Tag Archives: Cerebral Palsy

Day 1713: What is understood and what is said

2 Replies

In life what is understood matters more than what is said – that’s what I’ve recently realized.

 

It’s 12 :  07 PM on day 1713 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 12, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – Born the size of a stick of butter, giant panda newborns are even more helpless than most other mammal infants because they don’t open their eyes until they are about six to eight weeks old. They don’t move around until they are about three months old.  –  feed myself bread with egg   for breakfast,, listen to music, continued reading Animal Farm by George Orwell  and promote my Educate Generations campaign–$2 954 raised so far so grateful :).

 

Recently I’ve realized that in life what is understood matters more than what is said sometimes I say things and people misinterpret my words and I spend the rest of our conversation trying to correct their interpretation of what I said which rarely ends well so the next time somebody misinterprets my words I’ll just explain what I meant and leave it at that.

Day 1712: Gareth Cliff interviews the phenomenal Catherine Constantinides

Leave a reply

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” -Joseph Campbell

 

It’s 12 :  00 PM on day 1712 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 11, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – Ancient Romans called giraffes “camelopards,” describing them as hybrid animals with camel bodies and leopard spots. The animal’s scientific name, Giraffa camelopardalis is a nod to this.  –  feed myself peanut butter and sandwich for breakfast, make sandwiches for our sisi’s (housekeeper’s) neighborhood with sisi’s help as part of  Virginia’s Sandwich Run – (thank you sisi for all your help) –  and promote my Educate Generations campaign–$2 954 raised so far (thanks guys :) ).

 

Two days ago I listened to Gareth’s Guests, “19 May Catherine Constantinides” – Gareth Cliff’s interview with mother, humanitarian and Executive Director of Miss Earth South Africa, Catherine Constantinides – I can count on two hands the people in this world that I have a deep admiration for Catherine happens to be one of them I have never heard of anyone going to Algeria and living in a tent for TEN DAYS to help the Saharawi people (refugees in Algeria) I know that it’s probably not a good idea to put anyone on a pedestal since nobody’s perfect but I don’t expect anyone I admire and love to be perfect I just expect them to be the best versions of themselves every day I am confident Catherine will not disappoint. Listen to Gareth’s Guests, “19 May Catherine Constantinides” below:

Day 1711: The Small Things

2 Replies

When someone dies it’s the small things you miss the most – that’s what I am realizing.

 

It’s 12 :  15 PM on day 1711 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 10, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – All of these animals are considered vulnerable (African elephant and polar bear) or endangered (giant panda), but the gorilla is critically endangered with a dwindling population in the wild.  –  feed myself bread with egg and a banana   for breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign– Athira donated $35  (thanks SO MUCH Athira and chachen) which bring my total raised to $2 954 🙂

 

Yesterday I was thinking about my paternal grandmother who died almost a year ago and strangely enough it’s not the food she cooked me or the talks we had that I missed the most it was sitting at our dining table holding her hand (towards the end of her life I doubt she remembered who I was I had to cajole her into holding my hand and every time she did I was so happy).

Day 1710: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Leave a reply

“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 1709: “365 Day Proposal”

Leave a reply

“Love is not only something you feel, it is something you do”. – David Wilkerson

 

It’s 12 :  15 PM on day 1709 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 8, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – Gorillas are the largest of all primates. An adult male can stand four to six feet tall, with a chest measurement of as much as 78 inches. The largest known male weighed nearly 500 pounds.–  feed myself egg with bread  for breakfast, read Seeing Through the Illusion of Productivity on Social Media by Britt Michaelian,  Lipstick painter rejected in SA seduces Japan – Well done to the fabulous  Sarah Britten who’s off to exhibit her paintings in lipstick in Tokyo –   and and continue reading And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseni and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 919 raised so far so grateful 🙂  .

 

Yesterday I watched the “365 Day Proposal” – Dean’s year-long marriage proposal to his girlfriend, Jennifer – it’s the sweetest marriage proposal I’ve seen in a while (I’m a hopeless romantic when I need a boost of joy I watch marriage proposals weird I know but seeing other people happy makes me happy) I think I was smiling for the entire duration of the video. Watch the “365 Day Proposal” below:

Day 1708: People quick to advise but slow to act

Leave a reply

People are quick to advise but slow to act – that’s what I realized today.

 

It’s 12 :  00 PM on day 1708 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Around 4000 B.C., or possibly much earlier, Egyptians were using boats with sails to ply the eastern Mediterranean and the Nile River. –  feed myself a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast  and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 919 raised so far  (thanks everyone :) ) .

 

Today I realized that people are quick to advise but slow to act ever since I started fundraising for charity a few years ago people have been asking me why I don’t raise funds for this organization or that cause when people ask questions like that all I hear is what you’re doing is not enough the truth is I would LOVE to help every person and organization out there doing good work but I can’t I’m only one person so instead of asking me why I don’t do this or that I beg of you to look inside yourself and ask yourself why can’t I do that?

Day 1707: Why I Believe

Leave a reply

Some people need to believe in heaven and in God either because they feel like they are living in hell or because they can’t do all that they are called to do solely through their own strength – that’s my answer to atheists who ask how can you believe in something which you have no proof of.

 

 

It’s 2 : 30 PM on day 1707 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,   read Hosea 6,  feed myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich  for breakfast and continue reading And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseni – we had no electricity since the morning but it’s back all’s well that ends well 🙂

 

 

Yesterday morning I finally had an answer for atheists who ask how can you believe in something which you have no proof of and my answer was some people need to believe in heaven and in God either because they feel like they are living in hell or because they can’t do all that they are called to do solely through their own strength there have been times in my life when I’ve been called to do things that I just knew I couldn’t do solely through my own strength but somehow I always managed to access a strength even beyond my understanding and keep going until I reached goal.   

Day 1706: How being on the receiving end of generosity has changed me

Leave a reply

Giving changes both the lives of the givers and the receivers – that’s what I have realized.

 

It’s 12 :  05 PM on day 1706 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 5, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Egyptian hieroglyphs—a system in which pictures represent sounds—first appeared around 3100 B.C. Cuneiform writing emerged in Mesopotamia not too long after, around 2400 B.C. –  feed myself egg with bread for breakfast  and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 919 raised so far so grateful (thanks everyone 🙂 ) .

 

Last night I was thinking about how being on the receiving end of the world’s generosity has changed me as a human being people from all over the world (most of whom I’ve never met in person) have really shown up for me they’ve donated money, time, social media platforms…. you name it they’ve given me their all and perhaps because of that I want to help everybody that I can it’s very hard to be stingy after you’ve been on the receiving end of overwhelming generosity. Thank you to everyone who has supported me you gave of your resources and in the process forever changed me as a human being.

Day 1705: What some people say about me when I’m not there

Leave a reply

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” – Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon

 

It’s 12 :  27 PM on day 1705 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 4, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –From its headwaters on the Tibetan Plateau, the Mekong River flows more than 2,600 miles through six countries—China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam—before emptying into the South China Sea at its delta in Vietnam.–   feed myself  french toast with banana for breakfast make sandwiches for our sisi’s (housekeeper’s) neighborhood with sisi’s help as part of  Virginia’s Sandwich Run (thank you sisi for all your help), promote my Educate Generations campaign– Debra Gleason donated $20 yesterday (thanks SO MUCH Debbie 🙂 ) which brings my total raised to $2 919 (beyond grateful for all the support this campaign has received) – read and comment on [Love Looks Like] 14: On marriage, making magic, and demands – it’s a post about an ongoing real-life, love story people watch movies and listen to music and think love is all about the grand gestures but in real-life love is walking to Walmart or waking up early so the other person can sleep-in.   

 

Recently I was on social media and I stumbled across a conversation that two people were having it was only when I saw my name that I realized that they were talking about me the kinds of stuff they were saying about me when they thought I wasn’t watching made me feel warm and fuzzy inside I’ve always believed that what people say about you when you’re not there is a truer reflection of how they feel about you than what they say about you to your face it’s wonderful to know that some people speak well of me even in my absence.

Day 1704: “When We Stand Together” by Nickelback

Leave a reply

They tell us everything’s alright

And we just go along

How can we fall asleep at night

When something’s clearly wrong

When we could feed a starving world

With what we throw away

But all we serve are empty words

That always taste the same

–  Nickelback, “When We Stand Together”

 

It’s 12 :  00 PM on day 1704 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Hosea 3, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing –Dolphins use distinct “signature whistles” to identify and call to one another. Each dolphin is thought to invent a unique name for itself as a calf and to keep it for life. – read Let’s care for the future by investing in global education by Benedict Joson – it’s a great article about our obligation to ensure that every child is educated –  feed myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast  and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $2 899 raised so far so grateful as always 🙂 .

 

A few days ago I heard “When We Stand Together” by Nickelback it’s a great song about working together to solve the world’s problems the truth of the lyrics really struck me. Listen to “When We Stand Together” by Nickelback below: