Helen Keller and New Year's Resolutions

2015. A new year.

It is hard to believe. I am 53 years old. It has almost been three years since my two strokes. I have been doing therapy ever since.

I never thought my life would be like this. But, it is what it is.

When I feel sorry for myself, I often think of Helen Keller. She overcame so much adversity. She said, “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

Great advice. For my New Year’s resolutions, I try to live up to her example.

Here are my resolutions:

·       Make a difference in the world.

·       Be happy.

·       Be grateful.

·       Do not think of thing that I cannot change.

·       Live for today.

·       Everyday is a blessing and a gift.

·       Concentrate on my family.

Lofty goals, but I will try.

I will also to the obligatory goals of trying to be healthier and blogging every week. I will continue striving to overcome my strokes and the aftereffects.

Helen Keller also wrote, “Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.”

Happy New Year!

Comments

Unknown said…

happy New Year to you mark. I am so glad that you're doing well. life just flies by. I have never came to see you since your mom passed away I'm sorry I just don't want to cry...I miss her and Carl horribly and I know your mom is proud and watching down over you..

January 4, 2015 at 2:55 AM

Anonymous said…

I'm sure you'll pull through and you will even improve upon your previous self. As long as you are within the periphery of good support and effective and sound insurance, which you more than deserve at this silver moments of your years. Anyway, thanks for sharing that with us! It was a great read. Continue to be an inspiration!

Brad Post @ Jan Dils

January 6, 2015 at 1:32 PM

The Two Faces of the American Dream

The massive wave of Norwegian immigration to Minnesota from the 1850s through the early 20th century wasn't a casual choice; it was an escape from crushing land scarcity and economic desperation. My ancestors, the Dunhams, arrived in 1851 and built a life in Otter Tail County in Minnesota. My great-great-grandfather, Jens Christian Dunham, didn’t just survive—he thrived. He served in the Minnesota legislature as a Republican from 1888 to 1890 and later became a staunch advocate for President Teddy Roosevelt. He was the literal embodiment of the American Dream: an immigrant who fled poverty to become a lawmaker in his new home. Fast forward a century, and a new wave of immigrants—this time from Somalia—is following that exact same blueprint. Like the Norwegians before them, they fled hardship to build a future in Minnesota, and many have run for office to serve the state that welcomed them. Yet, the political rhetoric surrounding these two groups couldn't be more polarized. Don...

Phantom Blindness and Taking a Break after Strokes

I met with my eye doctor last week about taking some time off from my vision therapy. I have been doing therapy since my stroke almost two and a half years ago. I am tired, and a need a break. My doctor said, “This is completely understandable. Take some time off.” At the appointment, my doctor tested my vision. Because of the strokes, my vision was affected, and I have a problem in my field of vision on the right side. I have a deficit with my right side peripheral vision. However, it is getting better. During the test, I told him that I “sense things on the right side of my peripheral vision.” It seems that I know that something is there, but I cannot really distinguish what it is. He told me that there is a body of thought describing phantom vision or phantom blindness. A Polish researcher, L. Bieganowski, described this phantom blindness this way: “The subject of the paper is the phenomenon of phantom vision. It occurs among the blind (or almost blind...

Greek orthodox and Catholic‘s

Being a history buff, I’ve always understood that the Catholic Church was split in about 1000 A.D. Our Greek tour guide mentioned the differences a little bit yesterday, but she did not capture the full history. Today I saw a small Greek orthodox by the roadside and I’m going to insert about the history. Eastern Orthodox Catholics and Roman Catholics are the result of what is known as the East-West Schism (or Great Schism) of 1054, when medieval Christianity split into two branches. The Byzantine split with Roman Catholicism came about when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, King of the Franks, as Holy Roman Emperor in 800. From the Byzantine viewpoint, this was a slap to the Eastern Emperor and the Byzantine Empire itself — an empire that had withstood barbarian invasions and upheld the faith for centuries. After Rome fell in 476, Byzantium was the only vestige of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne’s crowning made the Byzantine Emperor redundant, and relations between the East and...

Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

Search This Blog