Finishing Strong: Living Life Passionately No Matter What

I love being human. Someone forwarded a video to me today. I'm human. I cried watching it.

Why? Because this guy, Nick Vujicic, is inspiring. I'm sure this is making the rounds, but nevertheless, I want to comment about his message. First, the video:



Okay... are YOU going to FINISH STRONG?

What is REAL LOVE?

To me, it is realizing that we are not alone, that no matter what, we have a spiritual force to be reckoned with. It is in God. It is in US. It is UP TO US to recognize it, and let it flow.

Nick does this. In his talks about moving from a "Life Without Limbs" to "Life Without Limits," Nick demonstrates how he turned his struggle into one of helplessness into one of independence and through surrender (through Jesus) Nick discovered his message of inspiring hope to others. I respect Nick.

Now, if you were feeling down and out -- or that life has no meaning -- may I encourage you to check out Nick's story?



I really don't need to add anything other than to say: NO MATTER WHAT, NO MATTER HOW, NO MATTER WHEN, OR WHERE, LIVE LIFE TO THE COMPLETE UTMOST POSSIBLE WITHIN YOU. It is like Duke Ellington, the great jazz composer, band leader, and pianist once said, "Do the very best you can with what you've got." Or, as I tell my fellow musicians when they first come to play music with me: "Whatever you've got, bring it!" Live PASSIONATELY!

At one moment, Nick didn't think he had a future. He wanted to end his night. Today, he moved beyond those thoughts of being inadequate. But he figured something out. "There are two things we want in life. One: to be loved. Two: that everything is going to be alright." It is true, isn't it?

In another interview with Nick, where he gives his full testimony (http://www.youtube.com/v/TtweZxNGk1Y) you'll learn more about that.

Nick is inspiring because he simply gets it:

"Girls: You are beautiful, just the way you are... "
"Boys: You 'da man!"

I'd say Nick "brings it" in each moment. Are you bringing your best to each moment?

Nick's story will give you hope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEKUeMnibw

This life here is temporary. Are you living the purpose God has for you? When you fall down, get back up, try and try and try again. And then amaze yourself - and others - when you DO IT. It is our purpose to allow this passion, this spirit, this energy to flow through us and allow it to drive us forward to live as nobody else can: it is up to us to discover that journey.

Not too long ago, I failed at something. It was both hard and embarrassing to fail. And yes, it was very hard to face that failure. I thought about checking out and ending my journey. But, then, I got back up the next day, I looked outside and the sky was blue. I drove down to my favorite beach and stared into the deep blue water as it crashed upon the sandy shore. I stood in front of the ocean and the wind whistled lightly in my ears. The smell of sea salt refreshed me. A seagull with mature white colors and a funky leg stared at me. Nature called to me. I realized I'm alive for a reason. We all are alive for a reason. Do you remember what that reason is? The answer is WITHIN YOU!

No matter what, it is there, always. After 50 years of marriage, my Uncle Howard lost his wife last year. After a couple of heart attacks, Aunt Katie's weakened body just gave out one night. This year, Uncle Howard was there at my family's festive table during the holidays. He is going on. He is continuing to live. At 85, he is finding new reasons to enjoy life. What about you?

Live passionately. Experience REAL LOVE. It is there for you. You are beautiful. You are AMAZING. You are SPECIAL. I write this to remind you that no matter what, no matter where, no matter when, you have what it takes to make people laugh, to be real, to connect with people emotionally, and to make a difference. Don't just hope for it. GO FOR IT!

Be the miracle you are in every moment!
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Feel Like The Incredible Hulk: Learn Anything You Want This Year

If you're like me, you're spending parts of the beginning of this year considering ways to be better, live better, make more money, be more healthy, create more fun, experience more love, and give more to the world in 2009.

In a search for how to maximize vacation time I came across a blog by Tim Ferriss, an author who wrote the book entitled The 4-hour Workweek Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. While browsing Tim's blog, I came across a video which ought to inspire most people, entitled "How To Feel Like The Incredible Hulk":



If you don't watch this, you're doing yourself a disservice. I'm not completely sure that Tim succeeds in SHOWING us how to FEEL Like The Incredible Hulk other than how to overcome FEAR. It isn't really about fear, it is about PROCESS. You throw out "the how" and instead focus on "the WHAT". Of course, once you start doing something easier, with more results in less time, you NO LONGER FEEL AFRAID OF IT! That's the glory of his process. In so doing, I feel Tim introduces a revolutionary approach in learning.

Tim's example topics are swimming, foreign language, and ballroom dancing. Each could be an example of aptitudes many people struggle to learn, would you not agree? Yet, I believe Tim describes a brilliant approach that takes something daunting and makes it easier to grasp, thus making it more quickly and effectively something you CAN DO NOW. I'll outline it for you below.

In each example Tim gives in the video, he demonstrates the following techniques to improve what you learn to become a master:

1. THROW OUT EVERYTHING you've been TAUGHT so FAR on the subject.

2. Deconstruction: with a new perspective, define WHAT elements of this aptitude are MOST IMPORTANT, by deconstructing what experts do.

3. Find WHO or WHAT SYSTEM can TEACH YOU THOSE ELEMENTS you deconstruct the most efficiently.

4. Reconstruction: Evaluate WHAT do you WANT or NEED TO LEARN to understand THOSE ELEMENTS.

5. STUDY THOSE "WHATS" from point 4 and use them to MASTER THAT SYSTEM.

It is actually a little more complex than this, but I believe this is the process Tim uses to break down how to learn anything. He probably learned this as an athlete, as he recommends treating language as a sport. While I believe that, at some point, you'll need to transition from viewing your topic as "sport" into viewing it as "art" to become truly expert, taking the topic you wish to learn and tackling it as a sport seems to be a rapid way to learn.

The approach applied to swimming:

Let's look at his approach to swimming. With swimming, you will notice his objective was to travel a large distance in water without feeling like he could possibly drown. He didn't really say that, but that's what I gathered. So, let's plug it in the learning technique:

1. Swimming the common freestyle swimming stroke is not the most efficient way to swim long distances effortlessly. The principles and assumptions of swimming, according to Tim, were wrong! Thus, swimming always seemed so difficult and caused fear, when he realized that by breaking down the question "what's the worst that can happen" and then pushing beyond the assumptions to create a new approach to swimming.

2. A better way to swim might be to find ways to eliminate resistance, streamline your body through the water, and get air more efficiently.

3. Discovery: TOTAL IMMERSION. You will notice Tim's focus on TOTAL IMMERSION, his notes on the book and the video, then practice to become a better swimmer in just 10 days. I myself have been considering ways to become a better swimmer, so I thank Tim for sharing this with me. Total Immersion (TI) makes considerable sense to me, too, so I'll be trying it this next week at a pool near me!

4. Evaluate what you need to learn to be a better swimmer using TI: notice how in the post I just referenced in point 3 how Tim makes notes, and then breaks down the basics to focus on: (a) swimming on your side rather than your stomach, (b)focus on shoulder roll rather than pulling or kicking, (c) keeping your head in-line with your spine, driving your hands down into the water rather than floating above the water. These observations and processes are Tim's examples that demonstrate how you focus on learning THE WHAT in WHAT MATTERS MOST to LEARN the NEW TECHNIQUE.

5. Practice this, and also implement refinements to improve and MASTER THE TECHNIQUE you've adopted. You'll notice how Tim then expands and shows a video of "switching hand positions" learned from the Russian swim team to reduce stress and maximize efficiency so that you can swim more laps without tiring.

I can see why Tim is excited to share his ideas on How to Feel Like the Incredible Hulk: his process could be applied to just about ANYTHING!

The approach applied to foreign language:

He further demonstrates this with examples of how he learned a foreign language:

1. He found efforts to learn language embarrassing and ridiculously time-consuming and difficult. He decided to abandon traditional ways to learn Japanese to find a new SYSTEM.

2. His new system had to be something that would break down language into easy to learn parts and then translate across other languages, so he could learn them, too. Again, what are the FASTEST LANGUAGE LEARNERS DOING that sets them apart? Answer: Deconstruction!

3. He discovered a system of learning Japanese, the Japanese Kanji Wall chart, which upon understanding led him to a method approach to learning over six languages. If you learn these characters, you can learn how to read Japanese. He also determined six sentences that enabled him to evaluate just about any language from several perspectives:

The apple is red.
It is John’s apple.
I give John the apple.
We give him the apple.
He gives it to John.
She gives it to him.

According to Tim, "these six sentences alone expose much of the language..." These sentences show you how the language works, so you can drill down from these basics to simplify how you learn the language. It's a method approach to learning but apparently it works.

Sweet, no?

4. What is important about this system is that material matters more than method.

Again, the WHAT more than the HOW. The materials of language include the sentence structure, in comparison with sentence structure you already understand, then in comparison with how the language will be used. For example, is it Subject - Verb - Object (SVO) or Subject - Object - Verb (SOV)? This matters if you want to differentiate Japanese v. Chinese. But it also matters when you get to the WHAT Tim evaluates things like vowel sounds. If they are going to be more difficult, learn those first, then move on to the building blocks of subjects and what you want to say. The what in language, as it turns out, is how it sounds!

5. Again, practice, then learn more advanced aspects of language as you seek to master the language. Tim points out elsewhere in his blog that he hits the wall with mastering languages at 6 months, then has to have the passion to push forward to go beyond that wall. It helps to know these things.

I'm going to apply this approach to learning Spanish and Portuguese over the next year.

The approach applied to ballroom dancing:

Tim's last example is ballroom dancing. He again follows his process here:

1. He shares his disaster story where a great dancer embarrassed him in front of his classmates. He then determined that he would learn Tango and learn to COMPETE in Tango.

2. He deconstructed the dance not from a LEAD but from a FOLLOW, so that he would know the sensitivities and nuance the FOLLOW needs in order for him to LEAD more effectively.

3. He went to Argentina and learned that teaching methods were either implicit or explicit. He then found several systems of tango dance and determined one he could excel in: long-sweeping movements, variations in pivots, and usage of variance in tempo in order to compete against someone who danced for thirty years and win. He then deconstructed the dance steps (hundreds of them) with video from a professional dancer he admired.

4. He lost some weight, learned those steps, and went on to compete nationally in tango dancing contests and won a quarterfinal!

5. I'm sure that he continued to develop some additional dance steps as he learned additional dances, and realized he could incorporate those into his style, but again this process started with deconstruction and then reconstruction from the very best who could teach the WHAT movements he was trying to learn.

I'm going to take this approach to learning to something I've been working on: bongos and piano. First: bongo drums. I've been working to learn the bongo drums lately and sometimes play them publicly; however, I know I must improve in order to IMPRESS people with my bongo drumming.

To use Tim's approach, I'm going to first forget what I know (people hit the drum) and learn from a new approach: that hand techniques, finger techniques, and the speed must be integrated from basic "forms" that can be quickly learned and carried into other instruments, too. I will then break it down into the basics of WHAT I need to know, WHO knows that BEST, then LEARN THOSE THINGS. I already had one lesson with my friend, Tim Costa, who traveled to Cuba for a month to study with masters of Cuban music. So, learning bongos starts with the "martillo" pattern. I've been learning that pattern over slow and faster rhythm structures. To expand upon this knowledge and skill, I purchased "The Art of Bongo Drumming" by Trevor Salloum. I'll show more on this in the future...

Are you striving to learn something new, too? Try this system and see how it works for you:

1. THROW OUT EVERYTHING you've been TAUGHT so FAR on the subject.

2. Deconstruction: with a new perspective, define WHAT elements of this aptitude are MOST IMPORTANT, by deconstructing what experts do.

3. Find WHO or WHAT SYSTEM can TEACH YOU THOSE ELEMENTS you deconstruct the most efficiently.

4. Reconstruction: Evaluate WHAT do you WANT or NEED TO LEARN to understand THOSE ELEMENTS.

5. STUDY THOSE "WHATS" from point 4 and use them to MASTER THAT SYSTEM.

Special nod: I'd like to extend my special thanks to Tim Ferriss for providing inspiration for this article.
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Jessica Haynes on AspireNow Radio, Discusses "Get What You Want -- Now!"

Join Scott Andrews, Host of the AspireNow: Seriously Fun Self Help Radio Show this Tuesday, June 10th, at 5PM PST / 8PM EST with special guest Jessica Haynes. Jessica Haynes has been a Business and Relationship Consultant for the past twenty years, and will be taking your calls during the hour. Today she will be talking about her highly successful book, Get What You Want – Now! Money, Love, Power, and more…

That’s right: you can get the loving relationship, career, lifestyle, and level of prosperity that you always imagined for yourself. Jessica will guide you through the five steps of successful manifesting, and answer your questions regarding your relationships, work, money needs, and personal growth path. Jessica will explain how to maximize your talents, reach your potential, and live your dreams during this hour. Get ready for a lot of refreshing ideas, breakthrough perspectives, and ah-ha moments!

To Call In: Dial (724) 444-7444.
Enter 37792 # Enter: 1 #
or your Talkshoe PIN

Topic: Get What You Want – Now!

Jessica has been a business and relationship coach for twenty years and works with a steady clientele nationally and internationally. She counsels business leaders, noted personalities, and enjoys teaching individuals across the U.S. how to realize their dreams. Whether you are getting started on the path of finding your purpose, or focusing on your career Jessica offers renewed hope. Jessica gives you nuts-and-bolts strategies that work!

Jessica receives countless letters and e-mails from her clients and seminar participants affirming that what she teaches improves their lives. Learn how to improve your innate skills, talents, and inner confidence. She can help you maximize your potential. Jessica has been a guest on panels with such top authors and motivational speakers as Ram Dass, Raymond Moody, and Dannion Brinkley. From the State of the World Forum, to the San Francisco Expo, and as far away as Japan… she continues to share her formula for getting what you want and building a dream life.

Whether Jessica is talking about relationships, careers, or finding one’s purpose, an important point stands out… she motivates you! She connects you to your most valuable resource: YOU … that powerful part of you designed to prosper and thrive.

Here are some highlights in this hour:

• How your thoughts affect your future.
• How to be at the right place at the right time.
• How to put yourself first and still win the hearts of others.
• How to have lasting relationships and a fulfilling career.
• How to create wealth, all the while being your true, authentic self.
• How to stop repeating old patterns that hold you back.
• How to find inner fulfillment, peace of mind, and a secure future.

Jessica uses both her clinical psychology background and her highly intuitive skills. In 1983, Jessica had a near death experience. The insights she gained from dying and coming back began to attract clients from across the nation. She turned her attention from that of being a top marketing executive to coaching and helping others reach their dreams and goals. Jessica will share her amazing story. She will also give you the positive ripple-effect that continues to help people around the globe.

What do you want? Is it a better relationship? Having more money? Improving your career opportunities? Learning how to communicate better with others? Enjoying more free time or expanding your hobbies? Maybe, it is being able to ask for what you want, and get it! All this, and more, is answered in Jessica’s book, and we will be talking about these win-win situations today. Jessica will walk you through the mind-set of becoming your best self and getting what you really want out of life.

It's simple and easy to join in!

When: Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 5PM PST (1 hour Internet Talk Radio Show)

How to Participate:

1. Visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792 - this enables you to text questions and see questions/live chat during the show.

2. Dial (724) 444-74443. Enter 37792 # Enter: 1 # or your Talkshoe PIN. This enables you to call in and ask questions live via telephone.

Note: You can also download Talkshoe's Classic player to use the "Classic" version of the show format for text comments and show hosting, although this step is no longer necessary to join.

If you MISS the show, visit http://www.aspirenow.com/ and listen via the Talkshow player, or visit: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792.

Also, make sure to click the "follow the show" box if you're listening from the TalkShoe link: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792. See you there!!
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When Friends Go Their Own Way

What causes friends to pull back and stop reaching out to us?

In the past, I've pulled away from certain friends. You've probably experienced friends pulling away from you, too. Friends come and go in a natural ebb and flow but sometimes friends pull away because they have fulfilled your purpose in their life. Other times, they pull away because they are busy with a new job, a new relationship, or other activities. They might be distant because of new activities within their household, such as events for their children. Or, they might be pulling away because they're in a pity party.

I've seen friends get hurt, because they felt you didn't do what they wanted. But their expectation doesn't have to match your reality, does it? So, even though you didn't say or do what they wanted, this doesn't make you necessarily bad or wrong. It just means there was a disconnect in expectation and result. One of my closest friends stepped back for about 3 months after living on my couch for a few months. I'd asked him to pay rent and tensions grew until he decided to leave. At first, he acted angry with me. That was his choice. But, the fact of the matter is I'd done him a favor, but further enabling him not getting his act together wasn't serving either of us in our friendship. I held strong, and later extended an olive branch to let him know I'm still his friend. Today, he got his act together, has his own place, and is now saving up for a new car, too! Yesterday, we hung out for a bit, and watched the sea together for a little while during conversation. It is nice to have friendships where you can just talk, listen, and be real with each other. So, the natural give and take, when restored to a healthy balance, restores friendship.

Recently, another friend withdrew. I believe she felt hurt by several things and perhaps just frustrated how we communicated. So, she pulled back. It's normal human behavior when communication give and take breaks down.

As I write this article, it becomes clear to me that give and take is really what this is all about.

People may need something from us, so they reach out to us. Other times, they feel we've taken enough from them, so they pull away, or, they've taken enough, and would feel guilty to take more without repaying the favor, so they pull away then, too. It's all about the natural balance of give and take and the flow of life where we can benefit from being around each other.

Are you trapped in a "pity party"? If so, your friends may have pulled away from you because you're a downer. Being around downers is like being around energy vampires - you're taking from them! Work on releasing the resentment, guilt, and loser attitude by focusing on new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that create the life you most desire. When people see you succeeding in manifesting your dreams, you'll attract more (and often better) influences back into your life! Once you're no longer sucking someone's energy, you'll find it easier to attract more of what you do want back to you.

If you're withdrawing because life has overwhelmed you, remember that at some point, connecting with others is part of what helps us remain balanced. Take your time to withdraw. Then, once you feel healthy, grounded in your self, and rooted firmly on your own two feet, come back into the world of social interaction.

Life is so exciting when we expand our circles to include abundant, healthy, happy, and exciting people. Is your circle of friends what you want?

I know one person who claims to want to be in a committed relationship. Yet, half of her friends are single women who hate men. What are the odds she will realize her objective with all of these negative influences poisoning her mind? Right- probably not very high.

I know another friend who claims to want financial abundance. Yet, half of his friends struggle to just pay rent. What are the odds he will realize his objective with all of these people who don't know how to attract abundance weighing on him with their "lack" attitudes? Again, probably not very high.

Another friend often tells me she is lonely. Yes, each time I've invited her out to various events I attend, she only takes me up on it about a fifth of the time. Most times, I find out she stayed at home with her dog. Do you think maybe she is choosing her loneliness? I keep offering her a chance to go out and have fun. It is up to her to accept to live life again with all fullness and gusto, right?

Choose your friends wisely. If someone does not match the qualities you want in a friend, let them go. Send out the vibe of what you DO want and then take action towards that objective. I recently did this with my Facebook account (see scott at aspirenow dot com on Facebook to add me). I decided that I want to be friends with everyone who was in the movie "The Secret" because I believe these people have a firm foundation of how to manifest what they want in life. The first who accepted my request to add was John Assaraf. I loved John's story about his vision board in the movie, and after adding him as a friend decided to add any of John's friends who looked like they were happy with positive light in their picture. That's right, I made choices just based upon pictures. Well, guess what? This connection has now led me to be closely associated with Richard Branson, the CEO of Virgin Airlines! I love larger than life people like Richard, and can't wait to get to know him better.

So, don't worry about the sense of loss you felt when friends went their own way. Sometimes, it really is for the best for all of you. They are free to do what they want, anyway. If you let them go (with love) it is likely they will come back when they are ready (in love).

Focus on what you want, then seek out the people who exhibit those qualities. You can take it to the bank that as you attract people who are happy, fulfilled, manifesting their dreams, successful, and empowered, that your life will be more empowered, too.
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Purity of Light in Love

I'm investigating the work of Sukyo Mahikari right now.

From the Sukyo Mahikari website, it says:

Sukyo Mahikari has its roots in an organization that Mr. Kotama Okada founded on
August 28,1959, to promote Mahikari practice. This was in response to a
revelation he received from Creator God on February 27, 1959.

Mr. Okada's heartfelt desire was to help people live in a more God-centered and spiritual way based on the universal principles that God established at Creation. In this way, people will be able to fulfill God's prayer for humanity, which is to
create a Heaven on Earth, a world of peace and harmony. He said that it is God's
greatest joy to see his children happily co-operating with each other and living
fulfilled lives.

From this description, I was struck by the concept that God's prayer for humanity is to create a Heaven on Earth, a world of peace and harmony. At a time when our nation in America is at war in two countries, and other countries are struggling to emerge from industrial poverty into the limelight of industrial powerhouses (China and India), we find our microcosm of life to be pretty small, at times. Other times, we realize that it is our immediate thoughts, actions, and emotions that are influencing a great many people.

In your relationships, are you happily co-operating with each other and living fulfilled lives?

Sometimes, we sweep things under the rug. Other times, we just accept things and say "Well, that's just the way they are. Nothing will change even if I do speak up." Are we accepting less when we know we could have more together? Embrace your best self and become the great person you were meant to be.

It is a challenge, to get it right. We must live our most fulfilled life! Our partners, friends, and children ought to be supporting that objective. If they are not, our life is out of balance.

How can we get back into balance?

Answer: by embracing God and the natural energy and flow of our higher self. We must speak our truth, we must dig deep into the soul of our relationships and share our deepest thoughts with one another. We must live happily and be happy to see each other - and show it.

Have you been honoring your father-creator God's vision for you? You are a child of God. It is your right and destiny to claim your place in the joy, peace, and harmony awaiting your own Heaven on Earth.

Ask for the Divine Light - your own true light - to shine upon you, to relieve you of your guilt, burden, and challenge of being your best self. Then step into the light that washes you anew. (See picture of True Light healing exercise here). A new beginning is just around the corner...
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Inspiration From Marlee Matlin

Do you watch the television show Dancing With The Stars? This season, I've caught onto it. Why? Several reasons: I've always been a fan of Adam Corolla's wit and enjoyed the first few shows where he made everyone laugh. Also, I remember when Kristi Yamaguchi won the Ladies Singles event at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Her grace and highly-developed skating skills are helping her compete well for the top. And, these stars are fun to watch compete.

Not only that, but the dancing is pretty impressive! I also aspire to be a better samba, rumba, swing, and tango dancer. As a musician, I appreciate the music. As a beginning dancer, I appreciate the challenge these stars face. They are doing a fantastic job learning a new dance EVERY WEEK! And, these dances aren't easy: they have to impress keen judges. The schedule of this show is so difficult for the stars that they often don't get much time around their family. It is highly demanding upon them mentally, emotionally, and physically.

But more than any of these reasons for loving this season's Dancing With The Stars, I am especially inspired by MARLEE MATLIN.

Why? Well, Kristi has an unfair advantage: she's been performing routines like dancing during her skating routines. The other stars are used to acting, and Marlee Matlin is no exception. But what makes it so much more impressive that Marlee is out there competing and still in the running (as of the time I write this piece) even though Marlee Matlin is DEAF.

I know, so what, just another handicap, right? WRONG. Being deaf, for a dancer, is one heckuva challenge. And Marlee is not just deaf, but PROFOUNDLY DEAF. She really can't hear the music. I've never seen a deaf person dance so well in all of my life. Tonight, she stumbled twice during the samba dance. For those who don't know, samba is fast and really difficult to dance even if you're a dancer and used to hearing the music and feeling the beat.

Here's a You Tube from Week 1 when Marlee came on the show:

The judges:

"What you did out there was SO INSPIRING."
"You had great choreography. You did a GREAT job."
"UNBELIEVABLE. You may not hear, but the music is running through your blood."

Marlee:
"As a mother of four I'm doing it for my kids. Why not, life is short!"

It was SO AWESOME to see Marlee shaking her hips to the beat, taking chances that most people with normal hearing wouldn't even risk, and going for a flip over her head at one point! Amazing. I'm so impressed with the human spirit of this woman.

We've seen Marlee do this before, with acting. She has been acting since a kid, but amazed the whole world in her debut movie performance, Children of a Lessor God, where she won an Academy Award for her performance.

According to Wikipedia, Marlee also has published a book about her childhood in 2002 and in 2004 she starred in one of my favorite movies, "What The Bleep Do We Know?" where she dug into the quantum physics of life experiences.1 If you read Marlee's background you will learn that she is an avid supporter of promoting sign language as a non-verbal form of communication and also is a leader in representing closed caption broadcasts. Not only that, but she also is a MOTHER of FOUR children. How does she do it? In hearing her talk, I could tell that she simply believes SHE CAN and then fights through the adversity to PROVE she can. Yes!

What especially resonated for me in watching tonight's show was to hear Marlee say, in her own words, how much she wanted to be an example for deaf people how they CAN do WHATEVER THEY WANT. Then she went out and showed it with a FUN and SPIRITED dance performance to the challenging samba dance. She talked about how scary it was to slip at one point but recovered, overcame the adversity of slipping again, and finished impressively to score respectably. No, she probably won't win the event - Kristi Yamaguchi and her partner are just too strong - but she is showing quite well and placing in the middle of the group.

Marlee said "dancing the samba was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I fought through it..." and the judges also said they were inspired by Marlee, too.

I was so inspired that I not only wrote this article, I even picked up a phone and cast a vote for Marlee (you can dial 1-800-868-3412 to vote for her, too).

Kudos to Marlee Matlin. Thank you for showing deaf people that there is HOPE and if you want something bad enough, anything you want to do you CAN do. Go for it and represent your cause with all your heart. Marlee's doing it. Are you?

Who has inspired you this week? Are you finding the beauty in other people? They are out there, every day, for us to notice.
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