Ordinary people, extra-ordinary achievements...

This past weekend I was flipping channels on TV. There was nothing interesting on, so I started watching CNN-Heroes. These were stories of ordinary people who had dedicated their lives to help others selflessly, and in doing so achieved extra-ordinary things. Each story was inspiring. I was in awe of these people and what they had accomplished.

There was a veteran who took homeless veterans into his own home -- a Filipino young man who went back to the slums from which he survived with books & a message of education -- another twenty-year old young man, who lost his legs at 16 in a freak accident and now ran a foundation that helps children to get prosthetics for lost limbs -- and so many others. So what turns ordinary people into extra-ordinary achievers? I guess its circumstances, situations and having a "Can do" attitude.

These special individuals put others before themselves and wanted to help people, and did not want or expect anything in return. In each of their endeavors, they just kept plugging away. Spectacular achievements are often preceded by very unspectacular preparation. To have a "Can do" attitude, I think one has to be an optimist. You have to believe that things will go well. Both pessimists and optimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane, the pessimist the parachute!

Perseverance is the key to success in almost everything. With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, almost anything is attainable. Circumstances are often blamed for anything that does not go well. Those who are successful are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want; and if they can't find them, make them.


"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream."

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Let your appreciation show!

Thanksgiving for this year is done and we are on to the holiday season. This year did go by fast, didn't it? Well, I don't know about you, but I say this every year! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Its about a lot of "F"s....Family, Friends, Food, Fun and of course...Football! I'm thankful for a lot of things and people God has blessed me with. My family, my friends and people I work with help me everyday in so many different ways. And sometimes, in the hustle & bustle of our daily grind, I overlook to say "Thank You." And I believe its so important to appreciate people who have touched our life in any way.

Is saying a simple "Thank You" difficult? Why is it that so many times, we find it so. Over a lifetime, a lot of people will do us favors, both big and small. Favors come in different shapes and sizes. The most significant are those which come without fanfare or preceding drum rolls. Then it's up to the person receiving the favor to recognize and appreciate it. People will quietly help us out, and most of them don't expect anything in return. There is no such thing as "Gratitude unexpressed." If it is unexpressed, it is simple, old-fashioned ingratitude. Feeling gratitude and not expressing it, is like wrapping a present and not giving it!

So whenever we appreciate a gesture, there should be no hesitation in showing it. Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.

"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and receive without forgetting."

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