which helps disabled people to gain self confidence through flying.
And believe it or not, she said that flying was her greatest fear. It was that fear which motivated her to strive for a few years to be able to fly, to conquer that fear. Well, how many of us are deterred from certain joys due to fear? In her, we see that fear can be overcome with effort and the desire to do it. Of course, as she implies, conquering fear is not easy but it can be done.
For a lady who admitted to being shy the first time she went on stage to dance, Jessica has certainly come a long way through her own steam. She overcame fear and shyness, two of the most debilitating factors in many people’s lives.
Encouraged by her success, she takes her first surfing lesson in Maui, Hawaii. On Youtube, I see her with her instructor going out to sea, then she gets up to stand on the surfboard. While the instructor pedalled with his hands she used her feet to move the surfboard forward. Later, with the instructor nearby, a short distance away in the sea, she stood and surfed all alone.
For a lady yet to reach her 27th birthday, she has come a long, long way without those arms. She has perhaps covered more distance than most people her age. However she was most fortunate to have what to a certain degree many people may lack or possess; loving and understanding parents, supportive siblings, self-dependence, determination, courage, perseverance, positive attitude and the right kind of activities to prepare her for the challenges ahead.
Parents can learn at lot from a study of Jessica’s success as you can see that at an age when she could not have comprehend fully the challenges she may face in life, her parents had started preparing her for a normal life, getting her to perform in activities which gives her the strength and flexibility as well as the much needed courage to live life to the full.
I believe this is one of my most important study of an individual as her life not only bring inspiration; she is an international motivational speaker; but also lessons on bringing up children.
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Willingness to shoulder responsibility quickens maturity.
"Come back here, Kok Seng. I have told you not to follow them and run across the street like that."
It sounded like a parent but his size and youthful face placed him at the approximate age of twelve, definitely too young to be a father of the four year old kid rushing off at the heels of a group of children. Yet, the responsibility of seeing to the safety of his younger brother rests on his young shoulders.
With both parents away at work, there is none other to oversee him and his brother. Each day, his parents reminded him of his big brother status and told him he has to be the one to look after the other son. Fortunately for his parents, he took on the task without complaint and perform this duty well.
Yes, his parents were lucky to have such a compliant child despite the heavy responsibility associated with the task, for it is not every child who would willingly agree to carry the burden of ensuring the safety of a sibling at such a tender age. Some children would not have bothered to take on the job and no parent could fault them for refusing such a great responsibility. After all, the mind is still not expected to have achieved the level of maturity required to perform well such a heavy task.
Well, there was such a child whom I know of. In fact, his task became even worse with the coming of a third child. Not only did he have to keep an eagle's eye on the second child so as to be aware of his whereabouts at all times, he had to carry the growing baby, feed him as well as put him to sleep. According to me, it was just too tough for this eldest son to manage. But, perhaps with the help of compassionate God, manage he did and nary an untoward incident befall the three children as they grew up.
Of course, needless to say, it was a tiring life for the eldest child. As a result, he developed a sense of responsibility and quiet maturity that was to put him ahead of many children. In school, that sense of responsibility took him to study with a determination seldom seen. Despite not having quality time with his parents or the opportunity for advantageous early knowledge, his maturity got him to pay even greater attention to the knowledge imparted by the teachers. This traits in him got him recognised by both teachers and fellow students a leadership quality. Thus, from monitor of the class, he went on to be the head prefect of the school. His ability to cope with the numerous duties given put him in good stead as a prefect where duties often have to been looked into while others study in the class.
With the maturity, leadership qualities and sense of responsibility, anyone can foresee the reach he made in education and performance in his career.
Sometimes, things do not come planned by parents. Circumstances or perhaps, the forces of the universe cause happenings to take place, incidences which could mold a person's character to place him in a favourable position in life. Perhaps, this kind of person is what some would call the graduate from the School of Hard Knocks. So, when life is tough for a child, there is no need to pity him or look down at his seemingly poor situation for great things may be in store for such a kid.
It sounded like a parent but his size and youthful face placed him at the approximate age of twelve, definitely too young to be a father of the four year old kid rushing off at the heels of a group of children. Yet, the responsibility of seeing to the safety of his younger brother rests on his young shoulders.
With both parents away at work, there is none other to oversee him and his brother. Each day, his parents reminded him of his big brother status and told him he has to be the one to look after the other son. Fortunately for his parents, he took on the task without complaint and perform this duty well.
Yes, his parents were lucky to have such a compliant child despite the heavy responsibility associated with the task, for it is not every child who would willingly agree to carry the burden of ensuring the safety of a sibling at such a tender age. Some children would not have bothered to take on the job and no parent could fault them for refusing such a great responsibility. After all, the mind is still not expected to have achieved the level of maturity required to perform well such a heavy task.
Well, there was such a child whom I know of. In fact, his task became even worse with the coming of a third child. Not only did he have to keep an eagle's eye on the second child so as to be aware of his whereabouts at all times, he had to carry the growing baby, feed him as well as put him to sleep. According to me, it was just too tough for this eldest son to manage. But, perhaps with the help of compassionate God, manage he did and nary an untoward incident befall the three children as they grew up.
Of course, needless to say, it was a tiring life for the eldest child. As a result, he developed a sense of responsibility and quiet maturity that was to put him ahead of many children. In school, that sense of responsibility took him to study with a determination seldom seen. Despite not having quality time with his parents or the opportunity for advantageous early knowledge, his maturity got him to pay even greater attention to the knowledge imparted by the teachers. This traits in him got him recognised by both teachers and fellow students a leadership quality. Thus, from monitor of the class, he went on to be the head prefect of the school. His ability to cope with the numerous duties given put him in good stead as a prefect where duties often have to been looked into while others study in the class.
With the maturity, leadership qualities and sense of responsibility, anyone can foresee the reach he made in education and performance in his career.
Sometimes, things do not come planned by parents. Circumstances or perhaps, the forces of the universe cause happenings to take place, incidences which could mold a person's character to place him in a favourable position in life. Perhaps, this kind of person is what some would call the graduate from the School of Hard Knocks. So, when life is tough for a child, there is no need to pity him or look down at his seemingly poor situation for great things may be in store for such a kid.
Friday, November 06, 2009
My admiration for one of the greatest motivators of our time: Jerry Traylor.
Do you know anything about cerebral palsy? It is a permanent disorder of the development of movement and posture resulting in activity limitation. There is no known cure for cerebral palsy. So a cerebral palsy patient can only be treated to prevent possible complications arising from such a disorder.
We would have thought that someone with such a weakness would not be able to be active. He would not have been able to do what most normal children could in the field of physical performance. Well, perhaps, he could still develop some other talents with certain parts of his brain and his voice. But, we could not have imagined that a person with cerebral palsy could have performed physical deeds most of us would have been incapable of although we have normal healthy bodies.
Today, I wish to write on such a man, a man who had to spend some years from the age of six to the age of fourteen in a hospital for surgeries and to learn how to use crutches, yet eventually performing incredible physical acts and noble deeds few had any courage or inclination for.
According to Jerry Traylor, the beautiful act of caring holds great significance in his life. Not only were his parents caring. He tells of the numerous cares he had received in so many ways. Besides the love shown by his mother, Marilyn, his father, Tom, his three sisters, Janet, Judy and Debra in so many ways, there was so much love, care and encouragement from others such as casual acquaintances, good friends, educators and professional healthcare providers. His appreciation for their love, care and encouragement was the motivation that drove him to not fail in their expectations; to be able to do whatever he could with whatever he had. And the effort put in by him was tremendous and so admirable.
The obstacles were many. The obstacles which he overcame were so many and so painful, his success in overcoming them was so incredible that it arouses such overwhelming admiration for him in me. I just had to write about him so that more people can be the richer from having known that such a man exists and from benefitting from his deeds and inspiration.
One of the obstacles Jerry had to overcome is quite common, existing even in the lives of healthy normal people. When he was young, he compared his disability with others and it was painful to think that he could be missing so much in life through cerebral palsy. It was always the urge to compare with others. When we compare and we come out the loser, we feel so much smaller and so pained. The poor compares with the rich. The weak compares with the strong. The disabled compares with the abled. And the list goes on.
For Jerry, he turned his weaknesses into strengths. It is no wonder that one of my great teachers, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale whom I have told you about in my earlier post, in his radio broadcast, The American Character had this to say about Jerry, “"Building a career as a motivational speaker, Jerry Traylor has prepared himself by becoming a motivational doer: That way he is more convincing when he tells people what it takes to achieve difficult goals for they know he has achieved many." And through his motivational speeches.Jerry has reached out to every corner of society to help people discover their own potential.
Jerry was just as human as any other person but the difference is that he overcame his pain with the understanding that all of us are unique individuals, each with different talents and each with a different mission in life. With that understanding, he found his mission of spreading the word of God, the mission of giving care and inspiration to everyone and the mission of showing others that there are still things that can be done with whatever God has given us. That is one truly noble vision turning into his mission. And I know everyone who has known him will rise above every problem to reach for their own stars just as he had. What an incredible person you are, Jerry Traylor.
And do you know what this incredible man did? After so many surgeries, he attempted to walk with crutches. The first few faltering steps he took lead to a fall. The caring ones got him up onto his feet and from then on he walked, ran, jumped and danced to become one of the greatest inspirational motivators of our time.
Fantastic and unimaginable that he did not only walk but “run a mile in nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds”. Forget the time but how many of us had run a mile? Well, this man not only ran a mile, he jogged across America, covering 3,528 miles from San Francisco to New York City and ran 35 full-length marathons. And to top it all, he climbed and ran up Pikes Peak, covering 14, 000 feet! Wow! What a man! Fit, strong and healthy, I may be but those are some of the things I have yet to try. How about you? And he did it all with those crutches.
We would have thought those would have been sufficient to make him outstanding in any crowd. Well, he did much, much more. Can we ever imagine a man with crutches skiing,….. skiing? …yes, skiing down the Colorado mountains. Unbelievable! Fantastic!
As though those feats were not enough, he demostrated his own courage by parachuting from 12,500 feet, jumping out from an airplane. We must ask ourselves: Since Jerry with his crutches can do it, why not us?
To spread his message of care and love, his message of utilizing whatever God has bestowed upon us, he even wrote a book, 'Live CAREfully' which is a glimpse into his life. It contains stories of how caring can mold and change lives. It tells how others have caringly put him on the road to his mission to inspire.
We are all astonished by his determination to perform, the iron-will to succeed and his success in becoming the most wonderful inspiration to all mankind.
In his journey to be the incredible great motivator that he is, he has brought out the goodness in many. One of them is the remarkable Thomas K. Fenton, the Vice President of the Fenton Art Glass Company who took the initiative to contact Jerry and wrote to the Rotary Club as well as actively making Jerry’s run across America a reality. This is one of the men whom Jerry praised despite his own greatness. There have been many, many other lives Jerry Traylor must have touched and enriched.
(Blogger’s note: Go the the internet and search for Jerry Traylor to read in even more detail about this incredible man, Jerry Traylor. )
To buy his book or organize a talk for him, the contact number is:
TELEPHONE (480) 837-9408
FAX (480) 837-4564
E-mail Jerry at: givetalk@aol.co
We would have thought that someone with such a weakness would not be able to be active. He would not have been able to do what most normal children could in the field of physical performance. Well, perhaps, he could still develop some other talents with certain parts of his brain and his voice. But, we could not have imagined that a person with cerebral palsy could have performed physical deeds most of us would have been incapable of although we have normal healthy bodies.
Today, I wish to write on such a man, a man who had to spend some years from the age of six to the age of fourteen in a hospital for surgeries and to learn how to use crutches, yet eventually performing incredible physical acts and noble deeds few had any courage or inclination for.
According to Jerry Traylor, the beautiful act of caring holds great significance in his life. Not only were his parents caring. He tells of the numerous cares he had received in so many ways. Besides the love shown by his mother, Marilyn, his father, Tom, his three sisters, Janet, Judy and Debra in so many ways, there was so much love, care and encouragement from others such as casual acquaintances, good friends, educators and professional healthcare providers. His appreciation for their love, care and encouragement was the motivation that drove him to not fail in their expectations; to be able to do whatever he could with whatever he had. And the effort put in by him was tremendous and so admirable.
The obstacles were many. The obstacles which he overcame were so many and so painful, his success in overcoming them was so incredible that it arouses such overwhelming admiration for him in me. I just had to write about him so that more people can be the richer from having known that such a man exists and from benefitting from his deeds and inspiration.
One of the obstacles Jerry had to overcome is quite common, existing even in the lives of healthy normal people. When he was young, he compared his disability with others and it was painful to think that he could be missing so much in life through cerebral palsy. It was always the urge to compare with others. When we compare and we come out the loser, we feel so much smaller and so pained. The poor compares with the rich. The weak compares with the strong. The disabled compares with the abled. And the list goes on.
For Jerry, he turned his weaknesses into strengths. It is no wonder that one of my great teachers, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale whom I have told you about in my earlier post, in his radio broadcast, The American Character had this to say about Jerry, “"Building a career as a motivational speaker, Jerry Traylor has prepared himself by becoming a motivational doer: That way he is more convincing when he tells people what it takes to achieve difficult goals for they know he has achieved many." And through his motivational speeches.Jerry has reached out to every corner of society to help people discover their own potential.
Jerry was just as human as any other person but the difference is that he overcame his pain with the understanding that all of us are unique individuals, each with different talents and each with a different mission in life. With that understanding, he found his mission of spreading the word of God, the mission of giving care and inspiration to everyone and the mission of showing others that there are still things that can be done with whatever God has given us. That is one truly noble vision turning into his mission. And I know everyone who has known him will rise above every problem to reach for their own stars just as he had. What an incredible person you are, Jerry Traylor.
And do you know what this incredible man did? After so many surgeries, he attempted to walk with crutches. The first few faltering steps he took lead to a fall. The caring ones got him up onto his feet and from then on he walked, ran, jumped and danced to become one of the greatest inspirational motivators of our time.
Fantastic and unimaginable that he did not only walk but “run a mile in nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds”. Forget the time but how many of us had run a mile? Well, this man not only ran a mile, he jogged across America, covering 3,528 miles from San Francisco to New York City and ran 35 full-length marathons. And to top it all, he climbed and ran up Pikes Peak, covering 14, 000 feet! Wow! What a man! Fit, strong and healthy, I may be but those are some of the things I have yet to try. How about you? And he did it all with those crutches.
We would have thought those would have been sufficient to make him outstanding in any crowd. Well, he did much, much more. Can we ever imagine a man with crutches skiing,….. skiing? …yes, skiing down the Colorado mountains. Unbelievable! Fantastic!
As though those feats were not enough, he demostrated his own courage by parachuting from 12,500 feet, jumping out from an airplane. We must ask ourselves: Since Jerry with his crutches can do it, why not us?
To spread his message of care and love, his message of utilizing whatever God has bestowed upon us, he even wrote a book, 'Live CAREfully' which is a glimpse into his life. It contains stories of how caring can mold and change lives. It tells how others have caringly put him on the road to his mission to inspire.
We are all astonished by his determination to perform, the iron-will to succeed and his success in becoming the most wonderful inspiration to all mankind.
In his journey to be the incredible great motivator that he is, he has brought out the goodness in many. One of them is the remarkable Thomas K. Fenton, the Vice President of the Fenton Art Glass Company who took the initiative to contact Jerry and wrote to the Rotary Club as well as actively making Jerry’s run across America a reality. This is one of the men whom Jerry praised despite his own greatness. There have been many, many other lives Jerry Traylor must have touched and enriched.
(Blogger’s note: Go the the internet and search for Jerry Traylor to read in even more detail about this incredible man, Jerry Traylor. )
To buy his book or organize a talk for him, the contact number is:
TELEPHONE (480) 837-9408
FAX (480) 837-4564
E-mail Jerry at: givetalk@aol.co
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Dianne Odell, thank you for your inspiration.
On the 13th of February 1947, in Tennessee, Dianne Odell was born. Unfortunately, she was struck by polio at the age of three. Worse, it was the most crippling type of polio, bulbo-spinal polio which not only paralysed her whole body, it caused a deformity in her spine.
There was a time, during the 1940s and 1950s when polio was common among children and there was no cure. So, children were then told not to drink water from suspicious sources such as public fountains, to avoid swimming pools and crowded places such as theatres.
However, it was discovered that children who played in polio-laden dirty places recovered from polio after what seemed like a bout of flu, apparently immune to the disease while children in clean places were more susceptible to polio.
There was a year when more than 50,000 cases were reported with more than three thousand dead due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Some twenty thousand cases resulted in cripples with nerves destroyed and muscles and bones affected.
Polio starts with some kind of fatigue, a stiff neck, headache, fever and weakened legs.
Fortunately for many, a vaccine for polio was available at the end of the 1950s.
For Dianne Odell, the vaccine came too late. So did a portable respiratory machine as she was unable to benefit from it due to her deformed spine. As a result, she had to spend fifty-eight years in a seven foot, seven hundred and fifty pound breathing machine. To this day, there are still people who use such a machine known as the iron lung. Till the age of twenty, she could still come out of that machine for a short while. In fact, she came out of it to have herself baptised at the age of thirteen. After the age of twenty, she had to be in her iron lung twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
In spite of her polio, her having to live in a machine with a electric pump to regulate the pressure of her chest for the remainder of her life, till the age of sixty-one when an electrical blackout and an inability of the relatives to start a back-up generator took away her life, she showed other humans what could still be accomplished despite her handicap.
Despite her having to spend her life in the iron lung, she did complete her studies with the help of her classmates and teachers who brought assignments from school for her to answer, again with the help of friends and family members as well as a Dictaphone. Fantastic as it may sound, she wrote with her toes. Through such everyday heroes and her own determination, she graduated from her high school at the age of eighteen. She took courses at the University of Tennessee and studied psychology through long-distance classes from Freed-Hardeman University. However, she had to stop her study as she suffered from migraine headaches. Nevertheless, she was awarded an honorary degree.
To motivate children, especially those with disabilities, she wrote a book titled Blinky, Less Light which took her ten long years to write using a voice activated computer and sold almost one hundred thousand copies. Imagine that! Ten long years! What an effort! What determination! A lesser person would have given up in despair of ever completing it. How great her determination was can only be known when understand that the pace was slow and painful with hospital visits and surgeries she had to endure. And what an honourable goal! She did not stop there. She was even writing her own autobiography when the electrical blackout stopped her. For her, sixty-one years just was not enough! What a woman!
And we must not forget the wonderful people we have in this world. Her parents took it upon themselves to ensure that she would live and accomplish what she did. Her relatives, friends, students and teachers of her school as well as the contributors of donations for her welfare showed that there is a sea of people who care. These are people with hearts of gold who are given the opportunity to show themselves in such trying times.
Actually, amidst the turmoil and the savagery that greet us each day as we turn the pages of our newspapers, is a wonderful world filled with beautiful people.
Dianne Odell is certainly an inspiration to all who face challenges in their lives. Despite the odds against her, she went through life, improving herself in ways possible to her and emerged thankful of the love and goodness the people around her had bestowed by reaching out to give children the inspiration to improve themselves. She gave so much of herself despite coming into the world with so much less than the average child.
The world lost a truly beautiful woman on the 28th of May, 2008. Physically, she may be gone but she will always remain in our hearts.
There was a time, during the 1940s and 1950s when polio was common among children and there was no cure. So, children were then told not to drink water from suspicious sources such as public fountains, to avoid swimming pools and crowded places such as theatres.
However, it was discovered that children who played in polio-laden dirty places recovered from polio after what seemed like a bout of flu, apparently immune to the disease while children in clean places were more susceptible to polio.
There was a year when more than 50,000 cases were reported with more than three thousand dead due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Some twenty thousand cases resulted in cripples with nerves destroyed and muscles and bones affected.
Polio starts with some kind of fatigue, a stiff neck, headache, fever and weakened legs.
Fortunately for many, a vaccine for polio was available at the end of the 1950s.
For Dianne Odell, the vaccine came too late. So did a portable respiratory machine as she was unable to benefit from it due to her deformed spine. As a result, she had to spend fifty-eight years in a seven foot, seven hundred and fifty pound breathing machine. To this day, there are still people who use such a machine known as the iron lung. Till the age of twenty, she could still come out of that machine for a short while. In fact, she came out of it to have herself baptised at the age of thirteen. After the age of twenty, she had to be in her iron lung twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
In spite of her polio, her having to live in a machine with a electric pump to regulate the pressure of her chest for the remainder of her life, till the age of sixty-one when an electrical blackout and an inability of the relatives to start a back-up generator took away her life, she showed other humans what could still be accomplished despite her handicap.
Despite her having to spend her life in the iron lung, she did complete her studies with the help of her classmates and teachers who brought assignments from school for her to answer, again with the help of friends and family members as well as a Dictaphone. Fantastic as it may sound, she wrote with her toes. Through such everyday heroes and her own determination, she graduated from her high school at the age of eighteen. She took courses at the University of Tennessee and studied psychology through long-distance classes from Freed-Hardeman University. However, she had to stop her study as she suffered from migraine headaches. Nevertheless, she was awarded an honorary degree.
To motivate children, especially those with disabilities, she wrote a book titled Blinky, Less Light which took her ten long years to write using a voice activated computer and sold almost one hundred thousand copies. Imagine that! Ten long years! What an effort! What determination! A lesser person would have given up in despair of ever completing it. How great her determination was can only be known when understand that the pace was slow and painful with hospital visits and surgeries she had to endure. And what an honourable goal! She did not stop there. She was even writing her own autobiography when the electrical blackout stopped her. For her, sixty-one years just was not enough! What a woman!
And we must not forget the wonderful people we have in this world. Her parents took it upon themselves to ensure that she would live and accomplish what she did. Her relatives, friends, students and teachers of her school as well as the contributors of donations for her welfare showed that there is a sea of people who care. These are people with hearts of gold who are given the opportunity to show themselves in such trying times.
Actually, amidst the turmoil and the savagery that greet us each day as we turn the pages of our newspapers, is a wonderful world filled with beautiful people.
Dianne Odell is certainly an inspiration to all who face challenges in their lives. Despite the odds against her, she went through life, improving herself in ways possible to her and emerged thankful of the love and goodness the people around her had bestowed by reaching out to give children the inspiration to improve themselves. She gave so much of herself despite coming into the world with so much less than the average child.
The world lost a truly beautiful woman on the 28th of May, 2008. Physically, she may be gone but she will always remain in our hearts.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Dare to do the 'impossible'.
"I'm taking thirteen subjects for my SPM, (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia which was known as the School Certificate before the name change.)" my nephew told me.
"How do you think you are going to manage that many subjects?" I questioned the decision.
"I'll do it. That's the only way to have a chance to get a scholarship to a good university education," he was determined to succeed.
"Alright. You've to understand it'll take a lot of hard work to do it. I can only assist you in art and craft and English." I told him.
In my mind, I was happy for him, happy that he had this strong desire to get extraordinarily good results. Although i have always helped and loved him, I knew I did not have the financial ability to do anything where an overseas university education was concerned. In fact I did say something to that effect to him once while encouraging him to strive for even better results, just as I did my own two children. I expected all three of them to excel in their studies for they had all consistently produced good results.
It was the year 2000, a time when the Malaysian Chinese without strong 'political cables' knew that their children with truly excellent results could not expect to get even a local university scholarship, what more an overseas education scholarship. They might just as well kill the thought.
This nephew knew his family's financial situation as I, in teaching him and my children about life, often point out how poverty can be a stumbling block to many paths to success unless we ourselves strive harder to get out of it through education and hardwork.
Thus, he worked hard, initially falling slightly in the marks he obtained as a result of the strain of taking on new subjects. It is to his credit that he pushed on determined to overcome any weakness that was bound to happen when something new had to be mastered in such a short period of time.
By mid-year, he was well on the way to excellent results. When it came to art and craft, for example, he was already good at drawing and painting. All he needed was the theory and knowledge about the crafts. He learned fast. I remembered explaining matters on certain crafts to him as I took him to or from school at certain times.
His determination to succeed eventually bore fruit when newspapers announced the best SPM Malaysian student in 2001. For the first time in SPM, a student scored A1 in 13 subjects. Usually, it was only for eight, nine or ten subjects. It had the whole nation wondering how it could be done.
Of course, it could be done. He knew it and he did it! This was proved again and again in the years that followed. It just has to take someone special to dare to do the so called impossible. Nothing is impossible as many who followed his path discovered. If I am not mistaken, there is even one girl who got A1 in 17 subjects.
Everything is possible for everyone who dares to dream. So, allow your children to do all they can to improve. Never say it cannot be done. Tell them about my nephew, Ong Jin Hock.
"How do you think you are going to manage that many subjects?" I questioned the decision.
"I'll do it. That's the only way to have a chance to get a scholarship to a good university education," he was determined to succeed.
"Alright. You've to understand it'll take a lot of hard work to do it. I can only assist you in art and craft and English." I told him.
In my mind, I was happy for him, happy that he had this strong desire to get extraordinarily good results. Although i have always helped and loved him, I knew I did not have the financial ability to do anything where an overseas university education was concerned. In fact I did say something to that effect to him once while encouraging him to strive for even better results, just as I did my own two children. I expected all three of them to excel in their studies for they had all consistently produced good results.
It was the year 2000, a time when the Malaysian Chinese without strong 'political cables' knew that their children with truly excellent results could not expect to get even a local university scholarship, what more an overseas education scholarship. They might just as well kill the thought.
This nephew knew his family's financial situation as I, in teaching him and my children about life, often point out how poverty can be a stumbling block to many paths to success unless we ourselves strive harder to get out of it through education and hardwork.
Thus, he worked hard, initially falling slightly in the marks he obtained as a result of the strain of taking on new subjects. It is to his credit that he pushed on determined to overcome any weakness that was bound to happen when something new had to be mastered in such a short period of time.
By mid-year, he was well on the way to excellent results. When it came to art and craft, for example, he was already good at drawing and painting. All he needed was the theory and knowledge about the crafts. He learned fast. I remembered explaining matters on certain crafts to him as I took him to or from school at certain times.
His determination to succeed eventually bore fruit when newspapers announced the best SPM Malaysian student in 2001. For the first time in SPM, a student scored A1 in 13 subjects. Usually, it was only for eight, nine or ten subjects. It had the whole nation wondering how it could be done.
Of course, it could be done. He knew it and he did it! This was proved again and again in the years that followed. It just has to take someone special to dare to do the so called impossible. Nothing is impossible as many who followed his path discovered. If I am not mistaken, there is even one girl who got A1 in 17 subjects.
Everything is possible for everyone who dares to dream. So, allow your children to do all they can to improve. Never say it cannot be done. Tell them about my nephew, Ong Jin Hock.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
I salute this incredibly fantastic lady, Lee Hee Ah.
God never fails to amaze me. Once again, through a friend sending me a video of a 4 finger pianist, which brought tears to my eyes as I watched with wonder, my heart reaching out to her, touched to the core as she played so beautifully with her two finger hands and short, stumpy legs which ended at above her knee caps on the pedals of the specially built piano.
And you would think a person with such disabilities would have a mighty sad face. Far from it, I saw a most lovely face (Much like one lady whom I like a lot.) with a ready smile and an easy sense of humour.
If anyone had thought he/she had insurmountable problems, please take a look at this wonderful twenty-four year old lady, the fantastic Lee Hee Ah, and then tell me how bad his/her problem is. Here is this lady who thanks God each day for being blessed with her talents despite such handicaps. She looks forward to each day, inspiring all who come to see and hear her play.
I always think that I am very positive at most times of my life, but it can never be more positive than what this lady can show despite the problems with her legs. Wow! Isn't she great!
She is an inspiration to all who are fortunate to have known her presence. As a pianist, what greater odds can anyone face? As another human being, she is a God-sent. In no other better way can God show us that there is no obstacle which a stout heart and courage cannot overcome. After this, if this writer were to complain about life, he ought to be kicked. God has shown us the blessings we already have but are too blind to see.
Another person who has shown us how we ought to face problems in life is Lee Hee Ah's mother, Woo Kap Sun. Despite being told by the doctor that her daughter would never survive at home, she courageously took it upon herself to ensure that her daughter would live a successful life. She got teachers to train her daughter on the piano so as to overcome the weakness of her fingers.
You see, Hee Ah was born with some physical deformities and the Down Syndrome. Even her fingers have probrems with one of them unable to bend as it does not have a joint.
Despite her daughter's short limbs, Kap Sun saw her as her beautiful baby, just as any good mother should, and took her home to get her to strengthen her fingers so she could at least hold a pencil. Eventually, through great determination and courage, her daughter overcame the obstacles. At last, her daughter can not only hold a pencil, she holds chopsticks to eat and, of course, plays the piano so well that she has appeared with the world's best.
Kap Sun did not realise that God would lend a helping hand to give Hee Ah the undreamt of dream of becoming a world renowned pianist, a pianist who so endears herself to her audience that they love her for herself and her beautiful renditions of 'Amazing Grace', 'My way', Ibunda (when in Bali, Indonesia.)and other classics.
This mother did all she could to have her daughter perform, looking into every aspects of her performance. Such a wonderful mother! Hee Ah, you are one lucky girl. And to have her in this world with us, we are all indeed lucky to have been shown the blessings we are sometimes not aware of. We are lucky to have God send her as an inspiration to all of us.
To end this posting, I wish to give you Hee Ah's own words. From them, you can see what a great lady she is!
“In my life, I have experienced many difficulties and have struggled hard to overcome some of my obvious disabilities. I continue to struggle daily, but I am comforted and feel deep consolation in being privileged with the opportunity to express my appreciation for life by using the talents that God has blessed me with and sharing them with you.”
Read these words of hers whenever you think life is too tough.
So, my dear beloved friends, do be inspired by this amazing lady. Go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55UB550heGA&feature=related
to watch 'Incredible Inspiration' and other related videos on this fantastic lady.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Leading children through examples.
Parents and leaders, what is the difference? Well, parents are leaders too.
Political leaders are the guardians of a nation. Their vision and the path they lead their people may take them to a better developed nation or a nation constantly beleaguered by endless problems.
That is the reason why we must choose our leaders carefully, otherwise we may be getting leaders in the habit of looking more after themselves and their communities than for the whole nation. They are similar to parents who are partial to some of their own children, neglecting a number of them for one reason or another.
Parents can lead their family to success and happiness or to a life of unending problems due to the poor attitudes, wrong behaviours and undesirable actions.
Sometimes, it is difficult to overcome poor attitudes, and undesirable behaviours and actions. Such parents had learnt or imitated them from their own parents. Schools do not seem to be able to do much nowadays, although educationists(?) did introduce religious teachings and moral education into schools. Preaching and teaching alone cannot do much to change pupils. There must be examples, in the form of stories, news items and living examples.
Parents are the first living examples for children. If they have weaknesses, then they must be aware of their own weaknesses. Only when someone is aware of weaknesses can that someone try to overcome them through the many ways available. (I myself have physical weaknesses that I was aware of at a very young age, and through that awareness, I searched for ways to overcome them, found those and acted on them to be the present healthy me.)
Parents can use the influence of good relatives, friends and neighbours. They could use everyday news of successful people. Do not just know of such stories. Tell the children about such people. Let them be inspired by such God-send individuals. For example, I tell almost everyone I met about the fantastic lady who lost her two hands and legs, yet is today better and more able than most people we all know. The wonderful lady, if you have read about her in this blog or in last month's Reader Digest, is none other than Daniela Garcia. What a lady!
When people my age were in school we had no moral lessons but we had literature when we had the beautiful opportunity to read about 'The mouse and the lion.', 'Jack and the beanstalk.' and 'The rabbit and the tortoise.'.
Those stories were fun to read, taking us to fantasy land and getting our young little hearts to admire the good deed of the mouse which deserved another good deed from the lion. And the beautiful part of it is the revelation of human character in real life through such fantasies.
In the 'Rabbit and the tortoise' story, we learn to not underestimate another person, not to scorn another just because he seemed to be handicapped. He might just have certain talents the able-bodied ones do not possess or does not have the need to discover. Anyway, through such stories I learned about life and fellow humans and my present position in life is an indication that I am not far from right as I have almost everything I want.
Educationists should perhaps take another look at the methods used today and consider the ideas of those perhaps not as well-educated educationists of the old days. Ego may be a stumbling block but I can tell you nuggets of knowledge, unlike you and me, do not age.
For the sake of our children, parents must continuously improve to be able to bring up the best.
Political leaders are the guardians of a nation. Their vision and the path they lead their people may take them to a better developed nation or a nation constantly beleaguered by endless problems.
That is the reason why we must choose our leaders carefully, otherwise we may be getting leaders in the habit of looking more after themselves and their communities than for the whole nation. They are similar to parents who are partial to some of their own children, neglecting a number of them for one reason or another.
Parents can lead their family to success and happiness or to a life of unending problems due to the poor attitudes, wrong behaviours and undesirable actions.
Sometimes, it is difficult to overcome poor attitudes, and undesirable behaviours and actions. Such parents had learnt or imitated them from their own parents. Schools do not seem to be able to do much nowadays, although educationists(?) did introduce religious teachings and moral education into schools. Preaching and teaching alone cannot do much to change pupils. There must be examples, in the form of stories, news items and living examples.
Parents are the first living examples for children. If they have weaknesses, then they must be aware of their own weaknesses. Only when someone is aware of weaknesses can that someone try to overcome them through the many ways available. (I myself have physical weaknesses that I was aware of at a very young age, and through that awareness, I searched for ways to overcome them, found those and acted on them to be the present healthy me.)
Parents can use the influence of good relatives, friends and neighbours. They could use everyday news of successful people. Do not just know of such stories. Tell the children about such people. Let them be inspired by such God-send individuals. For example, I tell almost everyone I met about the fantastic lady who lost her two hands and legs, yet is today better and more able than most people we all know. The wonderful lady, if you have read about her in this blog or in last month's Reader Digest, is none other than Daniela Garcia. What a lady!
When people my age were in school we had no moral lessons but we had literature when we had the beautiful opportunity to read about 'The mouse and the lion.', 'Jack and the beanstalk.' and 'The rabbit and the tortoise.'.
Those stories were fun to read, taking us to fantasy land and getting our young little hearts to admire the good deed of the mouse which deserved another good deed from the lion. And the beautiful part of it is the revelation of human character in real life through such fantasies.
In the 'Rabbit and the tortoise' story, we learn to not underestimate another person, not to scorn another just because he seemed to be handicapped. He might just have certain talents the able-bodied ones do not possess or does not have the need to discover. Anyway, through such stories I learned about life and fellow humans and my present position in life is an indication that I am not far from right as I have almost everything I want.
Educationists should perhaps take another look at the methods used today and consider the ideas of those perhaps not as well-educated educationists of the old days. Ego may be a stumbling block but I can tell you nuggets of knowledge, unlike you and me, do not age.
For the sake of our children, parents must continuously improve to be able to bring up the best.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Daniela Garcia, you are one fantastic woman! I salute you.
It brought tears into my eyes as I read her story. There were tears of pain as I followed her drop into tragedy from the train. I shared her desperate call for help then. I was moved by her strong and positive attitude towards recovery. As she recovered gradually, tears of joy aroused in me the wonder of her bravery, her courageous steps to a normal life despite having all her limbs lost in that accident!,
She is an inspiration to all human beings. She is a living example of how good life can be despite the odds. Imagine how difficult it ought to be for her to overcome the trauma of the incident, accepting the fact that life could never be the same as it was. Yet, acting on the wisdom of Dr. Esquenazi’s words: “Your life would be what you do with it.”, she accepted the changes in her life and looked forward to life again with a positive attitude. And instead of indulging in self pity as she could easily have done, she looked forward to conquering her set-backs by looking forward to her achievements with her artificial limbs. With her artificial limbs she learned to ride a bicycle again so that she could enjoy that with her beloved Ricardo Strube. She went on to drive a car. She continued her studies and became a doctor, the best inspiration the special needs children can have at the Children’s Rehabilitation Institute in Santiago, Chile.
To me, she has certainly found her mission in life. Looking upon everything as a blessing and her story a happy one, she ventured forth even to do charity.
She is definitely one beautiful, fantastic lady God has sent to inspire us. Here is a lady who deserves greatness, love and respect.
She carries her blessings, which to some are called handicaps, like a flag of hope and valour to those special needs children as she limp slightly towards them, a symbol of all good things possible in life.
It is a story everyone ought to read, to be blessed with the inspiration she and her story exudes. Her story comes from the first article that attracted my attention in this month’s Reader’s Digest.
Thankful i am to the Reader's Digest for such an inspiring story of a truly great woman.
As I have said before, life is what you made of it. Wake up each day and smile to yourself in the mirror for you are lucky to have another day to enjoy the life that God has given you.
Today, I am lucky to have known of this lady, Daniela Garcia. She will always be an inspiration to me. Certainly, the odds I face are nothing compared to hers. I must always remember to count my blessings.
So, smile into the mirror and appreciate the smile which is flashed back at you. From this mirror learn that whatever kind of smile which is flashed towards you depends upon you. Smile at others the same way and the smile returns from them. Glare at them and you can expect them to glare at you. That’s life, isn’t it?
So, smile! For there is so much to smile about.
She is an inspiration to all human beings. She is a living example of how good life can be despite the odds. Imagine how difficult it ought to be for her to overcome the trauma of the incident, accepting the fact that life could never be the same as it was. Yet, acting on the wisdom of Dr. Esquenazi’s words: “Your life would be what you do with it.”, she accepted the changes in her life and looked forward to life again with a positive attitude. And instead of indulging in self pity as she could easily have done, she looked forward to conquering her set-backs by looking forward to her achievements with her artificial limbs. With her artificial limbs she learned to ride a bicycle again so that she could enjoy that with her beloved Ricardo Strube. She went on to drive a car. She continued her studies and became a doctor, the best inspiration the special needs children can have at the Children’s Rehabilitation Institute in Santiago, Chile.
To me, she has certainly found her mission in life. Looking upon everything as a blessing and her story a happy one, she ventured forth even to do charity.
She is definitely one beautiful, fantastic lady God has sent to inspire us. Here is a lady who deserves greatness, love and respect.
She carries her blessings, which to some are called handicaps, like a flag of hope and valour to those special needs children as she limp slightly towards them, a symbol of all good things possible in life.
It is a story everyone ought to read, to be blessed with the inspiration she and her story exudes. Her story comes from the first article that attracted my attention in this month’s Reader’s Digest.
Thankful i am to the Reader's Digest for such an inspiring story of a truly great woman.
As I have said before, life is what you made of it. Wake up each day and smile to yourself in the mirror for you are lucky to have another day to enjoy the life that God has given you.
Today, I am lucky to have known of this lady, Daniela Garcia. She will always be an inspiration to me. Certainly, the odds I face are nothing compared to hers. I must always remember to count my blessings.
So, smile into the mirror and appreciate the smile which is flashed back at you. From this mirror learn that whatever kind of smile which is flashed towards you depends upon you. Smile at others the same way and the smile returns from them. Glare at them and you can expect them to glare at you. That’s life, isn’t it?
So, smile! For there is so much to smile about.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
The desire to try, part 2
Yesterday I have written about the importance of encouraging our children in whatever attempts they made to learn or experience things; that we should never undermine the strong inborn desire to imitate, to practice and to reach for the highest achievements possible.
Today, I wish to continue on how anybody, not just any child, can perform when given the chance to do so.
Do you know that I can cook. I was able to cook through watching others perform. When I was young I had to cook when my parents were busy earning a living. It was cook or go hungry. I took the more positive move. And during the process, I learned.
I liked to cook experimentally fairly often. By experimentally, I meant that I often use ingredients my mother claimed nobody uses. She would insist that people never cook things this way or that way. Fortunitely, she never had the time to obstruct my desire to try out things.
At a time when people despise bean sprouts as they were free, given free whenever we buy noodles, I enjoyed frying them with some onions, garlic and eggs. I have observed how the hawkers would heat the wok with a little oil in it. Then, they would put in the onions and the garlic,stir-fry them a little, add some chillies perhaps and then the noodles. Instead of noodles I used the beansprouts. Through experience, I discovered that beansprouts which are not too well-fried are crispy and delicious, if a little light soya sauce is added just before we scoop it up onto a plate.
At that time, people used to say I was stupid, especially when I asked for more sprouts than noodles. Well, young though I was then, I had read about nutrients for our body and knew that although it was free, it had more nutrients than the noodles made from refined flour which contained mostly carbohydrates. Do you see how important knowledge was and still is to me?
Whenever I cooked, and I needed something to sweeten a dish, I used just about anything that could make the dish sweet. Sometimes, it's just sugsr. At times when ice-cream soda, coca cola, honey, sugarcane drinks, molasses or brown sugar are available, I used them and the taste differs a little each time, giving a variety of sweetness to the dish.
The same thing goes for spices. Chillies is not the only thing hot. We can use pepper and chilli sauce. Chilli sauce is a little different from pounded chillies.
Besides chillies, there are so many other spices to try out, mixing them for soup to get some exotic taste.
Of course, every now and then, the resulting taste may not be as good as we would like it to be. But then, without trying it out, how are we ever to know.
Talking of that, if my memory does not fail me, a famous chicken recipe was the result of the founder's accidental inclusion of certain spices.
We are lucky that humans have been imbued with a curious mind and a strong desire to try out their ideas. Imagine what would have happened if inventors who dared to try out their ideas, curious to know if their ideas would work were non-existent. There would have been no bicycle, no car, no bus, no plane, no helicopter, no ship, no radio, no television, no computer and many, many other things which have made our lives so good.
So, never suppress or obstruct in any way the human spirit for its strong urge to imagine the so called impossible, the desire to experiment or development of ideas no matter how far-fetched such thoughts may appear.
It is easy for minds which are unable to concieve something to express disdain for what appears to be unfathomable ideas. Our hope is that those who are able to concieve them would transform such thoughts into concrete inventions.
There was a time when the idea that we could enjoy movies in a box coming in through the air whenever we let electricity come into it would have been preposterous. In those days, anyone talking of electric current flowing through a wire at the flick of a switch could be considered out of his mind.
Today, it is so common place that we hardly think of the fantastic minds that had made it possible. Thank God for their attempts to transform their ideas into inventions.
And thanks to their parents or someone who could have influenced or inspired them must have done a fantastic job encouraging them.
Today, I wish to continue on how anybody, not just any child, can perform when given the chance to do so.
Do you know that I can cook. I was able to cook through watching others perform. When I was young I had to cook when my parents were busy earning a living. It was cook or go hungry. I took the more positive move. And during the process, I learned.
I liked to cook experimentally fairly often. By experimentally, I meant that I often use ingredients my mother claimed nobody uses. She would insist that people never cook things this way or that way. Fortunitely, she never had the time to obstruct my desire to try out things.
At a time when people despise bean sprouts as they were free, given free whenever we buy noodles, I enjoyed frying them with some onions, garlic and eggs. I have observed how the hawkers would heat the wok with a little oil in it. Then, they would put in the onions and the garlic,stir-fry them a little, add some chillies perhaps and then the noodles. Instead of noodles I used the beansprouts. Through experience, I discovered that beansprouts which are not too well-fried are crispy and delicious, if a little light soya sauce is added just before we scoop it up onto a plate.
At that time, people used to say I was stupid, especially when I asked for more sprouts than noodles. Well, young though I was then, I had read about nutrients for our body and knew that although it was free, it had more nutrients than the noodles made from refined flour which contained mostly carbohydrates. Do you see how important knowledge was and still is to me?
Whenever I cooked, and I needed something to sweeten a dish, I used just about anything that could make the dish sweet. Sometimes, it's just sugsr. At times when ice-cream soda, coca cola, honey, sugarcane drinks, molasses or brown sugar are available, I used them and the taste differs a little each time, giving a variety of sweetness to the dish.
The same thing goes for spices. Chillies is not the only thing hot. We can use pepper and chilli sauce. Chilli sauce is a little different from pounded chillies.
Besides chillies, there are so many other spices to try out, mixing them for soup to get some exotic taste.
Of course, every now and then, the resulting taste may not be as good as we would like it to be. But then, without trying it out, how are we ever to know.
Talking of that, if my memory does not fail me, a famous chicken recipe was the result of the founder's accidental inclusion of certain spices.
We are lucky that humans have been imbued with a curious mind and a strong desire to try out their ideas. Imagine what would have happened if inventors who dared to try out their ideas, curious to know if their ideas would work were non-existent. There would have been no bicycle, no car, no bus, no plane, no helicopter, no ship, no radio, no television, no computer and many, many other things which have made our lives so good.
So, never suppress or obstruct in any way the human spirit for its strong urge to imagine the so called impossible, the desire to experiment or development of ideas no matter how far-fetched such thoughts may appear.
It is easy for minds which are unable to concieve something to express disdain for what appears to be unfathomable ideas. Our hope is that those who are able to concieve them would transform such thoughts into concrete inventions.
There was a time when the idea that we could enjoy movies in a box coming in through the air whenever we let electricity come into it would have been preposterous. In those days, anyone talking of electric current flowing through a wire at the flick of a switch could be considered out of his mind.
Today, it is so common place that we hardly think of the fantastic minds that had made it possible. Thank God for their attempts to transform their ideas into inventions.
And thanks to their parents or someone who could have influenced or inspired them must have done a fantastic job encouraging them.
Monday, July 06, 2009
I salute you, Mr. Dick Hoyt.
Every now and then, God sends such beautiful true-life inspirations to us mortal souls so that we could perhaps emulate what is concievable and achievable.
One of such inspirations come in the form of a father, Mr. Dick Hoyt. I watched the greatest, selfless love of a man for his crippled son which he displayed in such a heroic manner. As I watched him and his son through this video, i was so overwhelmed with emotion that I cried. What I saw deeply touched me to the core. It's something I certainly wish to share with you and everyone in this world.
Here is a father of a son who was crippled as a result of cerebral palsy caused by the umblical wound around his neck at birth. When the doctor advised the parents, Judy and Dick Hoyt to put the baby into an institution; he refused. Instead, he did what every loving parent ought to do. It was a test of love and you stood up to it. He gave everything possible to his son; taking him to the sea to play in the water, sending him to school and giving him the opportunity to experience the joy of life.
Through the love of his father, he not only did not waste away in an institution; he was helped to get a voice, went through high school and eventually got a degree from a university.
His father, who was not a runner initially, took his son to races, the marathons and even the ironman race because he asked for it!
Through his great love for his son, Dick is still running marathons at the age of sixty-six years. Wow! Just imagine that! No, it was not that simple. In all the races, he had to push, carry or pull his son along.You can imagine how very strong, fit and healthy he must be!
Words alone cannot describe the beauty of this parent. Watch this fantastic, inspirational man on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=flRvs08m_KI&NR=1
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=VJMbk9dtpdY&NR=1
One of such inspirations come in the form of a father, Mr. Dick Hoyt. I watched the greatest, selfless love of a man for his crippled son which he displayed in such a heroic manner. As I watched him and his son through this video, i was so overwhelmed with emotion that I cried. What I saw deeply touched me to the core. It's something I certainly wish to share with you and everyone in this world.
Here is a father of a son who was crippled as a result of cerebral palsy caused by the umblical wound around his neck at birth. When the doctor advised the parents, Judy and Dick Hoyt to put the baby into an institution; he refused. Instead, he did what every loving parent ought to do. It was a test of love and you stood up to it. He gave everything possible to his son; taking him to the sea to play in the water, sending him to school and giving him the opportunity to experience the joy of life.
Through the love of his father, he not only did not waste away in an institution; he was helped to get a voice, went through high school and eventually got a degree from a university.
His father, who was not a runner initially, took his son to races, the marathons and even the ironman race because he asked for it!
Through his great love for his son, Dick is still running marathons at the age of sixty-six years. Wow! Just imagine that! No, it was not that simple. In all the races, he had to push, carry or pull his son along.You can imagine how very strong, fit and healthy he must be!
Words alone cannot describe the beauty of this parent. Watch this fantastic, inspirational man on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=flRvs08m_KI&NR=1
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=VJMbk9dtpdY&NR=1
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Teachers can inspire your children.
It was Thursday, the 19th of February, 2009 that I went to Lim Ching Yih’s photocopying shop,Rincoh Enterprise, in Petani Jaya, Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia. He was one of my students. While he was laminating a document I had taken to the shop, he asked me whether I remembered a Lau Chee Yong.
This Lau Chee Yong was a small, thin boy with a great interest in drawing and painting. His interest was quite obvious and I was delighted to have the opportunity to teach such a hard-working, interested student. I told him he had a future in this art and encouraged him to improve on his wonderful talent.
A teacher’s most beautiful moment is when he is told he has been able to play a part in helping someone to achieve success. When Ching Yih informed me that Chee Yong had achieved success in his career as a billboard artist, I was happy for him. When he went on further to say that Chee Yong had told him his success was inspired by me, I almost wept with joy to hear such a great compliment coming from someone I had taught so many years ago. Such moments may be few but upon hearing such compliments, I know that a teacher’s task is always worth doing, no matter how tough or frustrating it could sometimes be.
I had been fortunate to have been able to play my part in quite a number of children’s lives. Of course, there must have been times when I had failed no matter how I could have tried. There were times, at the end of the day, I could only console myself that I had done my very best.
There was a time when I met a Malay teacher at one of the examination centers. He introduced himself and told me he was one of my students. He was teaching art and craft. Then, he told me that his becoming an art and craft teacher was only made possible with my help. I did not remember how it came about, so he told me how I had told him he could be good at art and craft and I was very willing to help him. He did well in art and became an art teacher. In fact, he was posted to the very school where I had taught him art and craft.
Sometimes, teachers can give children the opportunities to express themselves in fields other than the literary one. If you are a coach, a gymnastics coach for example, you can train children to discover other talents within themselves and so have them become more confident.
In gymnastics, I have seen children grow to be stronger, healthier and more confident of themselves. They are happier people with the knowledge that they have unique abilities and qualities only they themselves are capable of. The bond between such gymnasts and their coach is very strong and a kind of love exists among them. Encouragement, sharing, determination and the knowing of their strengths and weaknesses, and being there to assist them achieve their goals can be very rewarding especially when success becomes a reality.
Parents should help by boosting their children’s confidence in their teachers and allow teachers to play a part in enriching the lives of their precious children.
Today, it sounds so much like boasting about myself but then, unless someone out there is willing to contribute in the space for comments and tell us other incidences where students have returned to say they were inspired there is no way I could write authentic stories.
This Lau Chee Yong was a small, thin boy with a great interest in drawing and painting. His interest was quite obvious and I was delighted to have the opportunity to teach such a hard-working, interested student. I told him he had a future in this art and encouraged him to improve on his wonderful talent.
A teacher’s most beautiful moment is when he is told he has been able to play a part in helping someone to achieve success. When Ching Yih informed me that Chee Yong had achieved success in his career as a billboard artist, I was happy for him. When he went on further to say that Chee Yong had told him his success was inspired by me, I almost wept with joy to hear such a great compliment coming from someone I had taught so many years ago. Such moments may be few but upon hearing such compliments, I know that a teacher’s task is always worth doing, no matter how tough or frustrating it could sometimes be.
I had been fortunate to have been able to play my part in quite a number of children’s lives. Of course, there must have been times when I had failed no matter how I could have tried. There were times, at the end of the day, I could only console myself that I had done my very best.
There was a time when I met a Malay teacher at one of the examination centers. He introduced himself and told me he was one of my students. He was teaching art and craft. Then, he told me that his becoming an art and craft teacher was only made possible with my help. I did not remember how it came about, so he told me how I had told him he could be good at art and craft and I was very willing to help him. He did well in art and became an art teacher. In fact, he was posted to the very school where I had taught him art and craft.
Sometimes, teachers can give children the opportunities to express themselves in fields other than the literary one. If you are a coach, a gymnastics coach for example, you can train children to discover other talents within themselves and so have them become more confident.
In gymnastics, I have seen children grow to be stronger, healthier and more confident of themselves. They are happier people with the knowledge that they have unique abilities and qualities only they themselves are capable of. The bond between such gymnasts and their coach is very strong and a kind of love exists among them. Encouragement, sharing, determination and the knowing of their strengths and weaknesses, and being there to assist them achieve their goals can be very rewarding especially when success becomes a reality.
Parents should help by boosting their children’s confidence in their teachers and allow teachers to play a part in enriching the lives of their precious children.
Today, it sounds so much like boasting about myself but then, unless someone out there is willing to contribute in the space for comments and tell us other incidences where students have returned to say they were inspired there is no way I could write authentic stories.
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