I need some cheering up. Please share your inspiring stories --

[IdaBriggs]

of deeds you've done that you are incredibly proud of, even when you weren't sure you could do them.

I am in the middle of a project that is just mentally overwhelming, and I need some encouragement. I know many people here have picked up "impossible projects" and made a positive difference in the world, and folks, I need to hear from you.

Please tell me a story, and help me through my small crisis of faith in myself and my own judgment.

Pretty please? :)

[Geoff R. Casavant]

1. Well, this one isn't me, but . . .

My wife works in the city library. Yesterday she helped a woman design and print some flyers. In conversation, it turned out that this woman had suffered a stroke, and only learned to walk again a few weeks ago. But she still arranged for her church to prepare meals for those less fortunate for the holidays, and she was printing flyers to distribute on the bus.

[IdaBriggs]

15. Had a stroke, just learned to walk - and making sure other people get fed.

Wow. And your wife helped / is a part of that. Thank you for sharing that!!!

[taterguy]

2. I hiked from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the bottom and back in one day

Didn't really make the world a better place but taught me a lot about how far I could push myself if I really wanted to.

Try it sometime the next time you think you're overwhelmed.

Trust me.

[IdaBriggs]

16. I don't even know you, and this picture (including the words!)

makes me want to meet you, and listen to some more of your stories!

Thank you for sharing it!

[kickysnana]

3. This is not just about me but about DU and Katrina

When it became apparent that NOLA had been abandoned by Bush many DUers stepped up to do what the could. Some went in person, some sent money but many of us who could not send money, nor physically helped started by writing and calling and eventually Al Gore broke the impasse and went in.

There was a group who attempted to get postal lists of NOLA residents for use afterward. As for as I know that did not succeed but we started combing news feeds, blogs early and started threads and people started finding their niches of things we could do.

I started by finding any information on the destinations of buses heading out of the region and posted the links to the articles in a thread with identifying paragraphs in a continuing thread. I slept for 2 hours and then continued searching the internet and adding. It was the best exhausted I have had since giving birth. That database was noticed and the CMEC and the equivalent adult missing persons database picked it up to use to help reunite families. Eventually their volunteers picked the updating up and I was able to do some other small things and get some sleep. Other DUers started a database of missing persons that was merged with theirs once they got their permissions.

The story of the impromptu outpouring of internet based help made it to the Discover magazine. I truly believe that the outcome would have even been far worse if we had not been able to do these things starting right here. What we documented will serve as a history forever of one of the biggest engineered disasters in American history.

PS. I was running a household of 4 then 6 adults and one infant on on $548 disability and $110 in food stamps 1995 to 2002 while battling MS and a resistant staff infection. We survived, my kids moved up and out and I eventually stopped wearing my sons hand-me-down clothes. My kids had wonderful sense of humor. ie We are so poor we can't even pay attention. Mom shops at Savers with a coupon and sometimes gets a rebate!

[IdaBriggs]

17. That is an amazing story - both the Katrina, and the life challenge!

I did a volunteer stint (stationed in Alabama Distribution) for American Red Cross during Katrina. And we lost my sister to MS about five years ago.

Thank you for sharing these things. I have no idea of how many lives you helped make better, but thank you - and thank you for reminding me of my sister, who I loved....

[kimmerspixelated]

4. Something that I recall from 3 or 4 yrs. ago.

At a lunchtime restaurant on Father's Day, a middle aged woman befriended an older lady at the buffet who was having a bit of trouble with minor things. She called the waiter, etc., directed her where she needed to go, and other helpful pleasantries. Later as she was leaving, she made a point to pay for the lady's lunch ticket, pretty much anonymously. I overheard the whole thing, also the delight and surprise and gratefulness that followed and I'll never forget how warm-hearted I felt during the event. Just the other day, on a Wayne Dyer PBS show, he said that it was even proven that by doing something for someone else it raises the good levels of serotonin or whatever, and even by just witnessing something nice like that it raises the onlooker's , too! I still get kinda choked up thinking about the simple kindnesses we are all so capable of. Imagine if everyone did something nice for someone else all at the same exact moment!

[IdaBriggs]

18. A small thing that years later makes everyone who hears it happier---

and reminds us all that we are capable of being amazing people!

Thank you for sharing it!

[kimmerspixelated]

42. No problem, I'll never forget it!

[Vinca]

5. After I was no longer a police officer, a woman approached me one day

and told me that something I had said to her during one of her many arrests made her go into treatment for alcoholism. Years later, I've seen her and she's still sober. It's funny, though, because I don't remember what I said.

[IdaBriggs]

19. A person who served others on a daily basis, helping a fellow human being get sober.

Thank you for sharing yourself with me today. :)

[flobee1]

6. sort of volunteering at the local soup kitchen

by "sort of" I mean that I am in charge of taking teens on court ordered community service. Instead of doing meaningless work like scrubbing graffitti off walls and picking up trash along the road, I take them to soup kitchens, food banks, and homeless shelters. Yes, I get paid for this, but instead of feeling punished, they get a chance to help people in need.
And don't get me wrong-we all worked our asses off today! Opened the place up at 9, prepped the dining area, fed 176 people in the span of an hour and a half and then cleaned everything up and closed the doors at 2:00
What I try to do is make it seem less like a scene out of cool hand luke, and more like a scene out of pay it forward.
and it works
Not only am I trying to change the teenager's mindset, I try to help those that are less fortunate at the same time.


If at the end of their court ordered service I never see them again-I have done my job
-----------------------------------------------
2 years ago, I helped raise money and went on a 172 mile charity bike ride for cancer research. Even after training for 5 months, that is the most challenging thing I have ever done, and I crossed the finish line with all the energy I had left.
Thinking about doing it again this summer!
I plan on hooking the bike up to the indoor trainer after newyears and seeing how things pan out endurance wise.

[IdaBriggs]

20. Changing the lives of people in so many ways - the teens who

need to understand how much they matter to all of the people around them, and the people who need to be reminded that others care about them, too.

And the bike thing: I had a great uncle who biked from the upper peninsula of Michigan to Florida (when he was 75 years old). We lost him the same year we lost Andy, but he'd biked several miles the day before he died. He was a good man, who lived to be in his 90s. Thank you for making me think of them both....

[The Straight Story]

7. Drove from Columbus, Ohio to Ridgecrest, CA with only a1 1/2 hour nap

For love. And yes, it was very mentally taxing. Only had to question my sanity once in the desert between needles and Barstow where I thought I saw a huge gray wolf run across the road (was like 2am or so). When I say big, I mean man size.

But I made it....unless I died and this is hell ;)

[IdaBriggs]

21. For love. I like that. I had a long distance relationship once

that was from Colorado to Michigan. We're still friends, and he is a good person, and I still remember how much seeing him mattered to me back when it was young and (for me) first serious.

Thank you for being someone who was willing to do that, and for bringing those happy memories to mind.... :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. As a Red Cross Medic in Tijuana

I helped establish a world class program.

On the down side... politics took care of it. but while it lasted, we had the best pre hospital care in Mexico, and one of the best in North America. All on a string shoe budget.

Oh and as a personal note, my skills allowed me to help a few patients survive critical trauma. Oh and of course a few babies that are now teens, or young adults... god I am dating myself.

[IdaBriggs]

22. A shoe string budget - it can be done!

And a world class program to boot! This really helps; it might not have lasted forever, but it was the answer to prayers for the people who got the help they needed when it was there.

Thank you....

[Dinger]

9. Oldie But Good (Remember "Little Barack")

Here's the thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8463682#8465494

[IdaBriggs]

25. That is a wonderful story - first of all, you being a teacher who touches lives,

and second, helping your student get to be at an event with the President! What an inspirational and wonderful story!

Thank you for sharing - I can't wait to see what this young man does with his life!!!

[Dinger]

32. Thank You Ida

It has been a very special moment in my life and I will never forget it.

[Captain Hilts]

10. I'm getting a phd after a professor suggested I drop out in my first year. nt

[IdaBriggs]

23. That makes me very happy. The ones who think they "know" and

then turn out to be simply the story of what we overcame on the way to our success.

Thank you for sharing this! :)

[AngryAmish]

11. I once ate two "super" burritos from la Bamba in one sitting

[IdaBriggs]

24. Congratulations - and thank you for making me smile! nt

[distantearlywarning]

12. Ten Years Ago This Month

I was living in a city I hated, with no social support network, and I was living in a horrible little ghetto apartment with a man who emotionally and physically abused me and my cats. I had a car with 250K miles on it, no health insurance, a high-school diploma, and had never held a job with higher status and pay than that of being a secretary. The man I was living with had made me get rid of all my furniture in favor of his furniture when we combined households, so I also had very few possessions to my name. I was using the last shreds of my self-esteem to bolster me enough to set up a "secret" checking account and put a bed on lay-away so that I would at least have someplace to sleep when I left him. And the next year following that was even worse. :-(

Flash forward one decade: I live in a city I love with all my heart, in a house I own, I have a great group of friends, and am happily married to a man who consistently treats me with love and respect and who would kill himself before he would ever lay a finger on me. During the last ten years, I also finished a bachelor's degree (with honors), a master's degree (my thesis is being published in a prestigious journal), and I'm working on my dissertation. When I finally get out of school, I will not only be making six figures, I will be doing something important and good for the world. Although my life is not perfect, I respect and like myself, and others respect and like me too. Oh, and I also quit smoking. :-)

The moral of this story: Nothing is impossible. And the wheel is always turning - you never know what kind of impossible things you might have happen to you or which you might be able to achieve in time.

P.S. The abusive asshole in question (the one who told me how "stupid and lazy" I was on numerous occasions) is still unmarried, and last I heard was working as a janitor (no joke!) He also looks 10 years older than he is, while I am often mistaken for someone 5-10 years younger than I am. I like to think of it as our respective natures coming out on our faces as we age. Oh, and Karma happens. :-)

[flobee1]

13. Nothing is impossible. And the wheel is always turning

words to live by!

Here's another saying for ya!
What are YOU going to do to become a legend today?

-that saying is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning

[IdaBriggs]

27. Nothing is impossible - only expensive!

LOL! And I like the saying!

Thank you for sharing. :)

[distantearlywarning]

33. Well, yeah.

I didn't mention that I have *mumble mumble* thousands of dollars in student loans. But it was worth it, if for no other reason than that I feel like I'm finally living up to my potential and doing what I was meant to do in the world.

[flobee1]

40. 25 grand left to pay off for me

on my loan for a Network engineering degree.
and my current job is Work Detail Coordinator for the county juvenile court
go figure.

[IdaBriggs]

26. Wow. Just WOW. I am so glad you are doing so well -

and I guess I'll have bad karma for being glad that the abusive ex is living a life where his character is being reflected in such a fashion! LOL!

Thank you for sharing how everything can change.....

[BeFree]

14. Election Reform

Despite a lot of naysayers and Bushco backers working against us, an estimated 5,348 activists working on the web and in their local communities made election officials get rid of the machines that allowed Bush to get reSelected in 2004.

As proof of their success, almost all of the machines that gave the election to Bush in 2004 had been outlawed by the time the the 2008 election rolled around.

A small group of dedicated people can change the world.

[IdaBriggs]

28. Truth to Power, one small step at a time.

There were / are some amazingly stubborn people who made that happen.

I remember my small part in it - when it seemed like it was never going to happen, and then people came together....

Thank you for reminding me that things *can* change, even when it seems like it can't.

Never give up. Never surrender. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!

[Obamanaut]

29. Thank you for starting this thread. I've been reading despite the

specks in my eyes.

Miz O had an accident in 2006. In the ICU there was doubt that she would make it to morning, and if so how extensive the permanent brain damage would be. There were also multiple broken and displaced bones.

She did make it. There is some memory loss. During the recovery phase I was her caregiver, and we went everywhere together - physical therapy, women's bathrooms, everywhere.

We did PT together every day. We walked through the yard with me holding her belt while she picked up pine cones - working on her walking, balance, and gripping skills.

Now, 3 1/2 years later, she goes nearly every day to the nursing home where her mom lives, has 'adopted' several of the other residents, goes on various outings with the residents, goes shopping for some of the residents who can't go themselves to get supplies for their crafts projects.

When she was released by the last of many doctors, she was told that they had not believed she would progress as far as she did or as fast. She is my hero, and she knows it because I told her.

[Neecy]

30. This isn't a difference in the world...

But it was for a little dog I fostered named Teddy. He had been physically abused and confined for years, and I began fostering him when he was 11. The goal was to socialize him for eventual adoption, although senior dogs can be very hard to place.

Anyway, Teddy arrived in a large plastic crate. For a full six months, he only left it to go outside. I took to calling his crate his condo since he never left it and I was tempted to landscape it. I had to keep a leash on him to even get him to go outside, gently pulling it and guiding him to the yard while he fought me all the way. I always made sure that when he watched me warily out in the yard I'd give my other dogs lots of pets and affection. I played fetch with my dog Guido with a little yellow duck that he loved. I tried to make him see, visually, that no one would hurt him.

After about half a year of this, Teddy finally walked up to me for a pet outside. He was shaking and scared but it was a very brave thing for him to do.

A couple of nights later, I woke up to a loud squeaking noise in the house. I went into the living room and Teddy was out of his crate, playing on the floor with the little yellow duck and having a great time. It was probably the first time in his 11 years he had something to play with. The war, as they say, was won. I threw the crate away a few months later as he stopped using it and adopted little Teddy myself.

He's now a happy, reasonably well adjusted, affectionate senior citizen. If he could overcome the odds, so can you.

[distantearlywarning]

34. This story made me cry tonight.

Thank you so much for sharing it. And thank you for being a kind friend to a little creature in the world. Teddy might be only one small being, but all the small kind acts in this world add up eventually.

[Obamanaut]

39. Yes, it is a difference in the world. nt

[L0oniX]

31. Joe Lieberman was killed by a rouge wild bore while attending a pick nick...

...with the CEO of United Health Care.

...just trying to cheer you up.
:evilgrin:

[HillGal]

35. Do you have a roof over your head? do you have food in your belly? is your home warm?

even though you're feeling overwhelmed, do you feel mentally stable? If you answered yes to all these then remember there are many out there who would answer no.

[mgc1961]

36. You can do it!

In 1999, I decided to train for and run a marathon. The next spring, at the age of 39, I finished a local race in 3 hours 44 minutes and 40 seconds, well ahead of my 4 hour goal. In 2008 I ran the same course after a one year postponement due to an injury. Though I missed my goal by 75 seconds, I can't honestly complain about the result. I completed the race 13 minutes faster than my first effort despite being eight years older.


"Only think of two things - the report of the pistol and the tape. When you hear one, run like hell until you break the other."

- Sam Mussabini's final advice to Harold Abrahams prior to the Olympic 100 meter race in Paris, 1924.

[EFerrari]

37. I don't have a story tonight but your judgment has always seemed right on to me, Ida.

:hi:

[Mari333]

38. Okay, here is mine.

a little over 3 years ago, my 23 yr old youngest son had had back surgery, very intensive surgery. He was staying with me and recuperating, and was hooked up with a catheter and a lot of rehab he needed to get well.
He was staying in my spare bedroom and one day he called me into the room.

"Mom," he said "I need a book."

I was certainly surprised he asked. He wasnt one to read that many books. He preferred playing drums , guitars, and writing poetry.

But he wanted a book from the library. He was adamant about it.

"I need for you to go get House of Spirits by Isabel Allende" he said.

Now my mind was really blown..House of Spirits?? and how did he even know who she was?? this was not like him.

But, I went and got the book and brought it back to him.

3 days later he came out of the spare bedroom with the book and said "Okay, here."

I asked him, "did you read it?"

No, he said..and then he showed me a drawing in his hand. It was the most beautiful sketch of Isabel Allende I had ever seen. He had drawn the sketch of her from her picture on the back of the book.

My son had never drawn a picture of anyone in his life!!

I took his picture and told him how beautiful it was, then I put it away.


about a month after all of this, my son passed away at the age of 23. he had a reaction to medication.
I found him and thought he was asleep.


I cannot tell you how this felt, it would be impossible to describe the pain and shock in mortal words.

But a couple of months later, I was looking for some things in my desk and found his picture of Isabel Allende.

I wondered why he had ever drawn it.

I went to google and found her website.

she had one, and I sent her an email and told her about my son drawing her picture, the only picture he had ever drawn of anyone in his life.

I didnt expect an answer, but the next day, there was one.

and it was from her. It was from Isabel Allende.

She asked me a lot of questions about my son, and asked me how I was doing.

Then, she told me she wanted to send me a book she had just written.

It was a book about her young adult daughter, who had passed on at a young age.

The book was called Paula, and it was a book about Isabel Allende going through the journey of watching her daughter pass on, and what she ensuffered and how she made contact with her daughters spirit, and her understanding of it all.

she sent the book, with a kind inscription to me.



-------------------------------------------

I honestly believe that my son knew in some part of his soul that I would need that book to help me thru this. He knew it even before he passed on. There is no other explanation as to why he did what he did.

I hope this helps. that we get thru what we have to get thru and sometimes there seems to be something greater helping us all thru it.

I tend to count on that 'something greater' every day.

[Uncle Joe]

41. Here is a link to one.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x503067

Good luck and take care.:)

[mdmc]

43. ==

[kayakjohnny]

44. This is'nt about me at all, but it still might help if you haven't seen it yet.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Mystery-Couple-Pay-It-Forward-79179347.html?yhp=1

Cheers!