Michael Oher was one of twelve children born to Michael Jerome Williams and Denise Oher. His mother was addicted to crack cocaine since her pregnancy with him. As a result, he received little constructive attention during his formative years. He repeated both first and second grades, and attended eleven different schools during his first nine [...]
What is this 90/10 principle? 10% is made up of what happens to you in your daily life. 90% of life is decided by how you react. What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane arriving late and throwing off our schedule. [...]
A Fisherman and an Investment Banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The investment banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. [...]
J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. Text as delivered follows. Copyright of JK Rowling, June 2008 President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, [...]
Let me be frank, I was born to be nobody. It appeared that I was destined to always stay destitute. Ironically, the day I was born, many people, family, friends, and tribal affiliates, celebrated as I was the first boy in my family. The day had a special meaning because my father was the only [...]
One day a farmer’s donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal brayed piteously as the farmer looked down and tried to figure out how to get his donkey out of the well. He couldn’t think of any way to do it. As much as he loved the old donkey, he realized that the animal [...]
Endings seem to lie in wait. Absorbed in our experience we forget that an ending might be approaching. Consequently, when the ending signals its arrival, we can feel ambushed. Perhaps there is an instinctive survival mechanism in us that distracts us from the inevitability of ending, thus enabling us to live in the present with [...]
Imagine being born without arms. No arms to wrap around someone, no hands to experience touch, or to hold another hand with. Or what about being born without legs? Having no ability to dance, walk, run, or even stand on two feet. Now put both of those scenarios together� no arms and no legs. What [...]
Naqsha Bibi, 40, was recovered alive from the debris of a collapsed house in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 10 December. The unexpected rescue came more than two months after the 8 October earthquake destroyed large parts of Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir and northern areas in Pakistan. Naqsha Bibi, now under hospital treatment, is suffering from muscle [...]
Cigaal Shiidaad and the Lion Stump Once upon a time there was a man called Cigaal Shiidaad. It was night and Cigaal Shiidaad was traveling in the countryside. He saw what looked like a lion sitting in the middle of the path. He was a coward. He thought, “Oh, this is a lion.” Cigaal Shiidaad stood [...]