Insight of the Day

[Guest guest]

" Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for

then the journey is over and it is too late. Today, this hour, this

minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact

that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more

interesting because of them. "

R. Updegraff

Author of " Be Thankful For Your Troubles "

[Guest guest]

" You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which

you really stop to look fear in the face...You must do the thing you

think you cannot do. "

Eleanor Roosevelt

1884-1962, Social Activist and Former First Lady

[Guest guest]

" In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always

wins - not through strength but by perseverance. "

H. Brown

Author of " Life's Little Instruction Book "

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone! I just love Zig Ziglar- master motivator--and I thought

everyone may appreciate his story of the week, this week.

Insight of the Day

Dear linda,

Here is your Friday story,

If You Can Dream It...

To look at her, one would never know. With her red-gold hair and her

sea-green

eyes, one might never guess. With a smile so bright, she could shame the

sun,

and a laugh that rolls out like the breaking dawn, and a caring spirit that

warms all who know her, one might miss her struggle. She is beautiful,

brilliant, and funny. Her small, perfect hands are lovely, and to see them

folded in her lap, or softly touching a child's cheek, one might never

comprehend her great effort, just to sign her name. Her name is Helen. The

Greek

name, meaning " light, " is a perfect reflection of her personality and

character.

Her name could also be " courage, " for courageous she is.

We first knew that something was happening, as Helen entered puberty, and

her

voice began to change. A slight quaver at first, in time became a tremor. A

gifted singer at four years of age, her beautiful Irish soprano began to

disappear by the time she was ten. By fifteen, she was unable to " speak-up "

in

her classes, and her voice would often disappear as she struggled just to

make

herself understood, word by word.

I had been a trained singer, and I remembered a similar struggle as I

entered

puberty, so I began to work with Helen, especially with her singing,

training

her to depend upon her diaphragm, rather than her vocal chords. However, the

tremor in her speaking voice never completely recovered, and it would be

aggravated under extreme stress.

We noticed that Helen held her pen with extreme tightness, when she wrote,

and

we tried to encourage her to keep a light touch, so that she would not tire

her

hand. All this was to no avail. We took her from specialist to specialist,

and

there seemed no answer to her ever increasing struggle. By the time Helen

was

twenty, it was obvious that something was terribly wrong. She could not

write,

yet she kept going. She would contort her hand, just to sign her name. Her

voice

became faint, and she could not pronounce certain letters, but nothing could

stop her sense of humor, or her courageous journey towards excellence.

She excelled in every job she ever had. She taught herself to write with her

other hand. She finally found a doctor who was able to give a name to her

condition, " dystonia. " Although there seemed no reasonable course of

treatment,

she absolutely refused to give up on her life! She went back to college, at

twenty-five, and she was just amazing in her engineering classes, making

4.0s in

subjects that I could neither pronounce nor spell. Throughout these

incredible

achievements, Helen was the first to laugh at herself, and to make light of

her

struggles, as she both worked and went to school.

During all this time, Helen's faith in God, and in herself, seldom wavered.

She

knew that she was in the hands of a loving God, and with the love and

support of

her family, Helen continued to succeed in every endeavor. However, time and

the

course of her disease, finally made it impossible for Helen to continue

without

assistance. We are fortunate to live in a country where no one need be left

behind, unless one chooses to give up. Assistance in funding for school, and

the

tools to succeed were more than available, and now Helen is part of a

research

program through the National Institute of Health (NIH). There is, now, hope

for

treatment.

Helen is disabled, but she is not handicapped. Being " handicapped " is an

indictment one gives to oneself. When one is DISabled, one can still be

ENabled.

The only thing holding a person back is oneself. Helen is proving that one

can

achieve under extreme difficulty.

As Helen's mother, I will soon be involved in the NIH Dystonia Research

Program,

along with her, to see if I am a carrier of the gene which causes dystonia.

Helen will soon be 29, and, of course, 30 years ago, there was no such thing

as

genetic testing. I'm glad it did not exist. If I knew that I carried a

genetic

defect, perhaps I would have made the " proper " decision to not pass on my

defective genes. We didn't know in those days. We didn't have those choices.

Would I have chosen not to have this child, had I been given that choice,

knowing her as I do now? I think I would have chosen to give her life. For I

would not have missed a moment of this precious life. I would not have

missed a

single breath, nor a smile, nor a laugh. For a life without Helen would be a

poor life indeed. She is my precious, beautiful daughter, a bright, shooting

star, who has enriched my husband's and my life, beyond our wildest dreams.

It is true that Helen has a disability, hidden from view, at first glance.

But

don't we all have hidden disabilities? Don't we all have that " cannot

achieve "

disability that we nurture deep inside the dark reaches of ourselves,

because of

the unkind judgments we collect through life, from teachers, peers, or even,

sadly, sometimes our parents?

When life seems impossible to me. When dreams seem unachievable to me. I

like to

look at Helen, and I think, my-my, how pale my life would have been without

her.

How inspiring is her courage and strength. Helen is my youngest child, and

as

her name means " light, " perhaps her story will light up your life.

Helen is a shining example of what one can achieve, in the face of

adversity.

Helen is proof that IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT. So, strive for

excellence. Reach beyond your grasp. Who knows what dreams will become

reality,

if you only reach for them?

Jaye

Jaye is a writer and poet, who lives with her family in the

Appalachian

Mountains of southwestern Virginia. This story will be included in Jaye's

forthcoming book, entitled Entertaining Angels. Jaye can be emailed at

jlewis@... <mailto:jlewis@...>

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[Guest guest]

"Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart." Ban BreathnachAuthor of Simple AbundanceThe one who looks outside, dreams; but those who look inside, awaken. - Carl Gustav Jung"One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered." - J. Fox __________________________________________________