
This morning at 5:22am to 6am, I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed is an understatement considering I am still crying and it's like 7:15am. I am at work typing away.
Kyle Maynard is what overwhelmed me.
Kyle is a congenital amputee. But that is not what is important. What is remarkable is that Kyle can do everything. Kyle is a wrestler, a model and motivational speaker. The guy is either 18 or 19 years of age. The greatest additional is that Kyle didn't grow up in an exceptionally rich home. He was like any other kid in a normal family. But this family had a great and still has a great attitude.
As Larry King was interviewing him I couldn't help but cry. Look at this guy who can do more than most of us and yet he has no legs nor hands...I kept muttering to myself. I thought of all the things I have said I cannot do. Things I have told myself are too hard to do. How could I have an excuse? How can I look myself in the mirror and limit that person I see? If you haven't seen Kyle Maynard's interview on CNN please request for it. If you want a reason never to give up, just watch Kyle.
It's one thing to hear good stories that cause us to go ahead and live out our dreams. But I promise you that it is entirely another thing to see someone push themselves to achieve beyond human imagination. I don't even know why they haven't done a movie on him.
I learnt alot this morning about making it no matter what life throws at you. I learnt that God has made us stronger than we care to know. But one thing that the parents of Kyle said will stick with me for long. You know, Kyle used to be fed when he was growing up. Sometimes he used to fall on the stairs and of course someone would have to pick him up. But one day his parents realized we will not always be around him to help him. So they begun to allow him to figure out how to pick up or feed himself. And he did. Now a statement they made was this is kinda paraphrased, "We knew he had to learn to do things for himself because the world was not going to tailor things for him." Simply said he had to learn to make the best of what he had because no one was going to stop and make room for him.
Today I wished I could take that program and take it to all the schools of the physically challenged in Kenya and to all who say they cannot make it.
I made a promise to myself this morning as I watched Larry interview Kyle...
LORD EVERYTIME I THINK I CAN'T DO SOMETHING, PLEASE REMIND ME OF KYLE.
I am just overwhelmed. If you watch Kyle you will get up and do everything that is humanly possible to accomplish your goals. And for real, you will make it. Just think of Kyle...
Writing has a way of encouraging other people. That's why I do it...
AP - Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid. Hamas responded with a rocket barrage.
AP - Pink slips are piling higher as companies scramble to cut costs even deeper to survive the country's economic and financial storms.
AP - Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy.
AP - Senate Democrats beat a hasty retreat Wednesday from their rejection of Roland Burris as President-elect Barack Obama's successor, yielding to pressure from Obama himself and from senators irked that the standoff was draining attention and putting them in a bad light. Burris said with a smile he expected to join them "very shortly."
AP - Protests over the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer turned violent Wednesday night with windows broken, fires set and train stations closed.
AP - Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club.
AP - Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.
AP - The upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama is an attractive target for international and domestic terrorists, but U.S. intelligence officials have no information about specific threats to the Jan. 20 event.
AP - Jeremy Lin scored 27 points to lead Harvard to an 82-70 upset over No. 17 Boston College on Wednesday night, three days after the Eagles upset previously top-ranked North Carolina.
Reuters - Israeli warplanes bombed targets across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and tanks advanced on Palestinian guerrillas as U.S. backing for a truce proposal raised expectations of an end to the offensive.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama will call for quick action on a fiscal stimulus package in a speech on Thursday aimed at reassuring Americans that he is determined to stem the economic crisis.
Reuters - A fresh wave of profit warnings and job cuts soured investor sentiment on Thursday after an employment report suggested U.S. job losses in December could be the worst in almost 60 years.
Reuters - In an abrupt switch, Democratic leaders began talks on Wednesday to swear in Roland Burris, appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Reuters - It took war, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the collapse of some of New York's famed investment banks, but Manhattan apartment prices are finally falling.
Reuters - The case of Ali al-Marri, accused of being an al Qaeda "sleeper" agent and held for 5-1/2 years at a U.S. military prison in South Carolina, will be an early test for President-elect Barack Obama.
AFP - Israeli warplanes bombed suspected arms-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza early Thursday, as diplomats worked to secure a ceasefire in an offensive that has killed 700 Palestinians.
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