You, yes YOU, are a WINNER

byRogerBulpitt

272 followers

Updated 9 years ago

You – yes - YOU, are a WINNER

I have never met you but I already know that you are a winner... being with WA is evidence of that.

You may not think you are at present but that does not change the facts – you are a winner!

In 1998 a Frenchman called Ben Lecomte became the first man to swim the Atlantic Ocean. He did it to raise money for cancer research as a tribute to his father. 'You can't live a positive life with a negative self-identity. That's the philosophy of a man who was followed by a great white shark for five days straight. Now he plans to swim the Pacific Ocean .

How is he doing it? According to Ben, it's much more than something he does: he believes it's who he is. He said, “It's my Identity”.

As a 19 month old baby, Helen Keller was struck with illness and became blind, deaf and functionally mute. Nevertheless she wrote 12 books, give lectures and helped to establish the American Foundation for the Blind. She also worked to make Braille the standard printed form of communication for the blind. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree.

And her philosophy?

Here are some of her quotes:

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done
without hope and confidence.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and
your joy and you, shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

Finally one last story:

“The 92 year old, petite, well poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by 8 o'clock with her hair fashionably coiffed ans make-up perfectly applied, even though she is blind, moved to a nursing today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she manoeuvred her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

'I love it' she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight year old having just been presented with a new puppy.

'Ms. Jones, you haven't seen the room. Just wait'.

'That doesn't have anything to do with it' she replied, 'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange it in my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice: I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from it what you put in'”.

Go for it you WINNER!