Did the Earth Move for You?

Eleven-year-old Angela was stricken with a debilitating disease involving her nervous system. She was unable to walk and her movement was restricted in other ways as well. The doctors did not hold out much hope of her ever recovering from this illness. They predicted she'd spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. They said that few, if any, were able to come back to normal after contracting this disease. The little girl was undaunted. There, lying in her hospital beds, she would vow to anyone who'd listen that she was definitely going to be waking again someday.

She was transferred to a specialized rehabilitation hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. Whatever therapies could be applied to her case were used. The therapists were charmed by her undefeatable spirit. They taught her about imaging―about seeing herself walking.

If it would do nothing else, it would at least give her hope and something positive to do in the long waking hours in her bed. Angela would work as hard as possible in physical therapy, in whirlpools and in exercise sessions. But she worked just as hard lying there faithfully doing her imaging, visualizing herself moving, moving, moving!

One day, as she was straining with all her might to imagine her legs moving again, it seemed as though a miracle happened: The bed moved! It began to move around the room! She screamed out, "Look what I'm doing! Look! Look! I can do it! I moved, I moved!"

Of course, at this moment everyone else in the hospital was screaming, too, and running for cover. People were screaming, equipment was falling and glass was breaking. You see, it was the recent San Francisco earthquake. But don't tell that to Angela. She's convinced that she did it. And now only a few years later, she's back in school. On her own two legs. No crutches, no wheelchair. You see, anyone who can shake the earth between San Francisco and Oakland can conquer a piddling little disease, can't they?

Hanoch McCarty

Think And Discuss!

1. How does this story relate to the English idiom, "Mind over matter"?

2. What do you think the moral of this story is?

3. Other than people with debilitating diseases, who else would this story be helpful to? And why?

4. Do you think Angela's friends and family did the right thing by not telling her about the earthquake?

If I Had my Life to Live Over...

Interviews with the elderly and the terminally ill do not report that people have regret for the things they have done but rather people talk about the things they regret not having done.

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.

I'd relax. I would limber up.

I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I would take fewer things seriously.

I would take more chances.

I would take more trips.

I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

Oh, I've had my moments and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments.

One after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.

If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter next time.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

Think And Discuss!

1. If I had my life to live over, I would                               .

2. What do you think the person meant who made the comments about going places with a thermometer, raincoat, etc. ...?

3. Why do you think people look back and say they wish they took more chances?

Risking

Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile spring soil.

The first seed said, "I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth's crust above me.... I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring.... I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!"

And so she grew.

The second seed said, "I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don't know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts....

What if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe."

And so she waited.

A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.

Patty Hansen

Think And Discuss!

1. Describe the main ideas of the above passage in Korean.

2. What are the Morals of the above story?

Answer 1. Those of us who refuse to risk and grow get swallowed up by life.

Answer 2.

3. Can you think of a time when you were more like the apprehensive "seed" than the energetic "seed"? Why do you think you were like that?

The Rules for being Human

1. You will receive a body.

You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period of this time around.

2. You will learn lessons.

You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.

Growth is a process of trial and error: Experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works."

4. A lesson is repeated until learned.

A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end.

There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here."

When your "there" has become a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."

7. Others are merely mirrors of you.

You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you.

You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you.

The answers to Life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Cherie Carter-Scott

Think And Discuss!

1. Did any of the "rules" surprise you? Why?

2. Which "rule" do you think is most important?

3. What do you think are your own rules for being human?

My rule for being human is that                                   .

One at a Time

A friend of ours was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean.

As our friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.

Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said, "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing."

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore.

If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast? Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"

Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen

Think And Discuss!

1. If you had to summarize this story into one sentence, what would it be?

2. What moral was the native man demonstrating by his actions?

We Learn by Doing

Not many years ago I began to play the cello. Most people would say that what I am doing is "learning to play" the cello. But these words carry into our minds the strange idea that there exists two very different processes: (1) learning to play the cello; and (2) playing the cello. They imply that I will do the first until I have completed it, at which point I will stop the first process and begin the second. In short, I will go on "learning to play" until I have "learned to play" and then I will begin to play. Of course, this is nonsense. There are not two processes, but one. We learn to do something by doing it. There is no other way.

John Holt

Think And Discuss!

1. What is this author's main point?

2. What is the most important aspect?

3. What is this story saying about the learning process?

The Animal School

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of "a new world." So they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. he also developed a "charlie horse" from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well, and also run, climb and fly a little, had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

George H. Reavis

Think And Discuss!

1. Does this fable have a moral? Then, describe the main idea of the above passage.

2. What problems do you think there are in the curriculum of the animal school?

3. Did this story teach you anything about how most schools function?

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves

If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to what envy is.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement,

they learn to be confident.

If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to find love in the world.

If children live with recognition, they learn to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn to be generous.

If children live with honesty and fairness,

they learn what truth and justice are.

If children live with security,

they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.

If children live with friendliness,

they learn that the world is a nice place in which to live.

If children live with serenity, they learn to have peace of mind.

Dorothy L. Nolte

Think And Discuss!

1. Is there anything you disagree with in this list?

2. If you had to choose the most important environment listed here, what would it be?

3. If you are grown-up, with what do you want your children to be living?

Abraham Lincoln Didn't Quit....

The sense of obligation to continue is present in all of us. A duty to strive is the duty of us all. I felt a call to that duty.

Abraham Lincoln

Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further.

Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

He could have quit many times―but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.

Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up.

Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:

1816  His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.

1818  His mother died.

1831  Failed in business.

1832  Ran for state legislature―lost.

1832  Also lost his job―wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.

1833  Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next seventeen years of his life paying off this debt.

1834  Ran for state legislature again―won.

1835  Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.

1836  Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.

1838  Sought to become speaker of the state legislature―defeated.

1840  Sought to become elector―defeated.

1843  Ran for Congress―lost.

1846  Ran for Congress again―this time he won―went to Washington and did a good job.

1848  Ran for re-election to Congress―lost.

1849  Sought the job of land officer in his home state―rejected.

1854  Ran for Senate of the United States―lost.

1856  Sought the vice-presidential nomination at his party's national convention―got less than one hundred votes.

1858  Ran for U.S. Senate again―again he lost.

1860  Elected president of the United States.

The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, "It's a slip and not a fall."

Abraham Lincoln

After losing a senate race

Think And Discuss!

1. What is the main point of this story?

2. What moral is the writer trying to convey?

3. What part of Abraham Lincoln's life do you find most impressive?

The Power of Determination

The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old-fashioned, potbellied coal stove. A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates arrived.

One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. They dragged the unconscious little boy out of the flaming building more dead than alive. He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to the nearby country hospital.

From his bed the dreadfully burned, semiconscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die―which was for the best, really―for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body.

But the brave boy didn't want to die. He made up his mind that he would survive. Somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs.

Once more the brave boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there, all but lifeless.

Ultimately he was released from the hospital. Every day his mother would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever.

When he wasn't in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair.

He pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.

He worked his way to the white picket fence bordering their lot. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

Ultimately through his daily massages, his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly, then to walk by himself―and then―to run.

He began to walk to school, then to run to school, to run for the sheer joy of running. later in college he made the track team.

Still later in Madison Square Garden this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run―this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world's fastest mile!

Burt Dubin

Think And Discuss!

1. What kind of lessons should we learn from the above passage?

Describe your thoughts about the lesson.

2. What part do you find most impressive in this story?