Imagine this, over a 6 year period, I lost my 21 year old son, my unborn baby girl in my 8th month of pregnancy, 2 brothers to AIDS, and my father. I could have given up, felt sorry for myself, made it about me, instead I asked myself what each one of them would have wanted for me, and that was to live a life of courage, to encourage others, to have a wonderful life. Today I live in Laguna Beach, California with Cody, my awesome husband of 22 years, who walked this journey with me, lending me strength and courage every step of the way. Cody and I live such a blessed and incredible life together. I know that I have come through all of this more courageous, stronger, able to cope with life in a much more powerful way because of the lessons learned along the way.
Since the beginning of time, there have been stories of courage. We have all read many books, seen movies that inspire or encourage us to the depths of our soul, been around people who we look at with wonder because of the courageous things they have done. Sometimes it is something very simple, yet so profound that changes our day, sometimes it is more than we can wrap our minds around. Whatever it is that shakes us up and out of old negative patterns we wish to break, should be welcomed with open arms.
Hello, my name is Debra Oakland. I am all about Living in Courage. This subject fascinates me because of all the possibilities it presents. Courage means different things to different people all over the world. To navigate through this world we live in requires a certain amount of courage from each of us. I hope you will join me in this exploration by sharing your stories and experiences that have required courage in your life. Many people are looking for answers to some of life's biggest questions. Your stories can make a big difference in another persons life. I hope to see you here often.
The words Encourage, In Courage and Living In Courage have come up every morning for month’s now. These words come up in my dreams, my thoughts and follow me around like a small child tugging on my pant leg wanting immediate attention. I am intrigued, interested, and very eager to explore this subject, not knowing where it will lead, but knowing in my heart it will be an incredible journey down a path of love and light.
Do you know how small of a percentage exits between people who achieve greatness and those who don’t? Watch this video. With a little more effort and extra degree or two and imagine what you are capable of. Check out Simple Truths.
Motivation is the emotion that drives you to gain success and reach your goals, motivation alone will get there – eventually.
To speed up the process you also need to believe in yourself. if you don’t believe that you can accomplish the tasks that you set for yourself in the previous steps, or don’t believe that you will reach your goals and become successful, you won’t, it’s as simple as that!
Motivation and belief go hand in hand, so sit back and think of all the times you have been successful, times when you have reached goals in the past. These things need not be the same goals that you have set for yourself now, or even be related to them. The important thing is that they are times when you were successful. In other words, times when you were motivated and had belief in yourself.
Someone once said that success breeds success, and I truly believe that to be correct, Others say that money goes to those who already have money. I believe that it is the success that those people bring to themselves that is what makes them more money, not the money itself. I believe the success that they bring…
If you don’t have time to watch fireworks or miss them for some reason. Here is a great video for you.
This video is from Disney - MGM 4th of July Fireworks. Enjoy and Happy 4th of July to you and your family.
I was reading a Friday story from Bob Proctor I receive every week. The article in the story was written by Paul Martinelli about the history of July 4th. Here is part of the story:
On July 2, 1776 Congress and 12 of the 13 colonies approved General Lee’s Resolution for Independence, severing ties between the Colonies and Great Britain for good. The next day, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife predicting that July 2nd would soon become a great American holiday. Congress then began to look at the Declaration of Independence. After several days of debating, word changing, and some content adjustment, Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776.
Today America celebrates 232 years of independence and freedom. Because these men did not let fear stand in their way, because they did not hesitate to make the right choice, American Citizens now have the right to vote, the right to free speech, the right to practice any religion, the right to a fair trial, just to name a few.
Paul Martinelli
Happy 4th of July in Gratitude to all of you. Living in Courage - Debra Oakland
“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most people succeed because they are determined to.”
Today I am grateful for every beat of my heart, for every breath I take, and this gift of life I have been given. What are you grateful for? Think about it. Gratitude is essential for manifestation. How can we be given more when we are not grateful for what is already in our lives? Doesn’t that seem to go against the natural laws of the universe? As a whole, we greatly underestimate the power we hold to create excellence on our lives.
Those who have achieved greatness in the face of adversity pushed through every obstacle, using their will, courage and spirit that is the core of achievement. There are many times when we get what we want, and instead of savoring the moment in gratitude, off we go, running to the next thing that seems so important. Focus is lost. Gratitude is sometimes forgotten or ignored. We start asking why our lives are not working as well as expected. A circle of activity that repeats over and over until we take action to make things change.
With the wonderful presence of new technologies, the pace of life has accelerated greatly, leaving many people with “not enough time” for the simple…
A heart transplant survivor has added another first to her long string of mountaineering feats since getting a new heart 13 years ago — a dangerous 2 1/2-day climb up the sheer, 2,000-foot face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park’s famed granite monolith.
Kelly Perkins 46, along with her husband, Craig and guide Scott Stowe climbed and reached the 8,842 foot high dome. In 1996, Kelly had been out of the hospital only 10 months with her new heart when starting some smaller easier climbs up the backside of Half Dome. Kelly said via cell phone from the top of Half Dome:
“I feel great. Physically, I feel I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. It was a great full circle for me to climb the other side. It was a tricky climb, but it also was a very interesting and beautiful climb.”
Kelly Perkins has become the first person since 1966 with another person’s heart to climb some of the world’s best known peaks, says Brendan Riley, including California’s Mount Whitney, Switzerland’s Matterhorn, Japan’s Mount Fuji, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro and the face of Yosemite’s El Capitan. She also climbed a remote peak in the Andes, near Argentina’s border with Chile, and New Zealand’s Mount Rolling Pin.
Now that is Courage and Heart. Keep up the good work Kelly and Craig. We are rooting for you at Living in Courage Online. Check out some of the press on the Perkins.
-->
This story is about Kelly Perkins and her husband Craig. I found a great article by Brendan Riley of the Associated Press which states:
A heart transplant survivor has added another first to her long string of mountaineering feats since getting a new heart 13 years ago — a dangerous 2 1/2-day climb up the sheer, 2,000-foot face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park’s famed granite monolith.
Kelly Perkins 46, along with her husband, Craig and guide Scott Stowe climbed and reached the 8,842 foot high dome. In 1996, Kelly had been out of the hospital only 10 months with her new heart when starting some smaller easier climbs up the backside of Half Dome. Kelly said via cell phone from the top of Half Dome:
“I feel great. Physically, I feel I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. It was a great full circle for me to climb the other side. It was a tricky climb, but it also was a very interesting and beautiful climb.”
Kelly Perkins has become the first person since 1966 with another person’s heart to climb some of the world’s best known peaks, says Brendan Riley, including California’s Mount Whitney, Switzerland’s Matterhorn, Japan’s Mount Fuji, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro and…
This video is exceptional. The story at the end says it all. I hope you enjoy this video, it is a education in itself, as well as a comedy routine. Education Guru Sir Ken Robinson spoke at the “TED” convention, where 1000 great minds meet once a year in Monterey, California. I quote Sir Ken Robinson:
If you are not prepared to be wrong - you will not come up with anything original. People are being educated out of their creative capacity. We do not grow into creativity, we grow out of it. As far as education for children, we need to educate their whole being. Picasso said ” All children are born artists.” How do we remain artists as we grow up?
Here is the weekly update on Randy Pausch. We send you and your family love Randy. So many people visit this site and leave comments for Randy and his family. I would like to thank all the people who leave comments and stories about their lives and challenges. Randy Pausch gives courage and hope to people all over the world as he puts a different face on life’s hardships, encouraging everyone to live life to the fullest. Our heart are with you Randy.
June 26th, 2008: Slow, but continued recovery
I continue to slowly recover. Chemotherapy has a cumulative effect, so it takes longer to recover the deeper one gets into this. Our current thinking is that more chemotherapy may not be wise; at this point, almost all potential chemotherapies may potentially make me so weak/sick that even if they were to slow the tumor, it would not be clear it would be the right tradeoff. We are currently narrowing down some immunuotherapy-based apporaches that would presumably come with little or no side effects. More news as that proceeds.
Hello, my name is Debra Oakland. I am all about Living in Courage. This subject fascinates me because of all the possibilities it presents. Courage means different things to different people all over the world. To navigate through this world we live in requires a certain amount of courage from each of us. I hope you will join me in this exploration by sharing your stories and experiences that have required courage in your life. Many people are looking for answers to some of life's biggest questions. Your stories can make a big difference in another persons life. I hope to see you here often.
