Hero of the Day

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bo ttom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero w ho hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Mind Power- Inner Psychology to Success

The term mind power and the subconscious mind power are described in many different ways. In the psychosomatic sense mind power is labeled as ability to have emotions, imagination, memory, and will; and subconscious mind power is labeled as part of the normal individual’s personality in which mental processes function without consciousness under normal waking conditions.

Contents

1. How Mind Power and Subconscious Mind Power work
2. How to use Subconscious Mind for success

Mind power is our conscious mind, the way we think. The mind is similar to a constantly flowing spring however a natural spring cannot send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening, nor yield both salt water and fresh. So it is with the mind and its thoughts; it cannot equally think negative and positive thoughts at the same time. One will rule the other.

Since the mind reflects habitual thoughts, it is therefore our responsibility to influence our mind and brain with positive emotions, thoughts and energy as the dominating factors in our mind. Mind power is beyond positive thinking or brain power, it is thinking than believing what you think that will manifest your reality. Since this mind power is power of thought and beliefs, and these thoughts and beliefs will create the outcome of your now, you will want to stay aware to the reflections you are thinking.

Now mind power is a dual system that includes your power of thought(brain) and your subconscious mind. We all have subconscious mind power; it can be as small as smiling at your boss in the hopes of improving the odds of acquiring a raise.

It can be the way you unconsciously handle a situation whether appropriately or not. Power of the subconscious mind comes from the thoughts and beliefs of your the power of the your mind. However you think and believe is what your subconscious mind power will produce. This is done continuously, one minute at a time. Every thought nourished regularly by your mind power will activate your subconscious mind to generate those thoughts and energy whether good or bad into your life. This is how you’re present and future is created.

Your mind power and your subconscious mind work together and they fashion your reality. Let’s use a parallel to help you visualize how this works. Your subconscious mind power is similar to fertile soil that consents to any seed planted inside it. Your habitual thoughts and beliefs are the seeds which are being continually sown and they will eventually produce a crop. So if you plant weeds you will get weeds, if you plant fruit, you will get fruit. In other words, you reap what you sow. Now the conscious mind is the gardener, and it is the mind power to choose what reaches our inner garden- the subconscious.

Unfortunately, most of us do not have green thumbs because of lack of knowledge of this law, the psychology behind this success and because of this ignorance we have allowed all kinds of seeds, both good and bad, to enter. So our subconscious mind power will manifest failure, ill health and all kinds of misfortunes just as effortlessly as it will manifest success and abundance. However, it cannot manifest it both at the same time, which is why the need to constantly actuate the positive until the fertile soil of your subconscious mind power reaps only abundance. Success is only a choice away.

Provking God Existance...!!

This has a thought provoking message no matter how you believe. Does God exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists?
A student bravely replied yes, he did!"
"God created everything?" The professor asked.
"Yes, sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil."
The student became quiet before such an answer.


The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.


Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"


"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.


The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody and every object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have too little heat.


The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"


The professor responded, "Of course it does".


The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."


Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"


Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. "These manifestations are nothing else but evil."


To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love, that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."


The professor sat down.

Street Children In India

The reality of the street child is the naked and vicious face of poverty, sickness and exploitation. The tragedy is, that those who bear it are themselves innocent, lonely and frightened young children.
Street Children are those unfortunate children who basically:

1. Have only intermittent contact with parents or family (usually mother or sisters) but live most of the time with other street children in the city streets, or are on the move. {There are numerous reasons for a child to leave home}
2. Have been literally abandoned by their parents/relatives, found themselves on the street from the beginning because of family problems, or have chosen to leave home due to some kind of constant abuse.
3. Those who have run away from home can further be separated into two categories: Those who have an unpleasant or traumatic home environment. They experience family problems they are unable to solve: i.e., alcoholism, child abuse, ill treatment by stepparents, unemployment and poverty. Their tolerance level has been far exceeded, leading to the drastic decision to leave their family. Those who have run away from home, who wanted to study/work but were not allowed and came to experience the exciting experiences of city life, glamorized by magazines and movies.

Religion of street children in India varies greatly according to area, but, in general, approximately 70% are Hindu, 18% are Muslim, Christian and other. Percentage of Hindu children is as high as 82% in Hyderabad, Indore & Bangalore. (Almost 50% of Hindu children belong to scheduled caste or tribes.) 82.7% of street children are boys. Girls are more difficult to trace but they are, by far, the most vulnerable.

WORK CONDITIONS

Most street children find themselves some work, even though they may not be steady and lose jobs regularly. Many think of rag picking as a "job". A study in 1989 shows that 39.3% working children are paid inadequately, and 34% complain of being forced to overwork. Many children are lured into bonded work or "work-camps" that they are unable to escape from, due to unscrupulous and cruel proprietors or middlemen.

DESIRE TO BE SECURE

A recent study in Madras shows that many street children (45.6%) would like to live in a secure place, while 71% are very eager to change their present life. 63% of children have an ambition to do something meaningful in their future. The vast majority of them have a survival instinct and the tenacity that helps them survive the day to day trials of street life. That does not, however, provide them a future

AGE OF CHILDREN

The average age of street children is:
33% 6-10yrs
40% 11-15yrs
27% 16yrs +

HEALTH CONDITIONS

The health condition of street children is generally poor. Many suffer from chronic diseases like TB, leprosy, typhoid, malaria, jaundice and liver/kidney disorders. Venereal disease is rampant among older ones (14yrs+). Scabies, gangrene, broken limbs and epilepsy are common. HIV & AIDS cases are now widely seen. Most street children are exposed to dirt, smoke and other environmental hazards.
They are constantly exposed to intense sun, rain and cold.

Though there are supposed to be "free" Government / Municipal Hospitals in all cities, street children do not have easy access to them due the need to pay bribes to enter, or the indifferent or hostile treatment meted out to them by the staff. Bangalore, Vijayawada and Hyderabad report extreme conditions in this regard.

STREET CHILD ACTIVITIES IN INDIA

Street children learn to cope with life on the streets very quickly. They learn to live off the street. The following is a list of activities and occupations undertaken by street children in India to earn a living:

Collecting and selling waste paper, plastic, scrap metal etc.
Cleaning cars and two-wheelers,
Selling water, sweets, biscuits, clothes etc.
Selling newspapers and flowers on streets
Making and selling flower garlands
Begging, pimping, pick pocketing, stealing
Working in roadside stalls or repair shops
Coolie work or working in small hotels (kitchens etc)

ARBITRARY DETENTION, ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT

Street children are constantly arrested, locked up, tortured and abused in all ways because there is none to take responsibility for them. They live in fear of arrest and long detainment. They have no faith in the police or the judicial system. They disrespect the legal authorities because they have rarely experienced any kindness or understanding from anyone at that level. THE RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS For street children, this aspect is conspicuous by its absence, and totally ignored by the relevant authorities. Street children are arrested, locked up, sent to remand, runaway, are arrested again beaten locked up and so on and so forth without ever being offered a word of legal advice, much less a lawyer, or a government counsellor. They are sent to lockups, and sometimes jails, for days together without even a hearing. The remand homes sometimes make an effort to trace the parents, but usually the parents do not come for one reason or another, usually poverty. So the child grows up in an environment of cruelty & abuse, physical, mental and sexual and if he/she does not have the wits to escape, emerges a hardened criminal with total contempt for society in all its aspects when they are 18yrs old. The Municipal Corporations are, however, showing some interest in the plight of street children. Studies show that there are more small programs for street children in the country today than ever before and that some are either located in Municipal Buildings or assisted by the Local Body. i.e. Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Chennai etc. The Juvenile Justice Act 1986 is now defunct since the U.N. C.R.C., and India’s ratification of the same. The new J.J.Act is better but needs serious discussion.

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Five simple rules to be happy

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the humps too long. Move on!

When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy, because God is thinking of something better to give you.

When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard.

You can't make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved, the rest is up to the person to realize your worth.

The measure of love is when you love without measure. In life there are very rare chances that you'll meet the person you love and loves you in return. So once you have it don't ever let go, the chance might never come your way again.

It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride.

We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.

When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults, and you overlook the excuses.

Never abandon an old friend. You will never find one who can take his place. Friendship is like wine, it gets better as it grows older.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending

" I am studying to teach my daughter "

A Young Widow's determination to take charge through education.





The story of Radha could very well be like so many young girls living in the villages of India. Radha lives in Pipla village in Rajasthan and attended school till class two after which she dropped out because of an age old and utterly biased question: "What is the use for a girl to study?" According to custom she was also married off early and soon gave birth to a child.

It was then that fate took a nasty turn - her husband passed away. With just the rent from a small shop as the only means of livelihood, Radha realized the difference that education could make in her life. However unlike others, Radha believed in herself and soon joined the literacy classes in her neighborhood. Every afternoon, with out fail she attends the classes held by the Zila Saksharta Samiti in the local school. Radha is a good student and studies long hours to make up for all the time that she has lost. She says with determination " I want to be educated so that i can teach my daughter to read and write."


In India the literacy levels for women are quite abysmal. To take this percentage up UNICEF has launched and innovative programme in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The programme in partnership with the National Cadet Corps, National Literacy Mission and the Zila Saksharta Samiti ensures that young people are given an opportunity to get an education. What is novel about these classes is that they also provide information on nutrition, health and impart training on rangoli designs and making paper bags.


With the continued support of generous donors like you and help of the local agencies, UNICEF is hopeful of the project being replicated across the country. Perhaps then the with of many such Radhas will come true. So Please donate as much as you can never mind if you donate at least 100 bucks through online.
Here you go with donation website http://www.unicef.org/india/support.html


" YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS HELPING SEVERAL WOMEN LIKE RADHA TO REBOARD THE MISSED BUS OF EDUCATION AND A BETTER LIFE "

Stop Smoking Today

People who are both very obese and who smoke increase their risk of death by 3.5 to 5 times that of people of normal weight who never smoke, finds a study in the November issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

According to the study, 20 percent of obese adults in the United States smoke, which puts them at a higher risk of death caused by cancer and circulatory disease. The authors further found that, in general, being a current smoker was a far stronger risk factor for cancer death than being obese.

"Smoking has been known as a very strong risk factor for many cancers, particularly lung cancer, which is the most common site of cancer death," said lead author D. Michal Freedman, Ph.D., of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute.

The study surveyed more than 80,000 current and former radiologic technologists between the ages of 22 and 92 who completed a self-administered questionnaire in the period from 1983 to 1989. They all were followed through December 2002 and the number of deaths was reported.

The questionnaire collected information such as birth date, height, weight and smoking behavior. Participants' body mass indexes were calculated from their weight and height A BMI of 30 to 34.9 was considered obese, and more than 35 was very obese.

Smoking behaviors were categorized by duration, intensity and current status. Freedman and her colleagues analyzed a measure that included both cigarettes smoked per day and duration of smoking. They found, in general, that more smoking or "pack-years" was related to a higher risk of death.

Also, in both women and men of all ages, the risk of death from circulatory disease increased with each additional increment in the BMI. When participants were obese and also current smokers, their risk of death from circulatory disease jumped even higher to an increase of 6- to 11-fold for those under age 65, compared to the participants of normal weight who never smoked.

The study was part of an ongoing collaboration of the National Cancer Institute, the University of Minnesota and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.

Despite the many existing health campaigns aimed at educating the public about the dangers of smoking and obesity, experts say there is a definite need for increased efforts to change the behaviors of those at risk.

"We have long known that education and information are not sufficient for health behavior change," said Susan J. Curry, Ph.D., director of the Health Research and Policy Centers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We need to communicate realistic and achievable goals, and we need to help people understand that they are not solely responsible for their increased risk. The tobacco industry and food industry, for example, contribute greatly to an environment that promotes unhealthful behaviors such as tobacco use and unhealthful eating."

Contact: National Cancer Institute Press Office ncipressoffice@mail.nih.gov Center for the Advancement of Health