Tag Archives: Books

Day 1923: The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes

“In reality, failure is simply feedback. It’s not that you are bad or not good enough or incapable. Failure (or feedback) gives you the opportunity to look at what’s not working and figure out how to make it work.” ― Lewis Howes, The School of Greatness: A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy

It’s 8: 24 AM on day 1827 of my journey towards independence and day 19 of our India trip 2015 prayed, read 1 Corinthians 8 and learned one new thing – Elegiac [el·e·gi·ac] adj. Having a mournful quality. “An elegiac poem.” .

Last night I finished reading The School of Greatness: A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy by Lewis Howes I loved the book it’s like a guide on how to be great I would recommend it to everybody before reading this book I felt like my laser-focus and my willingness to do anything to achieve my goals made me weird somehow but now I realize that those are the attributes of champions (thanks Lewis for making me realize that there’s nothing wrong with me).

Day 1915: Fun

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You can have fun anywhere– that’s what I keep realizing.

It’s 8 : 33 AM on day 1825 of my journey towards independence and day 11 of our India trip 2015 prayed, read 1 Corinthians 7, learned one new thing – Acrid [ac·rid] adj. Having an irritatingly strong and unpleasant taste or smell. Angry and bitter. “An acrid odor filled the room.” – and had breakfast

Yesterday we went nowhere and yet I still had the best time just me and a book it was pure bliss.

Day 1869: Animal Farm by George Orwell

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“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” ― George Orwell, Animal Farm

It’s 12 : 05 PM on day 1869 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Acts 14, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Norway along with Sweden and Denmark make up Scandinavia. – do some research on a potential future project and listened to music.

Two day ago I finally finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell the book is about the transformation of the animals of Manor Farm after they overthrow their human master I think all of us can relate to the book sometimes while fighting against something we become that which we are fighting against.

Day 1861: 21 Icons season 3 episode 7: Thato Kgatlhanye

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“When you walk a journey there are always people around you, and embracing that sense of community is how you get far.” – Thato Kgatlhanye

It’s 12 : 42 PM on day 1861 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Acts 6, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – Provenance [prov·e·nance] n. The beginning of something’s existence; something’s origin. The place of origin or earliest known history of something. “An exquisite vase of Chinese provenance.”- have breakfast and do some research for a local project i’m working on – who knew baby clothes were so expensive (thank you God for all that you’ve already given me please God give me the resources to bring a little Christmas joy into these kids lives).

Yesterday I watched season 3 episode 7 of 21 Icons featuring social entrepreneur Thato Kgatlhanye through Rethaka (the company that she co-founded) Thato and her team repurpose school bags from plastic bags included in the school bags are solar lamps for children to be able to study at night. Thank you SO MUCH Thato and team for what you guys do it’s environmentally-friendly and very innovative I absolutely LOVE it. Watch season 3 episode 7 of 21 Icons featuring Thato Kgatlhanye below:

Day 1710: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

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“You say you felt a presence, but I only sensed an absence. A vague pain without a source. I was like a patient who cannot tell the doctor where it hurts, only that it does.” ― Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed

It’s 12 : 07 PM on day 1710 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Hosea 9, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Beetles first appeared about 270 million years ago, during the Permian period. Frogs and dinosaurs both appeared during the Triassic (about 245 million to 213 million years ago), and flowering plants didn’t crop up until about 130 million years ago, during the Cretaceous. – feed myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 919 raised so far (thanks guys 🙂 ).

Yesterday I finally finished reading And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini it’s a story about the love between two siblings separated during childhood and their journey back to each other I liked the book because I could relate to the love between Abdullah and Pari having siblings is like having parts of you living outside your body you want to protect, nurture and guide them knowing that if God forbid something were to happen to them you would be shattered.

Day 1647: The Diary of A Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank

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“Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?…Women, who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of A Young Girl: The Definitive Edition

It’s 12 : 07 PM on day 1647 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, read Ezekiel 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –A giraffe has the same number of neck vertebrae as a human (7) – watch the South Africa vs. Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match – exercise, feed myself a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, brush my teeth, promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 435 raised so far I continue to be grateful :)– continue watching the cricket – South Africa won we are in the semi-finals I’m SO HAPPY!!!!!!!! 🙂 – and continue promoting the campaign – only $65 more to raise to reach goal.

Yesterday I finished reading The Diary of A Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank it’s an inspiring story of an ordinary teenage girl striving to be the best version of herself while she and seven other people were hiding from the Nazis.

Day 1531: Growth and the evolution of tastes

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As we grow our tastes evolve and that’s okay – that’s what I realized today.

It’s 12 : 47 PM on day 1531 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Isaiah 18, start reading Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult – we woke up to a power outage but I quite enjoyed it no TV, no music and no internet just me and the latest Jodi Picoult novel 🙂 – feed myself Uppumavu and chicken curry and a banana for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature and promote my Educate Generations campaign–still on $850 but people have promised to donate and I continue to pray about so things will get moving again eventually meanwhile I’ll continue to raise awareness about the importance of girls’ education.

This morning I was thinking about how my taste in books has evolved with age back in the day I only read romance novels now I pride myself on reading books by Mitch Albom, Jodi Picoult and Malcolm Gladwell and I almost feel embarrassed when someone catches me reading a romance novel. Have you noticed that your tastes have evolved with age?

Day 1476: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

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“Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan would say, other times, “is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.” ― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

It’s 12 : 40 PM on day 1476 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Proverbs 14, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, feed myself egg with bread and a banana for breakfast, work on my upcoming campaign and tweet with people – the thing I love about Twitter is that I get to interact with people from different walks of life and different countries it will never be a substitute for actual human interaction but still it’s a unique experience.

Yesterday afternoon I finished reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull – a fable by Richard Bach about a seagull who dreams of flying and teaching others to fly – the most powerful lesson I learned from this book was that all of us are perfect and unlimited in the things that we can do.

Day 1450: Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

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“Other people look at me and think: That poor woman; she has a child with a disability. But all I see when I look at you is that girl who had memorized all the words to Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by the time she was three, the girl who crawls into bed with me whenever there’s a thunderstorm – not because you’re afraid but because I am, the girl whose laugh has always vibrated inside my own body like a tuning fork. I would never have wished for an able-bodied child, because that child would have been someone who wasn’t you.” ― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

It’s 12 : 12 PM on day 1450 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, go back to sleep, stretch my hamstrings,practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, read Psalm 138, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself an egg sandwich and yogurt for breakfast , have a feet massage and listen to music.

Last night I finished reading Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult – a novel about Charlotte O’Keefe who decides to file a wrongful birth lawsuit against her former obstetrician and current best friend claiming that if she found out sooner that her youngest daughter had Osteogenesis imperfecta she would have had an abortion – the book is beautifully written but it was hard for me to read because my birth could also be considered by some as a wrongful birth.

Day 1441: Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic

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“I have the choice to be angry at God for what I don’t have, or be thankful for what I do have” ― Nick Vujicic, Life Without Limits

It’s 11 : 40 AM on day 1441 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Psalm 129, feed myself Puttu – a breakfast dish of steamed cylinders of ground rice layered with coconut – and a banana for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature and enjoy a foot massage – my doctor instructed to have foot massage regularly to improve circulation and help my wounds heal.

Yesterday I finished reading Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic it’s a wonderful book about turning potential stumbling blocks into stepping stones I could relate to Nick because I, like him, decided to flip my “disability” and make it work for me.