This page is just for making you feel better. With all of the “bad news” we are constantly exposed to it’s good to know that there are some great people out there too. I hope that you enjoy these stories and thoughts as much as I do.Note: Use the BACK button on your browser (top left corner) to get back to this page after reading some of the stories shown in the linked areas.
A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100 yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win.
All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back at him. They all turned around and went back. Every one of them! One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said “This will make it better.”
All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we all know this one thing: What matters in this life is more than winning ourselves. What matters in this life is HELPING OTHERS WIN, even if it means slowing down and changing our course..
Stay True To Your Heart
A teenager’s low popularity convinced her that she was not attractive. She became a top fashion model, hailed by many as the most beautiful woman in the world. All those who had ignored her are now boasting that they went to school with Claudia Schiffer!
Rejected as too awkward and clumsy to be a ball boy in a Davis Cup tennis match, Stan Smith went on to become the officially ranked number one tennis player in the world (1972-1973)
Michael Jordan - didn’t make his high school basketball team
Tom Cruise - was rejected from the TV show “Fame” because he wasn’t “pretty enough”
Walt Disney - his first cartoon company went bankrupt
George Lucas - first film flopped in 1971, and every major film studio rejected “American Graffiti”
Bob Dylan - was booed off the stage at his high school talent show
Woody Allen - flunked English at NYU
Henry Ford - went bankrupt twice during his first 3 years in the auto business
R H Macy - failed seven times before his store in NY caught on
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - received no job offers when she graduated from law school Dustin Hoffman - couldn’t get acting jobs in NY and worked as an attendant and a janitor in a mental ward
Wilma Rudolph - 3 time Olympic Gold Medal sprinter was told she would never walk again after childhood illness left her with leg paralysis.
How to Live Life
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them-work, family, health, friends and spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls- family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
How? Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give, the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly, and the best way to keep love is to give it wings. Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but where you’re going. Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily. Don’t use time or words carelessly- neither can be retrieved.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a Gift: that’s why we call it THE PRESENT.” by Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola