Tag Archives: Gratitude

Day 384

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The magic of life lies in recognizing your blessings before you loss them– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 01 PM on day 384 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Batura and chicken curry for breakfast, go visit a few people,  feed myself peanut butter and syrup roll for lunch, go drop my cousin off at the airport,  publish my Kid of the Week feature and  prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature.

Today I went to visit my grandma at my uncle’s and in spite of my best efforts I couldn’t help feeling sad looking at the shell of the person my grandma used to be why am I telling you this to remind you to appreciate the people you love right now because things change and people change someday the people you love might not even remember you. Are you able to recognize your blessings before you lose them?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 382

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Money doesn’t make the man; man makes the money– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 15 PM on day 382 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,  feed myself a peanut butter roll for breakfast, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature,   tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Peter –another one of Chrissy‘s friends – made a donation – thank you Peter you just made the day of someone you don’t even know 🙂 – watch The Rugby World Cup match: South Africa vs. Samoa – we won I asked people to donate to my campaign for every tri South Africa scored – no one did  you win some you lose some I guess  🙂 –  feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV and Facebook about my campaign–no further luck.

Yesterday my father was telling me about someone’s very expensive house – size and everything about it – and hearing how envious he sounded I realized that it didn’t matter how many times I told him having more things and money doesn’t make you a better person because he had a different definition of success than I did – he perceives having things and money as being successful whereas, I perceive being of service every day as being successful (every time I do something for someone else without expecting anything in return I feel like my soul is filled I feel like a millionaire) – but I tried to show him what he already had one last time I said we have a house to which he responded but our house doesn’t compare to that house. Are you defined by your bank balance and everything that goes with it?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 377

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The best gift you can give your children is something that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 9: 49 PM on day 377 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, drink coffee in a glass, go to church with my mother, sister and brother–the sermon was entitled When your ‘yes’ means nothing it was about the importance of  keeping your word and having the humility to admit you’re wrong when you are wrong – feed myself All-Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Kid of the Week feature, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck  okay to be truthful I only tweeted once the whole day the rest was automated by me last night–  finish reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – it was AWESOME it had everything I’ve ever wanted in a book… action, adventure and romance I can’t wait to finish reading the whole series – go to drop my grandma off at my uncle’s house – she was with us while my uncle and his wife were out of town anyway while we were there our priest popped by and my dad made a fau paux he bolted for the door before the priest had a chance to pray (Indian priests always pray when people leave to go somewhere regardless of the distance) luckily he said let’s pray before my dad stepped out the door –  and brush my teeth once more.

Today while at church I thought for all my mother’s faults she gave me Jesus and because of that I never felt like a fatherless child even though my father is a class A jerk – he has made it abundantly clear through his actions that although he may love me he is also ashamed of me because I have Cerebral Palsy – and to her I say thank you mommy. What have been the best gifts that your parents have passed onto you?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 371

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The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s 7: 38 PM on day 371 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself oats for breakfast, practice picking up a glass and putting it back on the table for a few hours – I can now do that to my satisfaction 🙂 – practice writing by hand, watch TV, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself yoghurt for lunch, watch some TV, continue reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, continue watching TV, feed myself spaghetti bolognaise  for dinner – I used a fork and for the first time ever I didn’t make a huge mess I am SO happy and proud of myself 🙂 –  and brush my teeth once more.

Today as I was practicing picking up a glass and putting it down on the time I realized that I am joyful all the time because although I can only do little in the physical sense I celebrate every little thing I can do and even when there’s something I can’t do I practice it over and over and over again until I can and that is something I think is  missing in today’s world when people don’t achieve their dreams the first, second or even third time around they forget about what they’ve already achieved and just throw in the towel saying it wasn’t meant to be whereas I say I’ll try again tomorrow because I truly believe that you don’t work towards your dream for one year or even ten you work towards your dream until it becomes reality. Do you have the invariable mark of wisdom?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 343

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You are nothing without the people who support you– that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 7: 55 PM on day 343 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, reply to a few comments on this blog – which by the way are always welcome – read Love is six parts giving and one part talk by Bonnie Squires – she wrote such nice things about me that I’m still not sure that I’m entirely deserving – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself  for an avocado sandwich for  breakfast, watch TV,  feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more–watch some more TV and feed myself Chapati, grilled chicken and salad  for dinner.

It is said that friends are God’s way of apologizing for our family and this weekend my online friends proved this to be true by supporting my fundraiser – if you have no idea what I’m talking about refer to Day 338 – together they helped me raise a further $100.85 for my campaign either by spreading the word i.e. retweeting my tweets and/or by making donations of their own – with that said I would like to introduce you to those wonderful people. Take a look:

Supporters of this Weekend’s Fundraiser: Members of Team Nisha

People who have spread the word

People who have donated

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 337

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There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein

It’s 7: 45 PM on day 337 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an avocado sandwich for breakfast,  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – prepare my gratitude journal page  – (see why below) estimated time of publication right after I’m done with this – read How To Put “First Things First” – And Reclaim The Life You Love on My Lifestyle Max and A special kind of sibling torture on Love That Max – both very good blogs – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV,  feed myself oranges for dinner, watch some more TV and brush my teeth once more.

As you know this month has been a wrenched one for my family – my brother was in hospital and is still recovering and my grandma is still in hospital – but what astounds me is that no matter what happens on a given day every night or the next day I make an entry in my gratitude journal – sometimes all I write is I am grateful that I am grateful – which is something I think everybody should start doing so in the hopes that you will follow in my footsteps and see your life in a different way I am going to create a page on this blog called Gratitude Journal of 2011, copy and paste all the entries I’ve made so far this year and continue to make new entries until the 31st of December. How do you choose to live your life?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 330

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Kids notice things that we overlook – that what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 29 PM on day 330 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself toast, scrambled eggs and sausages for brunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Debbie (@MissShuganah) made a donation yesterday and my aunty and uncle made a second donation today only $1 912.10 more to raise to reach my goal I am SO happy 🙂 – watch TV, feed myself steamed vegetables for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Last night my siblings and I were watching the seven o’ clock news on which they featured a story about the good work that doctors were doing in Somalia and my brother (who just turned eleven yesterday) said something along the lines of how come they always mention the doctors what about his team what about the nurses the nurses who took care of me (he was in hospital a couple of days ago) weren’t that bad and because I know that what he said was (and still is) so true I would like to say to all the nurses out there I SO appreciate what you do particularly with today being Women’s Day in South Africa I know that most of you are overworked and underpaid but without the healthcare sector would be on its knees so please keep doing what you’re doing and know that your work has value. Have the words of a child made you more appreciative of the people around you?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 322

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My path has not been determined. I shall have more experiences and pass many more milestones. – Agnetha Faltskog

It’s 8: 58 PM on day 322 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to feed myself an oranges for breakfast, brush my teeth, hang out with my brother and cheer him on as he blew up a balloon – he came back home after a five day hospital stay and the physiotherapist suggested he blew up balloons to increase his lung capacity –feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself an avocado sandwich for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

As you may or may not know today is the official first anniversary of this blog – I say official because I actually started this blog on July 11, 2010 but back I was interviewing women around the world to see what they’re lives which suffice to say didn’t work out – and in honour of that I would like to thank everyone for reading and share with you some of the comments – including those I’ve received via Facebook and Twitter – people have made about this blog over the past 365 days. Take a look:

The things you said that took my
breath away: Best comments of the past year

Laura stanford_84@hotmail.com

202.124.72.208

 Submitted on 2010/08/25 at 8:40 pm Nisha, I am touched that I got a mention. I appreciate it more than you would know. Your influence on my life is unmeasurable. You have lifted my spirits today.I want to thankyou for being you, for thinking of others and for helping all those less fortunate through your wonderful Clean Water 4 All CampaignLaura xx
Wayne Mansfield

waynemansfield.com

wayne.mansfield@272mail.com

58.170.183.99

 Submitted on 2010/09/14 at 11:26 am Nisha I am so proud of you… and I wish you every success on the journey to reclaim yourself.When the cards are dealt you didn’t get all the usual picture cards… that would be too easy wouldn’t it. You got the “hey world… look at me!! I wont lie down and be walked on.”I would like to add some $$$’s to your water project – please resend me the link so I can do that tonight.

Your Aussie friend

Wayne
Drew

andrewjbynum21@hotmail.com

74.242.187.94

 Submitted on 2010/12/04 at 1:28 pm Nisha – you totally inspire even a handicapped guy like myself; know that you are loved for what you do, as well as your attitude – <3 -db
Miss Sara

randomlyspeakingpoeticallythinking.com/

misssld2u@gmail.com

68.58.72.13

 Submitted on 2011/01/11 at 3:46 am Just WOW… Congrats on taking something that must have been so hurtful & turning it into a positive. I never struggled w/ allowing ppl to define me, it was always my past… the family that I came from, the abuse, chaos, traumas, etc.,etc., etc., I became ashamed and I learned last year (in therapy) that shame
was keeping me sick… so I have been stepping out in who I am TODAY &
being thankful, too. *Big Hugs* to you!!!
joyislife

joyislife.com

leticia@joyislife.com

98.19.88.73

 Submitted on 2011/02/24 at 6:54 pm You have a very good question. Many of us are considered “normal”, yet what is normal… Though we may not have an outward or physical disability, we are all disabled in some way, for me it is “financial disability”. Yet, the experiences I have(past and present), motivate and inspire me to share with others faith and hope… You are an inspiration to me and many will benefit from your incredible perseverance , you have chosen wisely. Keep up the good works. Warmth & Joy, Leticia
Dawn twitter.com/morsemusings

sagepublishing@mac.com

173.29.230.53

 Submitted on 2011/03/14 at 1:17 pm Truly a wonderful post Nisha.When we are surrounded by those who are anything less than caring it may very well cause us to feel uncared for, unwanted, and maybe even unloved at times. We have all experienced this at a time in our lives. Having esteem in ourselves can carry us through, so true.Given the same experience, I may ask to be taken home and not left in a car and hope that my needs, wants and desires will be respected
Patricia – Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker

patriciasingleton.blogspot.com

patricia-singleton@sbcglobal.net

64.149.19.220

 Submitted on 2011/04/07 at 7:26 pm Nisha, you are a true inspiration. You show others what is possible. Often our attitude toward God and our own lives is the only thing that we can change. I have been to southern India 3 times and know how important clean water is. Thank you for the work that you do
A tweet sent to me by Tana Lopez (@woveneye3) on 2011/05/04 Reading this changed my whole day, my whole week, and perhaps even more. Wow, talk about inspirational!! nisha360.wordpress.com @Nisha360
Ellen – Love That Max

lovethatmax.com

lovethatmax@gmail.com

66.250.5.18

 Submitted on 2011/05/11 at 5:55 pm SO glad to know you. You’ve already inspired me. I am so psyched you’re making good headway
with contributions to the water project.
Did I mention you rock?
An excerpt from a message that Galen Gregory sent me on 2011/05/12 via Facebook

Hi, Nisha, thanks for accepting my friend request. I am really enjoying your blog. When I first read your introduction, I have to say my heart soared. I’ve met so many young people who lead very self-centered lives and sometimes I get very pessimistic about the future because of that. So when I read your story, it really lifted my spirits to know that there are young people who want to help others and make a the world a better place.When you are stuck at home, perhaps you can think how you are making a difference in people’s lives in distant places…not only the people you will help with clean water, but the people who are inspired or given hope by your work. In that way, you’ve already made your mark in St.Louis, Missouri, USA. :>)

Yours truly,

Galen
Stan Faryna

stan.faryna@gmail.com

109.166.138.103

 Submitted on 2011/05/28 at 7:27 pm Nisha Varghese,Your voice walks the earth. Your work touches the hearts of people in far away lands. You inspire others and in so doing, you heal broken people and a broken world. From a wheelchair.Those who pity you are in need of more healing than you. For they are blind.

Stan Faryna

28 May 2011

Bucharest, Romania

P.S. Print this comment and tape it to your bedroom door. So all who may come to look with pity upon you, have a chance to be healed themselves.
Shivya

theshootingstar.wordpress.com

shivyanath@gmail.com

59.94.128.27

 Submitted on 2011/06/05 at 8:34 pm You’re my new hero, Nisha. Thanks for inspiring me and being the change you are.
An excerpt from a message that Bonnie Squi sent me on 2011/06/06 via Facebook

 Hi Nisha

I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but when i read your blogs they make me smile and laugh. Reason being is because of my rite arm being fracture twice and the bone thinning plus arthritis in it and it shakes all the time

.I have trouble opening things and our kids want to do it open what ever i’m trying to open. I look at them and say i’m not helpless. Just knowing i’m not the only one going threw things like this makes it so much easier to cope. Because others don’t understand what your going threw.

Have a wonderful day my friend

Bonnie
Shasta Kearns Mooreo utrageousfortune.net

skearns812@gmail.com24.21.211.4

 Submitted on 2011/06/23 at 7:39 pm Hey thanks forthe mention and thanks for allowing me to find your blog. I love it! Very nicely written. It gives me hope for how well-written my own son might be one day.Being a parent is immensely hard. You don’t ever get to “win” because what is a “successful” person? Defining success is very different now that I am faced with a son with a disability. Cut your mom some slack! Then remind her that love is the most important thing.Good luck with our campaign, too. I retweeted about it!
Betsy Cross
silentleaves.wordpress.com
ekcross10@yahoo.com
75.69.185.53

What fun! That you’re documenting your journey through the things most (if not all) of us take for granted.I can’t remember the person who posted this (Stan Frayna?), but the name of the blog cracks me up! “If God Is Watching I Plan on Being Entertaining”. That’s THE best! Good luck on your journey. I hope it has turned into a little bit of fun. Pain is the worst. Chronic pain worse than that! You made me smile. You have a fun spirit.

Betsy

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 319

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We are not human beings we are human becomings – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 24 PM on day 319 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, clean myself –  my mother wasn’t here so I had to do it myself which is a good thing I suppose 🙂 – feed myself Chapati for breakfast,  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but my cousin and her husband made a second combined dination of $200 yesterday although I wasn’t able to appreciate the gift fully at the time because I couldn’t stop thinking about my brother I miss the little guy hopefully God will take my good deeds into account and make him feel better soon 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch hang out with my mom– she came back home to  change – feed myself oranges for dinner,  brush my teeth once more, go with my father to drop my mother back off at the hospital and watch TV.

Today because my mother was in the hospital with my brother I had to do everything virtually by myself and I was struggling to put on my t-shirt I realized that it was okay that I could only get one sleeve of my shirt off because maybe tomorrow I could take them both off and eventually undress and redress myself and that I guess is my message to all of you accept yourself where you are and be grateful for all you can do. Are you stuck in the mud or constantly becoming more of who you are?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 296

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You teach people how to treat you. – Dr. Phil C. McGraw

It’s 10: 23 PM on day 296 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,  feed myself toast, mutton sausage and fried tomatoes for breakfast, watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, do some research on Dementia – it breaks my heart to see my granny becoming less and less of herself and unfortunately it seems that all I can do is sit back and watch because the treatment options for Dementia are very limited 🙁 – read two of the most recent post on Love That Max and Top 9 why you should blog on The Nicky Blog  – all the blog posts I read were very good but since I’d never read Nicky’s blog before naturally I was more excited to read that and the fact that I could attest to the 9 reasons why you should blog made it all the better 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – yesterday evening Tana (@woveneye3) made a PayPal donation which I will donate to my campaign on her behalf ASAP and Bonnie (@bonnie67) made two more donations – you guys are AWESOME thank you SO much for your support 🙂 – play host to my extended family who came over for dinner – my aunt almost ended up in tears when my father said grandma didn’t remember the names of her girl children because they didn’t take of her my father didn’t mean anything by it but I saw my aunt’s face when he said that and she was REALLY hurt 🙁 – and brush my teeth once more.

Last night after we came back from dinner at my uncle’s a community member of ours – let’s call him M – called and said he would be coming to our house in ten minutes to borrow our GPS and immediately my dad said with urgency to no one in particular M is coming take Nisha to the other room and in that moment instead of feel less than and going to my room like I usually did I said rather nonchalantly what’s wrong if I’m here to which he responded oh no nothing I just thought you wanted to pee which I did not believe for a second but for the sake of keeping the peace I let it go and asked my mother to help me in the bathroom. Have you taught people to treat you badly?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!