Inspirational Thread

[Jess]

Since there is a thread for jusy about everything. I thought it would be a good idea to have one to share inspirations.... :) This is one we shared at my previuos job (The FJH Music Co.)

UNSTOPPABLE by: Evelyne Glennie

Early on I decided not to allow the opinions of others to stop me from pursuing my passion to become a musician. I grew up on a farm in northeast Scotland and began taking piano lessons when I was eight. The older I got, the more passion for music grew. But I also began to gradually lose my hearing. Doctors concluded that irreversible nerve damage was the cause, and by age 12, I was profuondly deaf. But my love for music never left me.

My goal was to become a percussion solist, even though there were none at that time. To perform, I learned to "hear" music differently from others. I play in my stocking feet and can tell the pitch of a note by the vibrations I feel through my body and through my imagination. My entire sound world exists by utilizing almost every sense I have.

I was determined to be assesed as a musician, not as a deaf musician, and I applied to the prestigiouse Royal Academy of Music in London. No other deaf student had done this before and some teachers opposed my admission. Based on my performance, I was finally admitted and went on to graduate with the academy's highest honors.

After that, I established myself as essentially the first full-time solo percussionist. I wrote and arranged numerous musical compositions since few had been written expressly for solo percussionists.

I have been a soloist for over 10 years, because I decided early on that just because my doctor made a diagnosis that I was profoundly deaf, it didn't mean that my passion couldn't be actualized. I would encourage people to not allow themselves to be defined or limited by others. Follow your passion; follow your heart. They will lead you to the place you want to go......

[SupaKrupa]

This one is incredible. :)

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[Alizee_is_Scottish!]

The one I always remember is the story of a 16 year old who satyed at his post during a naval battle in World War One, despite being seriously wounded. When I joined up, they took all the sixteen year olds to one side and told the story to show what you had to live up to. (No pressure then.:p )

The epitaph to Jack Cornwell on his grave monument reads,

"It is not wealth or ancestry
but honourable conduct and a noble disposition
that maketh men great."


The recommendation for citation from his Commanding Officer, Admiral Beatty, reads:

"the instance of devotion to duty by Boy (1st Class) John Travers Cornwell who was mortally wounded early in the action, but nevertheless remained standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders till the end of the action, with the gun's crew dead and wounded around him. He was under 16½ years old. I regret that he has since died, but I recommend his case for special recognition in justice to his memory and as an acknowledgement of the high example set by him."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cornwell

[Jess]

YOU ARE NOT YOUR ILLNESS :) By: Linda Noble Topf

Whenever I need inspiration and encouragement, I recall the film, "my left foot", about Christy Brown, asn Irish writer and artist with cerebral palsy who wrote and painted with his left foot, the only part of him over which he had much control. This true story never ceases to remind me of the capacity of the human spirit, which flourishes when we surrender to the way life is, refusing to be limited by our perceptions about how life should be.

While working on this book, I developed a new tremor in my left hand. It prevented me from writing, from typing, from carrying a glass of water, and from painting, which I'd always dearly loved. I remembered Auguste Renoir, with crippling arthritis, strapping brushes to his hands and painting with longer , more fluid strokes, to creat some of his best works. Also Henri Matisse, confined to bed in his later life and unable to work with paints; instead he created huge, stunning compositions from colored papers cut out with scissors, as he lay in bed.

And so I record what I wish to say on audiocassettes, which Eunice, my typist, transcribes. I am learning to paint with watercolors, no longer trying to prevent my hand from trembling, but using the trembling to create rhythmic strokes of color and movement that somehow depict life the way it really is. The result is tender and sweet, reminding me of beautiful Japanese calligraphic paintings....

[Jess]

PASSION, TIMING, ACCIDENT :) By: Sarah Ban Breathnack

Passion, timing, accident and luck, have enabled many: "late bloomers" to do the work they loved, and to make a contribution. Still, we all need a little help...... Margaret Fogarty Rudkin (1897-1967), moved by desperate need, was encouraged by her husband, as Brendan Gill [in his book "Late Bloomers"] tells us:

"In her middle years she found her way to great wealth as a consequence of two unrelated events that had the look of being catastrophes: her husband's financial resources were wiped out by the Depression, and it was discovered that the health of the youngest of her three sons was being endangered by an allergy that made it impossible for him to eat, among other items in his diet, commercially produced bread.

"She began to make bread as she remembered her grandmother having made it, and it seemed to improve her son's health. Word that the bread was healthy and delicious spread among neighbors; finally she had to hire helpers and began selling the bread, which was called Pepperidge Farm, named for the family estate.

"Her husband took loaves into New York City and persuaded a fashionable food shop to carry them. Eventually the bread began to sell widely, and the family made a fortune".

[Jess]

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY :) By: Susan Bixler & Lisa Scherrer

Alfred Nobel started the legacy of the Nobel Prize because of a profoundly mature response to his own mistaken obituary. A french journalist had confused his brother Ludwig's death for Alfred's. In his column he called Alfred "the merchant of death" because his company manufactured and sold dynamite. He was also known as a cruel employer and a ruthless man.

In their book AIFRED NOBELl: THE LONELIEST MILLIONAIRE, Michael Evlanoff and Marjorie Fluor wrote that after Alfred read and reread the obituary, he wondered whether he deserved any other recognition than "merchant of death." Had he done anything on earth except be partly responsible for it's destruction and suffering of many?

His response could have been to make sure that the reporter was fired and that the newspaper suffered retribution. His response could have been that he was deeply misunderstood by the masses. He had enormous wealth and power, so he could have blamed others for their faulty perception.

Instead, in a profound mature and visionary redirection, he established the Nobel Prize for Peace, Literature, Physiology and Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry. When he died in 1896, his obituary accurately described him as a humanitarian and a visionary.

[Jess]

WORST THING BEST THING :) By: Al Siebert

Imagine renting a rustic wooden cabin in a beautiful forest setting for your honeymoon. The place is delightful. At dawn, however, a woodpecker starts its loud rat-a-tat pounding on the roof. The noise is so loud you couldn't sleep. It happens at dawn the second morning, again on the third morning,and so forth. What could you do?

Many people say they'd shoot the bird. Some say, "Who cares? It's your honeymoon."

This incident with a woodpecker happened to Gracie and Walter Lantz on their honeymoon. They were a happy, playful couple and they discovered an opportunity. By the time they had returned from their honeymoon, they were inspired to create the cartoon character "Woody The Woodpecker". Walter was the illustrator, gracie the voice. Many years later, when interviewed on their 50th wedding anniversary, Gracie said, "It was the best thing that ever happened to us".....

[Jess]

Guys, I am stupefied by what I just saw !! My pride and honor have been reduced to a spec of dust blowing in the wind. I can't even begin to imagine how I would cope with this, how do you overcome the mental aspect of knowing how limited you are physically ?? We have a lot to be thankful for, and I think I will end this year reflecting on this...

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Nick Vujicic (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ulqj_nick-vujicic_people)
Uploaded by JessLab (http://www.dailymotion.com/JessLab)



He is a motivational speaker and the director for Life Without Limbs, an organization that is for the physically disabled. This man is definitely many times stronger then I will ever be !! ...

Nick Vujicic was born in Sunnybank, Brisbane, Australia, 1982, limbless, missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh. Initially his parents were devastated, however Nick turned out to be otherwise perfectly healthy.

His life was filled with difficulties and hardships. One such hardship was not being able to attend a mainstream school because of his physical disability, as the law of Australia required, even though he was not mentally impaired. During his schooling, the laws were changed, and Nick was one of the first disabled students to be migrated to a mainstream school. He learned to write using the two toes on his left "foot", and a special device that slid onto his big toe to grip. He also learned to use a computer and type using the "heel and toe" method. He can also throw tennis balls, and answer the phone (as demonstrated in speeches).

Being bullied at his school, Nick grew extremely depressed, and by the age of eight, started contemplating suicide. After begging God to grow arms and legs, Nick eventually began to realize that his accomplishments were inspirational to many, and began to thank God he was alive. When he was seventeen, he started to give talks at his prayer group, and eventually starting his non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs...

[cocoroa]

my god, i almost cry with those videos, they make you think abput yourself and make you realise how lucky we are

[Jess]

Sorry for duplicating your post SupaKrupa but your video has been deleted and I find this story to be a very
inspirational story that needs to be shared with others ~ The story of Rick and Dick Hoyt - Team Hoyt !! ;)

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[Jess]

My english teacher made me watch this speech a couple of months ago and it turned out to be the most inspiring speech I have ever heard.

Please take 15 mins of your time and watch this.
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Thanks for sharing this Tomtentp, I had seen this before I just didn't remember it. I hope you don't mind me placing a copy of this in this thread... ;)

[Tiwaz]

Odin, the chief God in norse mythology, have an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir.
<object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3040757&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;sho w_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;ful lscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3040757&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;sho w_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;ful lscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/3040757">Wild Horses of Newbury</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/manofthewoods">Man Of The Woods</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Heilir æsir, heilar ásynjur, heil sjá fjolnýta fold!