Tag Archives: special needs

Day 1133: The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” – Melody Beattie

It’s 12 : 01 PM on day 1133 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 12, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, feed myself Bran Flakes for breakfast, go to church and go visit people.

Yesterday I watched The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude – a video of an experiment aiming to prove that expressing gratitude increases happiness – I’ve always believed that being grateful contributes to one’s happiness this video proves I was right. Watch The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude below:

Day 1132: Appreciating things others don’t think about thanks to Cerebral Palsy

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Cerebral Palsy makes you appreciate the things that most people don’t even think about –that’s what I keep realizing 🙂

It’s 3 : 06 PM on day 1132 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 11, publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself Bran Flakes and boiled egg for breakfast, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, continue reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult and feed myself brown rice, vegetables and chicken for lunch.

This morning I realized yet again that Cerebral Palsy makes you appreciate the things that most people don’t even think about while most people my age pray for enough money to buy a new car I pray to have a bowel movement (because I don’t move as much as the average person I get constipated very easily) it’s a different kind of life but it makes me appreciate a properly functioning digestive system, muscles that don’t hurt and everything else that most people don’t even think about. Have your challenges made you appreciative of the particularly good days?

Day 1131: Give the Love Around by The Script

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Evil comes from the top and it spreads right round

If you treat a man wrong, he’s gon’ pass it on down

To the next in line, who’s probably his wife

Bringin’ up his kids now watchin’ mama cry

And they pick it up cause they learn everything

Life has a funny way of going in a ring

End up growing up in trouble with the law

Standing in the cuffs that the father once wore

– Give the Love Around, The Script

It’s 12 : 06 PM on day 1131 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 1 Kings 10, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles – I feel so awful today so I wasn’t able to exercise as much as I wanted to but I did my best I really love my life but I could really do without the digestive issues that come with having Cerebral Palsy on the bright side at least I’m alive to have digestive issues LOL 🙂

Yesterday I heard Give the Love Around by The Script I was struck by the truth of the lyrics in a world where most musicians sing about the shallowest of things this song is truly refreshing. Listen to Give the Love Around by The Script below:

Day 1130: What will you leave behind?

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“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” – Nancy Willard

It’s 12 : 45 PM on day 1130 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 1 Kings 9, publish my Disability of the Day feature, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, take off my jacket and t-shirt and put on a clean t-shirt and hoodie – you know how you feel after a two-hour work-out that’s how I feel after I change it’s exhausting but as long as there’s breath left in my body I will get up every morning and try to be the best me I can be I refuse to be defeated by my life it’s just not going to happen – and stretch my hamstrings.

Yesterday I stumbled across one of Marie Ang’s Facebook statuses I have a #question. When we passed from this #earth, what will you leave #behind? which got me thinking what do I want to leave behind I realized I want to leave imprints on people’s hearts like our late housekeeper, Virginia, she didn’t have or want much in terms of money or things but she touched the heart of every human being she met. Have you ever come across a question that has really made you think?

Day 1129: Lessons learned from my anti-slavery campaign

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There are lessons to be learned from every experience – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 01 PM on day 1129 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 1 Kings 8, publish my Disability of the Day feature and practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles.

Today reflecting on my anti-slavery campaign I realized it has taught me two very important things 1). if you want people to support you in whatever you’re doing you have to convey to them why you’re doing it and in order to do that you yourself have to know why you’re doing what you’re doing 2). always give yourself twice the amount of time you think you’ll need to reach your goal (I thought I could raise $1,000 in three months but the three months came and went and I still hadn’t reached my goal so I extended the campaign for another three months the same thing happened when I was raising money to build a well in Kenya I thought I could raise $6,500 in a year but then the year came and went and I still hadn’t reached my goal so I extended the campaign for another year). Do you look for lessons in every experience?

Day 1128: End of anti-slavery campaign thank you SO MUCH everyone

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I would be nothing without God and the people who help me – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12 : 18 PM on day 1128 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -$1050 raised – feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, continue promoting my campaign – still on $1050 with 8 hours to go – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings.

As you may or may not know my anti-slavery campaign ends today so far 18 030 people have visited my fundraising page of which 29 people have donated to help me raise $1 050 for the Not For Sale Campaign. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who donated and helped spread the word I appreciate it more than I can express.

(Update: The campaign is over the total raised remained at $1050)

Day 1127: John Wesley’s Three Simple Rules

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“Do no harm. Do Good. Stay in love with God.” – John Wesley, Three Simple Rules

It’s 12 : 31 PM on day 1127 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 6, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -Anonymous donated $30 (thank you SO MUCH Anonymous I know who you are and you know who you are) which brings my total to $1050 with 1 day to go 🙂 – practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and stretch my hamstrings.

Yesterday in a sermon titled Three Simple Rules our reverend quoted John Wesley’s Three Simple Rules that were meant to serve as a guide for all Methodists to follow (Note: Neither I nor my family are Methodists we just go to the Methodist Church because it’s the closest one to our house) 1. Do no harm 2. Do good 3. Stay in love with God I’m going to try and follow those three rules I think the first rule is going to be the hardest for me to follow because I often speak before I think but I’ll give it my best shot. Do you follow John Wesley’s Three Simple Rules?

Day 1126: Perfect – a story about the transformative power of love

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Love has the power to transform– that’s what I learned yesterday.

It’s 1 : 35 PM on day 1126 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 5, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, go to church, go visit people, continue reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult and tweet and Facebook about my campaign -$1020 raised 2 days to go.

Yesterday I came across Perfect – a story about Heath who writes a letter to his second daughter confessing that he wanted her to be aborted when he found she had Down Syndrome – what I love about this story is that it illustrates the transformative power of love here is this guy who wanted to abort his baby because she has Down Syndrome now walking around with Down Syndrome tattooed across his chest. Watch the heart-breaking yet heart-warming Perfect below:

Day 1125: Trying not to be a control freak

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No matter how hard you try you can’t get people to do what you want them to do unless they want to – that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 1 : 15 PM on day 1125 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, read 1 Kings 4, publish my Disability of the Day feature, tweet and Facebook about my campaign -$1020 raised 3 days to go – and continue reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult.

Today I realized yet again that no matter how hard you try you can’t get people to do what you want them to do unless they want to I tend to be a bit of a control freak and try to get people to do what I want them to do but no more I will ask people to do what I want them to do they can or not I won’t pester them about it. Do you try to get people to do what you want them to do even though you can tell that they don’t want to?

Day 1124: Celebrating Malala Yousafzai on International Day of the Girl Child

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“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai

It’s 12 : 17 PM on day 1124 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read 1 Kings 3, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, change my t-shirt, stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and tweet and Facebook about my campaign -$1020 raised 4 days to go let’s see how much more will be raised I have faith that there are people out there who care that 30 million people are enslaved in the world today.

As you may or may not know today is the International Day of the Girl Child and in honour of that I would like to share with you Malala Yousafzai’s AMAZING speech at the United Nations Youth Assembly I love this girl her future is so bright it’s burning my eyes. Watch Malala Yousafzai addresses United Nations Youth Assembly below: