SPEECH BY ANNA QUINDLEN

This was a speech made by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Anna Quindlen
at the graduation ceremony of an American university where she was
awarded an Honorary PhD.
"I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't
ever confuse the two, your life and your work. You will walk out of here
this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be
hundreds of people out there with your same degree: there will be
thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will
be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your
particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk or your
life on a bus or in a car or at the computer. Not just the life of your
mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank accounts but also
your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier
to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort
on a winter's night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when
you've received your test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume: I am a good mother to three children. I have tried
never to let my work stand in the way of being a good parent. I no
longer consider myself the centre of the universe. I show up. I listen.
I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make
marriage vows mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends and
them to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today,
because I would be a cardboard cut out. But I call them on the phone and
I meet them for lunch. I would be rotten, at best mediocre, at my job if
those other things were not true.

You cannot be really first rate at your work if your work is all you
are. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life,
not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque, the
larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if
you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on
a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a
red-tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with
concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and first
finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who
love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the
phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are
generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you
have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its
goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have
spent on beer and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big
brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good
too, then doing well will never be enough.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes.
It is so easy to take for granted the colour of our kids' eyes, the way
the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again.
It is so easy to exist instead of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. I learned to love the journey, not the
destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today
is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the
world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it,
completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling
others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of
the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the back yard with
the sun on your face.

Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if
you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived".

 ~EIGHT LIES OF A MOTHER~

1.The story began when I was a child;
I was born as a son of a poor family. Even for eating, we often got lack of food.
Whenever the time for eating, mother often gave me her portion of rice.
While she was removing her rice into my bowl, she would say "Eat this rice, son. I'm not hungry".
That was Mother's First Lie

2.When I was getting to grow up,the persevering mother gave her spare time for fishing in a river near our house,she hoped that from the fishes she got,she could gave me a little bit nutritious food for my growth.
After fishing, she would cook the fishes to be a fresh fish soup,which raised my appetite. While I was eating the soup,mother would sit beside me and eat the rest meat of fish,which was still on the bone of the fish I ate.
My heart was touched when I saw it. I then used my chopstick and gave the other fish to her.
But she immediately refused it and said "Eat this fish, son.I don't really like fish."
That was Mother's Second Lie.

3.Then, when I was in Junior High School,to fund my study,mother went to an economic enterprise to bring some used-matches boxes that would be stuck in. It gave her some money for covering our needs.
As the winter came,I woke up from my sleep and looked at my mother who was still awoke, supported by a little candlelight and within her perseverance she continued the work of sticking some used-matches box.
I said, "Mother, go to sleep, it's late, tomorrow morning you still have to go for work.
" Mother smiled and said "Go to sleep, dear. I'm not tired."
That was Mother's Third Lie.

4.At the time of final term, mother asked for a leave from her work in order to accompany me.
While the daytime was coming and the heat of the sun was starting to shine,the strong and persevering mother waited for me under the heat of the sun's shine for several hours.
As the bell rang, which indicated that the final exam had finished, mother immediately welcomed me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared before in a cold bottle.
The very thick tea was not as thick as my mother's love,which was much thicker. Seeing my mother covering with perspiration, I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too.
Mother said "Drink, son. I'm not thirsty!".
That was Mother's Fourth Lie.

5.After the death of my father because of illness, my poor mother had to play her role as a single parent.
By held on her former job, she had to fund our needs alone.Our family's life was more complicated. No days without sufferance. Seeing our family's condition that was getting worse,there was a nice uncle who lived near my house came to help us, either in a big problem and a small problem.
Our other neighbors who lived next to us saw that our family's life was so unfortunate,they often advised my mother to marry again. But mother, who was stubborn, didn't care to their advice,she said "I don't need love."
That was Mother's Fifth Lie.

6.After I had finished my study and then got a job, it was the time for my old mother to retire.
But she didn't want to; she was sincere to go to the marketplace every morning, just to sell some vegetable for fulfilling her needs. I, who worked in the other city, often sent her some money to help her in fulfilling her needs,but she was stubborn for not accepting the money.She even sent the money back to me.
She said "I have enough money."
That was Mother's Sixth Lie.

7.After graduated from Bachelor Degree,I then continued my study to Master Degree.
I took the degree, which was funded by a company through a scholarship program,from a famous University in America .
I finally worked in the company. Within a quite high salary, I intended to take my mother to enjoy her life in America .
But my lovely mother didn't want to bother her son, she said to me "I'm not used to."
That was Mother's Seventh Lie.

8.After entering her old age, mother got a flank cancer and had to be hospitalized.
I, who lived in miles away and across the ocean,directly went home to visit my dearest mother.
She lied down in weakness on her bed after having an operation.Mother, who looked so old, was staring at me in deep yearn. She tried to spread her smile on her face;even it looked so stiff because of the disease she held out.
It was clear enough to see how the disease broke my mother's body,thus she looked so weak and thin.
I stared at my mother within tears flowing on my face. My heart was hurt, so hurt, seeing my mother on that condition.
But mother, with her strength, said "Don't cry, my dear. I'm not in pain."
That was Mother's Eight Lie.


After saying her eighth lie, She closed her eyes forever.
 

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The Power of Attitude - An unforgettable way to communicate that our potential in life is only limited by our heart and our dreams.

The nest of young eagles hung on every word as the Master Eagle described his exploits. This was an important day for the eaglets. They were preparing for their first solo flight from the nest. It was the confidence builder many of them needed to fulfill their destiny.

"How far can I travel?" asked one of the eaglets.
"How far can you see?" responded the Master Eagle.
"How high can I fly?" quizzed the young eaglet.
"How far can you stretch your wings?" asked the old eagle.
"How long can I fly?" the eaglet persisted.
"How far is the horizon?" the mentor rebounded.
"How much should I dream?" asked the eaglet.
"How much can you dream?" smiled the older, wiser eagle.
"How much can I achieve?" the young eagle continued.
"How much can you believe?" the old eagle challenged.
Frustrated by the banter, the young eagle demanded,
"Why don't you answer my questions?"
"I did."
"Yes. But you answered them with questions."
"I answered them the best I could."
"But you're the Master Eagle. You're supposed to know everything.
If you can't answer these questions, who can?"
"You." The old wise eagle reassured.
"Me? How?" the young eagle was confused.
"No one can tell you how high to fly or how much to dream.
It's different for each eagle.
Only God and you know how far you'll go.
No one on this earth knows your potential or what's in your heart.
You alone will answer that.
The only thing that limits you is the edge of your imagination.
The young eagle puzzled by this asked,
"What should I do?"
"Look to the horizon, spread your wings, and fly."

How to Recognize A Good Woman

 

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A good woman is proud.  She respects herself and others.

 

She is aware of who she is.

 

She neither seeks definition from the person she is with, nor does she expect them to read her mind.

 

She is quite capable of articulating her needs.

 

A good woman is hopeful.  She is strong enough to make all her dreams come true.

 

She knows love, therefore she gives love. She recognizes that her love has great value and must be reciprocated.

 

If her love is taken for granted, it soon disappears.

 

A good woman has a dash of inspiration and a dabble of endurance.

 

She knows that she will at times have to inspire others to reach the potential God gave them.

 

A good woman knows her past, understands her present and forces toward the future.

 

A good woman knows God.  She knows that with God the world is her playground, but without God she will just be played with.

 

A good woman does not live in fear of the future because of her past.

 

Instead, she understands that her life experiences are merely lessons meant

 

To bring her closer to self-knowledge and unconditional self-love...