Friday, June 03, 2005
The Question - by Bob Moore
This isn't my story, it may be saccharine; but I copied it here because it says something about how our American friends foster their *can do* attitude.
Isn't it amazing how few of us ask ourselves the important question?
Some years ago I was invited to hear an important speaker address the students at college in South Carolina. The hall was filled with students excited about hearing a person of her stature speak. After the Head introduced her, the speaker moved to the microphone, looked at the audience from left to right, and began:
"I was born to a mother who was deaf and could not speak. I do not know who my father is or was. The first job I ever had was in a cotton field."
The students were spellbound. "Nothing has to remain the way it is if that's not the way a person wants it to be," she said. "It isn't luck, and it isn't circumstances, and it isn't being born a certain way that causes a person's future to become what it becomes." She softly repeated, "Nothing has to remain the way it is if that's not the way a person wants it to be."
"All a person has to do," she added firmly, "to change a situation that brings unhappiness or dissatisfaction is answer the question: "How do I want this situation to become?" Then the person must commit totally to personal actions that carry them there."
Then with beautiful smile, she said, "My name is Azie Taylor Morton. I stand before you today as treasurer of the United States of America."
...from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work
The moral for me is that we should celebrate *achievement* (whether personal or academic) more than we do, given our stoic british upbringing.
Have a great weekend. Back on Monday.
Feel free to comment with your "chicken soup for the soul" moments.
This isn't my story, it may be saccharine; but I copied it here because it says something about how our American friends foster their *can do* attitude.
Isn't it amazing how few of us ask ourselves the important question?
Some years ago I was invited to hear an important speaker address the students at college in South Carolina. The hall was filled with students excited about hearing a person of her stature speak. After the Head introduced her, the speaker moved to the microphone, looked at the audience from left to right, and began:
"I was born to a mother who was deaf and could not speak. I do not know who my father is or was. The first job I ever had was in a cotton field."
The students were spellbound. "Nothing has to remain the way it is if that's not the way a person wants it to be," she said. "It isn't luck, and it isn't circumstances, and it isn't being born a certain way that causes a person's future to become what it becomes." She softly repeated, "Nothing has to remain the way it is if that's not the way a person wants it to be."
"All a person has to do," she added firmly, "to change a situation that brings unhappiness or dissatisfaction is answer the question: "How do I want this situation to become?" Then the person must commit totally to personal actions that carry them there."
Then with beautiful smile, she said, "My name is Azie Taylor Morton. I stand before you today as treasurer of the United States of America."
...from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work
The moral for me is that we should celebrate *achievement* (whether personal or academic) more than we do, given our stoic british upbringing.
Have a great weekend. Back on Monday.
Feel free to comment with your "chicken soup for the soul" moments.
Comments:
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I do believe that Fate/The Chaos Theory has a hand in what happens to you, but more that you do decide your own destiny.
One day, I'm going to take my kids to see where I was born (these days, the postmen won't deliver to the flats, 'cos they regularly get mugged) and then let them contrast it to the life they've always known.
One day, I'm going to take my kids to see where I was born (these days, the postmen won't deliver to the flats, 'cos they regularly get mugged) and then let them contrast it to the life they've always known.
That's a great idea, Mr. D.
We do our best to improve life for our children, but it's also good to let them see where we came from, to give their roots true substance and meaning.
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We do our best to improve life for our children, but it's also good to let them see where we came from, to give their roots true substance and meaning.
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