April 12, 2004

TODAY'S TUNE
(On/Off)

"Tightrope Walker"

From the Inside Out...
A Question of Balance

Yes You Can!...
Know Nothing's Hopeless

Far Horizons...
Ancient Avdat

Links That Shine...
"Rhino Survival Online"

Fascinating Facts...
Eggs-Zactly!

Laughing It Off...
It Gets Better with Age

Untangling the Web...
What a Site!
&
Computer Ease

Look at That!...
Art Goes Bananas

Our Latest Discovery...
Stayin' Home & Lovin' It


Joyful Lifestyles...
Creating a New Future (1)

BE the World
You Want to See!

For a Libra like me, balance
has always been important ...
yet it has taken years to fully embody this concept.

~ Chelle ~

From the Inside Out
A QUESTION
..... OF BALANCE

There was a time when I acquiesced to others because I believed them to have more experience, authority and wisdom. I was a child then, and nothing had taught me the significance of my own inner voice.

This perspective made me quite malleable. I was easily enticed and chose my actions in response to others' opinions. Because my choices were not made from conviction — but from impulse — it was necessary for my parents to instill firm boundaries for my protection.

It is no wonder I was exhausted by age 24 ... I had been busy acting out others' desires and philosophies. My mind was full, but my soul was not. I was frightfully unclear about who I was and where I belonged. Simultaneously, the adults in my life were asking me to become more independent. Thus, I found myself facing a dilemma — how does one choose for themselves when their entire life has been based upon the input others?

It became apparent that I must begin by making decisions by myself and for myself! I foresaw myriads of unbearable eventualities within that scenario, but something inside me recognized the utter necessity of it. One of the first decisions I made was that — no matter what difficulties arose — I would continue!

I was in unfamiliar territory when I set out to determine the validity of my choices based on how the results felt to ME. Sometimes that meant letting go of an idea or philosophy I thought I held dear; but, by testing my beliefs and desires against the life I was living, I learned which things to cling to and which to release.

Failures however, were painful! My anguish was sometimes so deep that I would sleep in the fetal position, appalled at my ineptness and wishing someone else could take over. I mourned and prayed — and when my strength returned — so did my resolve to continue. Blessedly, because my failure was not skewed by the presence of "old voices" that would have categorized it as a deep personal flaw, I discovered I could learn from failure! It then became a merciful compass from which to find new direction!

I remember the day I found myself in an argument with someone whose opinion differed from mine. I noted, proudly, that what I defended was not my parents’ opinion, my friend's or teacher's; nor was it a philosophy I had found in a book … this was MINE — borne of my struggle to live! That event was but one of many milestones along my journey. Now I recognize the significance of all that transpired and I understand these truths: Childhood is what it is. Becoming an adult is what it is.

In time, other voices — ones I had not given much credence to in my youth — began to resurface. Listening to them again, I heard wisdom … and now, I could recognize it. Through those voices I began to understand that there are people I can turn to — for courage, for support and for advice.

It has taken time, but I am beginning to balance now, on the tight-rope-of-life: I stand on one foot as I listen to the anger of others — and on the other when I understand that I too feel anger over certain injustices. I teeter in position when bombarded with the voices of opinionated people — and then, catch myself mid-air ... as I consider their words ... and learn.

With a balancing pole in both hands, I compare the philosophical differences that exist between myself and others, but I won't fall. I am confident in my stance, because I know that others have aligned themselves to things borne of their experience and I, to things borne of mine. Both are valid.

Now, I live! I live an adult, spiritual, compassionate and steadfast life. It was quickened by my need to be alone and independent — and matured by my desire to be intertwined and connected.

For, life is what it is ... it is a question of balance.

~ By N. O. Tate © 2004,
who describes "education" as
"mankind's most valuable asset — even," the author notes,
"when the learning is derived from the School Of Hard Knocks."

Yes You Can!
KNOW NOTHING'S "HOPELESS"

Dinah Shore said, "There are no hopeless situations — only people who are hopeless about them." Case in point: Morgan Rowe. Some 30 years ago, when he was only 11 years old, he lost his left arm and much of the use of his right arm. It happened when he fell off a tractor at his father's fence company in Valdosta, Georgia, and was dragged beneath the machine. Morgan's left arm was destroyed and his right, mangled.

Young Morgan was released from the hospital after three-and-a-half months. The first thing he set out to do was to help pay the bills — $30,000 worth. That was a lot of money back then as it is now. For a boy of 11 to accomplish such a task, the situation seemed hopeless.

For five years Morgan scoured roadsides picking up cans and bottles. He collected thousands of cans and collected and sold newspapers. He never gave up hope. First, he paid off the $455 ambulance bill. Then he put $2,500 down on the hospital bill. He was still a long way off though his parents raised another $9,000 toward the debt.

People began to hear about the injured boy and eventually some 2,000 donations poured in, totaling $25,000. The bill was paid in full! Morgan set aside the additional money for future education. What then? Though the bill was paid up, Morgan kept his projects going to collect money for the hospital so he could help others. Someone forgot to tell the boy he was too injured for that kind of work. Someone neglected to inform him that the situation was hopeless. Somehow young Morgan didn't realize that an 11-year-old boy could never pay off a hospital bill so large.

Did you know that Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four years old and did not read until he was seven? His parents and teachers worried about his mental ability. Beethoven's music teacher said about him, "As a composer he is hopeless." What if young Ludwig believed it?

When Thomas Edison was a young boy, his teachers said he was so stupid he could never learn anything. He once said, "I remember I used to never be able to get along at school. I was always at the foot of my class ... my father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided that I was a dunce." What if young Thomas believed what they said about him?

When F. W. Woolworth was 21, he got a job in a store, but was not allowed to wait on customers because he "didn't have enough sense." When the sculptor Auguste Rodin was young he had difficulty learning to read and write. Today, we may say he had a learning disability, but his father said of him, "I have an idiot for a son." His uncle agreed. "He's uneducable," he said. What if Rodin had doubted his ability?

A newspaper editor once fired Walt Disney because he was thought to have no "good ideas." Caruso was told by one music teacher, "You can't sing. You have no voice at all." And an editor told Louisa May Alcott that she was incapable of writing anything that would have popular appeal.

What if these people had listened and become discouraged? Where would our world be without the music of Beethoven, the art of Rodin or the ideas of Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison? As Oscar Levant has accurately said, "It's not what you are, it's what you don't become that hurts."

Martin Luther once said, "Everything that is done in the world is done by the hopeful." No matter your age. No matter your circumstances. No matter your financial wealth. Without hope, nothing is possible. But with hope ... well ... watch out! You have great potential. When you believe in all you can be, rather than all you cannot become, you will find your place on earth.

~© 2001 Steve Goodier
RICHES OF THE HEART:
Sixty-Second Readings that Make a Difference
www.LifeSupportSystem.com

One of the many interesting sites in Israel, is Avdat, a ancient site in the southern Negev Desert. Avdat is located on a mountain ridge where the routes from Petra (in present-day Jordan) and Eilat converge and continue to the Mediterranean coast and where the Nabateans established a road station for their caravans. Visitors are amazed at the grandeur of the former city amidst the stark and barren Negev. Along the base of a cliff are man-made hermit caves that were inhabited by monks during Byzantine times. In the caves are sculpted shapes, carved for various reasons: closets, shelves, bars for hanging clothes, benches, stairs, water systems and more.

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Fascinating Facts
EGGS-ZACTLY!

What is the origin of the Easter Egg?

Check Answer Here

Laughing It Off
IT GETS BETTER WITH AGE

I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either. - Age 7

I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again. - Age 12

I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. - Age 14

I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice. - Age 24

I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I can live so that no one will believe it. - Age 30

I've learned that there are lots of people who love you dearly but they just don't know how to show it. - Age 42

I've learned that you can make someone's day by simply sending them a little note. - Age 44

I've learned that the greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. - Age 46

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. - Age 48

I've learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills. - Age 52

I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. - Age 58

I've learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage. - Age 61

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. - Age 62

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. - Age 64

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you. - Age 65

I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. - Age 72

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. - Age 82

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch-holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. - Age 90

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. - Age 92

~Contributed by John in Mohave Valley, Arizona

Untangling the Web

WHAT A SITE!

"EyeWitness to History"
A ringside seat to history — from the Ancient World to the present. This award-winning website shows us history through the eyes of those who lived it.
(Contributed by Ron in Bend, Oregon)
http://EyeWitnessToHistory.com

COMPUTER-EASE

When forwarding e-mails...
When you click 'forward' in many email programs, it converts the message into an Attachment. This forces your recipient to open that attachment; then what's in that email, but another attachment. Please take one minute to get the original email out of these attachments. Re-send by copying the original email contents into a new email that doesn't have all the junk in it. You can also click "forward" on the original one, delete all the previous recipients at the top, and re-send direct.

Photo: Peter Macdiarmid /Reuters


Tonico Lemos Auad, a Brazilian living in London...
creates drawings on bananas in a show at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts for the Beck's Futures 2004 art prize. Auad draws on the bananas with a needle, a hitherto neglected medium for graphic art. (When you cut through the skin of the fruit it oxidizes and turns into a black line.) The work that especially lives in the mind takes the form of fluff from a fitted carpet, racked up by Auad's hands, and formed into little, fluffy sculptures. On show at the ICA are a couple of bunny rabbits, one without a head, a squirrel and several other bits and pieces, all displayed on the carpet from which they came.
~Reuters

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