Leonardo da Vinci’s contributions to art, science and engineering establish him as one of the great geniuses in history. Whether it be designing a flying machine or painting the Mona Lisa, his mind was alive, observant, and creative. He is credited with making this comment about maintaining mental sharpness: “Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity; … even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.”
My husband and I were walking in a park one morning when we spotted a mother squirrel scurrying along a power line with her baby in her mouth. She delivered the little squirrel to a new nest she had built in a tree. Then she ran back across the wire to fetch another baby from the old nest and transport it to its new home. Back and forth she scampered until she had deposited all six of her babies in their new home. Indeed, being a mother is hard work!
Do you about the story of a writer whose writing career spanned three decades, from the mid-1960’ through the mid-1990? She wrote 12 books and received 16 honorary doctorate degrees. But 3 years before she died of cancer in 1996, popular honorist Erma Bombeck told an ABC TV interviewer that no matter how many columns she had written, her legacy would be her three children. “If I did a bad job with them,” she said, “then everything else (I) do isn’t very important.”
When my favorite professor was moving into old age, he was asked to grant permission for his biography. He refused, saying, “A man’s life should never be written while he is living. What is important is how a man ends, not how he begins.
For better or worse, I have failed to follow that dictum. My biography has been published. Yet I agree with my professor that the way our lives end is a crucial test.
Raising a child is a tough job, especially for single mothers or working mothers who have to struggle with work and home life and juggle on their scarce time. But for those mothers who are not afraid to put a little faith in technology, the internet, when used properly, can be a very helpful tool in educating kids. Try to visit educational websites where your child can learn ABC’s and 1,2,3’s and other nursery rhymes. These websites could be a tool that would help mothers in molding their youngsters.
During the basic training of my friend in the Army, he said that their drill sergeant worked hard week after week to transform them from a group of slouching civilians into a company of men who stood straight and walked tall. It was not an easy job. When he finally said, “You’re looking good!” they felt proud of who they were and how they had changed.
I’m sure you know what it’s like to have been burned. Once I accidentally poured boiling water all over my feet. For over a week after that, I had to wear slippers to school. And apart from humiliation of wearing such cool footwear, I hade to deal with the teasing about how clumsy I was. Besides this, I had a really uncomfortable time trying to find a position that would cause me the least pain possible. It seemed that every which way I turned, the burn would hurt.
I’m a happy 32 years old. I gave my life to God at the age of 12, so I’m celebrating 20 years of being in a happy relationship with Him! Wow. That means if I live until a hundred, I have 68 happy years to go. People laughed when say that. Because 99% of the people I meet don’t want to live until a hundred. They like to live only until sixty-five or seventy-five. Well, I think differently. I enjoy life. Immensely!
If you were asked to remember a person who means a lot to you, who would it be? It may be your instructor, best friend, parent, siblings, or even your grandparent. But usually, we remember a person who we feel that cares and understand us and someone who stand by our side whether we are happy or sad, right? Now, who would that be person in your life?
I remember the story about six armed gunmen who broke into the deposit boxes in a London bank and stole valuables worth more than $7 million. One woman, whose jewelry was appraised at $500,000, wailed, “Everything I had was in there. My whole life was in that box”.
Some people have taken foolish risks to cling to their riches. They have died rushing into burning houses or were killed because they stubbornly resisted armed robbers. Apparently, they felt that without their material possessions life would not be worthwhile. Others, when they lose their wealth, slip into despair, even to the point of suicide.