Hello everyone,
I hope last year was all you wished for. I hope your year was filled with memorable experiences and positive feelings and actions.
Some of you may have made new years resolutions at the start of this year. Others may have been reflecting on prior personal or professional goals you had made last year. I hope you were able to accomplish all you planned for this last year.
Maybe you had some experiences occur that were completely unexpected and were better than you ever could have wished for. You may have had other events happen last year which caused considerable pain or discomfort. I know speaking for myself I had some extremely joyful experiences and others that were painful or unpleasant.
My Aunt Sharon and Uncle Joe died last year. I used to talk to my Aunt by email a lot and in person occasionally. She used to like to read my stories and messages I do at my blog. I was blessed to have her post comments to my blog so I can go back to read her words; imagine her voice talking to me and seeing her face in my minds eye; like the comment she left at the Day At The Races.
My Uncle Joe lived locally as well. I would visit him in person from time to time. I am very lucky to keep my Aunt Sharon’s and Uncle Joe’s caring and loving memories in my mind and in my heart.
I also had two other friends of my family die during this last year. They were very close and will be missed for sure.
My father-in-law had multiple open heart surgeries which spanned over a ten month period. We were in and out of the hospital many times; night and day during his multiple visits. His stays would be months at a time. Another uncle recently had a heart attack which required a multiple bypass. I have a friend who has brain cancer and had surgery to try to remove this cancer. They continue with multiple follow up treatments. I have had co-workers who have lost family members or have had surgeries for a variety of reasons.
I was diagnosed with Osteonecrosis. That means my upper thigh bones that connect my legs to my hips are dying from lack of blood flow. I will need both hips replaced when I cannot stand the pain anymore. The fear of learning to walk again sort of discourages me when I think about it. Just after going completely blind I had lost the ability to walk for one year. I can still remember vividly how much work it was to learn to walk again as I progressed from a wheel chair to leg braces with a walker; to Canadian Crutches to eventually two white canes. One long white cane for navigation and one white support cane for added stability to help with my neuropathy. Actually it was terribly hard just to sit up at first when I began the process to learn how to walk again. I am not looking forward going through learning to walk again for the third time in my life.
Even through these difficulties and challenges I experienced last year I had some very memorable experiences I will never forget and cherish forever.
I was given the honor of being awarded the Careers & the DisAbled Magazine's 2007 Employee of the Year award. I accepted the award at the 15th annual awards ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts. I received the award and recognition for my professional and advocacy efforts on behalf of people with disabilities in the workplace, community and the world.
I am very grateful to be able to help all the people this kind of an award represents.
Read Employee of the Year to learn more about this award and what it means to me.
I was very encouraged to learn about Collective Intelligence and find out the true values and benefits if all people could participate equally without external limitations, and how successful we could be.
Have you ever been in a meeting and hardly anyone talked? Maybe the few outgoing people were the only ones voicing their opinions. As you might be sitting back in the meeting and listening and thinking to yourself, my thought is not valuable because it is quite different than all the other ideas that are being brought up; so I do not speak up in fear of being different.
Be different and speak up and be heard this year! Read Collective Intelligence: Include The Disabled for Success to learn why your participation is so important for success.
I further learned more about the value of sharing time with others unselfishly. Read Share your Time - Pick Out a Pumpkin to learn why this is so important.
During the last holidays I further understood the true meaning of what I think is the best gift of all. This gift is priceless and cannot be purchased at any price. Like I mentioned earlier I lost a few family members and friends this year. You never know when you will not be able to be with the ones you care about ever again. Read Best Gift of All to learn more.
Did any of you have any memorable experiences last year you want to share with us? Do you have any goals or resolutions for this new year? Do you have any tips for us to succeed in our personal or professional life in this new year; even if obstacles or challenges come up unexpectedly?
WE all look forward to hearing from you.
I wish you the very best in this new year!! If we work together; we can succeed learning as a group rather than working as individuals. ( Read Collective Intelligence: Include The Disabled for Success above to learn why)
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
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