Category Archives: Gratitude

Taking Time to Smell the Flowers, Watch the Clouds, and Photograph Nature 7

Gratitude, The Oxygen Mask Project, Wordless Wednesday • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I know some of you have noticed I am posting less. I am taking time for family and health as I promised when I joined the Oxygen Mask Project. I will continue to do my monthly posts for Special-Ism.com, and the occasional post here, but mostly, I am taking life slower for the summer. I guess you could call it being on Hawaiian Time.

I will try to connect on Facebook and Twitter more often as I have neglected you there lately too. I am not giving up on blogging and I am continuing to pursue speaking engagements. I will be speaking at a Hawaii Autism Society event in July and I will be back in August when my son returns to school.

Mahalo for your understanding! Please share yesterday’s post and enjoy today’s pictures! I promise I will respond to comments again soon.

Hope all of you are enjoying your summer or winter for those few who follow me from down under!

Life? Do We Learn From Our Past or Are We Condemned to Repeat It? 2

Bully Free, Differences, Education, Famous Quotes, Gratitude, Inspiring People, Life Lessons, Parenting, Setting Good Examples for Our Children • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Quote

Most of us know some variation of the famous line by George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Yet, we keep repeating past mistakes again and again.

Those We Admire

Most of us admire people like His Holiness, the fourteen Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who showed the world that there are gentler solutions to problems facing society. So, why do we continue to support meanness by failing to speak up when we see it and when we know it is wrong? How can we teach our children to learn from their mistakes if we fail as citizens of the world to learn from ours?

Mistakes

You may be asking yourself, “What mistakes?” Only you can answer for yourself. Let your heart be your guide.

I firmly believe mistakes are our best teachers. I hope so anyway since I have made more than I like. However, this post is about our future, our children.

The Way We Fail

We are failing the next generation when we say things like:

  • What’s the big deal?
  • Bullying has been around forever.
  • Kids will be kids.
  • That kid had it coming!
  • That kid is strange!
  • Don’t play with that kid!
  • I don’t like their parents.

or

When we say:

  • The school is responsible.
  • The parents are responsible.
  • I blame the Internet.
  • I blame social media.
  • That kid just needs a spanking!
  • That kid should be expelled!
  • Those parents should be sued!

or

When we are silent.

The Truth

The truth is everyone in society plays a part. Look around you! Work toward becoming a more compassionate person and setting a better example for our children by speaking up when your heart says:

  • This does not feel right!
  • Why would this be okay?
  • Should we really do that?
  • What happened to liberty and justice for all? That is what it says right? Not liberty for the majority, or just some, or just the ones who are like us?

Make a Difference

Refuse to believe those who say:

  • What can I do?
  • I’m just one person!
  • No one will listen to me!
  • What is the point?

Here’s what you can do if you do not trust your own voice:

  • Support those in your community who speak out if you are not comfortable speaking out yourself.
  • Contact someone you admire who is speaking out and let them know that you are grateful for their voice.
  • Tell your children why it is important to speak out and to back up other children who speak up if they do not feel they can do it themselves.

Inspiring Quotes From Those We Admire

Because we all share this planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a necessity.  ~ Dalai Lama XIV

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.  ~ Dalai Lama XIV

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.  ~Nelson Mandela

There is no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. ~Nelson Mandela

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.  ~Mother Teresa

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.  ~Mother Teresa

Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream, 1963

Project Gratitude and Joining the Oxygen Mask Project 11

Faith, Gratitude, The Oxygen Mask Project • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I joined project gratitude last January and I am still grateful for many things including the fact that I can visit this beautiful place as often as I want.

This year I have been posting less and my posts have gotten further apart. I have not been commenting on other blogs as much either, as I am sure my blogging friends have noticed.

I have a confession. I have known about the oxygen mask project for a while, but I have been too busy participating in putting my oxygen mask on to write the blog post. Then I saw Spectrummy Mummy’s post, Breathing Freely after she mentioned it on Twitter and I realized that I need to write the post.

Many of you know that I fell last May and had a lumbar compression fracture as a result and later learned that my osteopenia has developed into osteoporosis. My daughter had setbacks related to prior bullying this past year too. I began to lose my positive outlook as a result.

I have always exercised and spent time in nature although in recent years I have not exercised as regularly as I should. My injury prevented me from doing this when I needed an outlet the most. Therefore, I am grateful that I am able to take long walks with my dogs again even if I now also take one of my walking poles for added balance to prevent falling when my dogs pull.

I also found myself yearning to visit the Buddhist temple, Byodo-In Temple. It is one of my favorite places on the island, but I did not feel up to going until recently.

 

It is a beautiful place to visit and one that I have visited many times. Yet, I have been away for four years. The temple, like me is older and needs some work, but it appears that they are doing the needed work and the beauty is still present.

The koi in the pond have aged and it appears some have died, but the pond has young koi now so I assume they recently restocked. Some of older koi have sores, but even they are still pretty. I hope the owners will keep the population of the koi smaller to keep them healthy.

The wild peacocks were missing, but black swans seem to have taken their place.

I am honoring my spirit and love of nature by taking pictures and by reconnecting with places on Oahu that I fell in love with years ago, but that I have not visited recently because like too many moms I have been focusing on my children when I was not working.

I am even noticing views I might not have paid much attention to in years past like the back side of the temple.

Yes, I am joining the oxygen mask project and trying to remember to take care of myself first to have more energy and a healthier spirit to take care of others. I hope you will join too if you have not already.

Mahalo to All of My Readers! 8

Chinese New Year, Gratitude • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Even when you fail to comment, seeing that someone looked at my posts still warms my heart. I debated about sharing my blog stats; finally, I concluded that this is important. My family celebrates New Year’s twice since my husband and children are of Chinese descent. Therefore, sharing the fireworks now actually makes more sense.

A special Mahalo to my top five commenters in 2011. FYI Four of them are not connected to the autism community. God Bless them for continuing to have my back! Oh and they were also the first to respond to my e-mails about Miranda’s blog and three of them repeatedly commented on her blog too and the other two still read her blog and made sure I knew they understood. God bless them!

Mahalo to Charlotte from Lifes a Charm, a mom offering insights beyond her years as she raises two young boys. Mahalo to Grace from Blessed Elements, a grandmother and very creative soul, offering ideas about ways to go green to help save our planet while sharing her beautiful jewelry. Mahalo to Aspergirl Maybe, a mom sharing her journey from questioning whether she is an Aspie to the actual diagnosis. Mahalo to Karma Per Diem aka White River Bluff, who shares her amazing photography, knitting talents and stories about overcoming workplace bullying and breast cancer.

I am putting my last, top five commenter in a separate paragraph because he is probably the one who actually has the least amount of time to comment, and I owe his entire family more than I can ever adequately express. Mahalo to Phil Dzialo from Healing, Empowering, and Thriving, a retired high school principal and father, sharing his young, adult son, Adam’s story on his long road to recovery from a near drowning. He also shares my book and my blog on his site, and as a retired principal, he offers wonderful insights of how to change our school culture to overcome bullying.

Phil’s equally wonderful wife, Sharon is a former teacher and school counselor and author of a book detailing Adam’s story. She also offers her supportive insights and her positive energy through e-mails and comments too. They both literally have their hands full caring for Adam, yet they never have let me down. I haven’t actually gotten to know their daughter, Aimee except through their stories, but I admire her too.  God knows I love this family as much as I love Adam’s smiling face.

Last, but far from least, mahalo to Bobbi Sheahan, who brought the largest numbers to my blog with her two wonderful guest posts, Your Child Has Autism and I Don’t Know What to Say: Seven Ways to Go the Extra Mile to Keep Your Friendship Thriving and The Friends of Special-Needs Parents Respond and They Have a Lot to Say.

Least you missed it there are many others who helped me through 2011 including others who guest posted and who were featured on my blog. I wrote about many of them in November and December. I may still be a misfit and a small voice, but I now know at least some of you are listening because having enough views to fill the Sydney Opera House five times is no small feat.

May 2012 be a year of blessings for all of you!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 14,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.