Motivational New Year’s Resolution Plan

A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit. New Year's resolutions involve making vows to do better in the coming year. For me, rather than “beating” my bad habits, I need to understand that my habits as my “weaknesses” and learn to overcome them. I am doing to start developing strategies that will help me be more successful by defining my attitude and making efforts to overcoming my weaknesses. These included self-awareness, my ability to accept the existence of my weaknesses and identify my strengths and weaknesses rather than dwell solely on the negative aspects of my weaknesses. I will have to remember that I will often fall short of my resolutions that the world will not come to an end it that happens. Failures are just lessons of bad habits that I keep bringing back. I just need to pick myself up and start again. Let the mistake be a lesson and learn to make adjustments as I go along. I know that God's love hopes all things (1 Corinth 13). I understand that God's Grace with love refuses to take human failure as final. With Christ in me, my human failures are never final. He is not finished with me yet.

Quotes:

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you.... as by the attitude you bring to life. John Homer Mills

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal: nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing. Abraham Lincoln

Life can only disappoint you if you let it. Mark Hopkins

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try. Beverly Sills

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. Colin L. Powell

The difference between the "impossible" and the "possible" lies in a person's determination. Tommy Larsorda

Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely. Karen Kaiser Clark

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you. They're supposed to help you discover who you are. Bernice Johnson Reagan

If you want to be strong, know your weakness. Unknown

My Resolutions for 2009 (Many of them, I already started)
1. Swim @ the Y at least 3 times a week (try for 4 to 5 times a week)
2. Lose at least 20 lbs (aim up to 50 lbs).
3. Take supplements and be serious about my health (after all, I am 50 years old)
4. Attend Church more frequent and try to be part of Sunday school classes.
5. Go back to college and take one course per quarter/semester. (Start in Spring)
6. Read the bible more often.
7. Read daily devotions (My Utmost For His Highest)
8. Teach Carole Sign Language (daily)

The list is not final and will be adjusted as needed throughout the year. These are my list of goals that I wanted to accomplish during 2009.

Job, the man in the Old Testament and Corrie ten Boom

During this time, prices have gone up, people are losing their homes, losing their jobs and many lost on what to do with their lives. This is a story about faith, the story of one man selected to undergo a staggering ordeal by trial. His response presents a message that applies not just himself, but to every person who lived, lives and will live on planet earth. The contest over one man's faith and whether he will believe in God or deny God? God himself called this man “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil”. This man has asked the same questions asked by nearly everyone who experienced sufferings, Why me? What is God trying to tell me?

God has chosen this man who must undergo a terrible ordeal in order to determine the winner between the two heavyweights (God and Satan). Satan’s accusation that this man loves God only because “you have put a hedge around him”. This was an attack on God’s character, which implies that God's people loves God because God provides everything they need. God was not on trial but rather this man's faith was on trial. Satan challenged God by asking Him to take away this man's positive rewards, and watch faith crumble (so he hoped).

This story about about JOB. God Himself declared: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was PERFECT" (Job 1:1). "And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a PERFECT and an UPRIGHT man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil?" (Job 1:8).

The Scripture clearly teaches that not only is it a possibility to be handed over to Satan. There are times and places and circumstances under the plan of God in which individuals are definitely to be turned over to Satan.

Reading Job is one example. God says, "Have you looked at My servant Job? And what a good man he is. What's interesting is that other biblical writers refer to Job as a real person. Ezekiel refers to Job along with Noah and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14,20). And James draws upon the example of Job to comfort the suffering, proving the point that God is merciful. He commends the endurance of Job (Jas. 5:11). From the Book of Job, we see that God is in complete control. Satan had neither the power nor the authority to do anything without the permission of God. It was consistent with God's nature and will for him to have allowed those things to happen to Job.

In the sense that all sickness is linked to sin, because if there were no sin, there would be no sickness. But it is wrong in assuming that a person became directly sick from being sinful. In John 9:2-3, Jesus and His disciples encountered a blind man. “His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Satan sometimes causes illness (Job 2:7; Luke 13:16).

This sinful world do not discriminate between believers and unbelievers. Plane crashes, boat sinkings, train accidents, car collisions, heart disease, cancer doesn't discriminate between a sinner and a saint, or between a sinner and a sinner.

What have we learned in this "life"

Another great example is Corrie ten Boom. Corrie ten Boom is one of my favorite Christian role models. Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983). She was born in Holland into a Christian family who loved the Word of God. Corrie and her sister were shipped to various concentration camps where they continued to teach fellow prisoners about Jesus Christ. Her sister died while they were imprisoned. Corrie was eventually released through a clerical error (God's intervention) and during the week following her release all of the women of her age were gassed. Following the war Corrie helped in rehabilitation camps and she travelled all over the world telling people of her experiences and of how faithful and loving God is. How many people you think Corrie's life have "influenced" or "planted the seed" others to know Christ as their savior? Four (her parents and sister) Ten Booms gave their lives for this family’s commitment, but only Corrie came home from the death camp. She realized her life was a gift from God, and she needed to share what she and Betsy had learned in Ravensbruck: "There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still" and "God will give us the love to be able to forgive our enemies." At age 53, Corrie began a world-wide ministry which took her into more than 60 countries in the next 33 years! She testified to God’s love and encouraged all she met with the message that "Jesus is Victor."

Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you. Corrie Ten Boom

When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy. Corrie ten Boom

Actual Benefits from Life's Trials

As Christmas came and gone. We are heading to a NEW YEAR and that people will start thinking of their own "resolutions" that often fail every year. Any self-efforts kind of resolution in your life, you will find it more easy to be entangled by the world's sin. In this world, we are to arm ourselves spiritually to wrestle against the world, the devil and the flesh. God is asking Christians to surrender their own selfish little kingdom and look on His eternal Kingdom. No matter "what" a person have, the key is knowing "WHO" you are "inside" as Christ see you as you are eternally (spiritually).

This sinful earth is characterized by what is temporal as people can "see" that fulfills their desires, but what is for time only, what is physical, what is passing, what ultimately will be destroyed. I have learned to understand that while God wants me to be Spirit-filled that God's desire that I should reflect His own holiness and goodness (not my own flesh's efforts). My own effort is connected with the flesh, while spiritual effort is connected with the Spirit. As the Spirit moves and leads, we are to respond moment by moment, step by step, and day by day, relying on His power and direction by faith through His grace.

We can answer like Joseph to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Even though I was legally disabled (deaf since birth by nerve damage in the inner ear),and I also have Relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) (Diagnosed in April 2002). The trials that the Lord allows into our lives to strengthen us can also become temptations, which, rather than being a means to spiritual growth. Every act of giving on God's part and every gift He gives is sufficient, lacking nothing, beneficial, and complete.

Trials come to us to teach us to value the blessing of God from His perspective to enable us to help others in their suffering and to make us better able to assist others in their own suffering. In the book of James, the entire letter is about living faith during trials and list the tests intended to reveal the legitimacy of someone's faith. The VERY first test is the test of severe trials which means that we need to understand the strength or the genuineness of our own faith. Trials cannot destroy true faith; they only put it to the test and strengthen it as in spiritual training. True "sanctification" is only through the Holy Spirit who produce the evidence of my own true spiritual condition, humility and intimacy with God that my flesh CANNOT DO. You only can get true sanctification through God's GRACE. Jesus said in John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Christian faith is inward, not outward because we are in the spirit and not in the flesh. I don't have anything to spell the "entail" of my spiritual effort except grace. God uses suffering to perfect His "Power is perfected (grace) in weakness". Grace of heart is a gift from God and this has nothing to do with the thorns because God is changing me internally so that He to lift me above my present thorns and He will lead me into His will.

I am going to have to start with King David, learning from King David's experiences, God met David in his heart. So, we need to focus on the "heart of the matter". "David son of Jesse is a man after my own heart, for he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22 & 1 Samuel 13:14 (NLT).

True Meaning of Christmas

Many of us who are Christians realized that we live in a fallen world, and that much of what is around us is pagan, or of pagan origin. The word “Christmas” translates to “Mass Of Christ”. The word "Christmas" comes from 4th century AD Roman Catholicism. The “mas” of Christmas comes from the Mass, or Eucharistic service of western Catholicism. The early church chose this date to point to the Christ's birth represented over the pagan traditions of the Roman empire. Early Christians wanted to replace pagan holidays by Christianizing the festivals of December. In other words, the church was not endorsing a pagan ceremony but establishing a rival celebration. Biblically, “Christmas” does not exist. There is no account of Christians gathering to celebrate the birth of Christ to be found anywhere in the New Testament. In the 17th and 18th centuries, under the influence of the Protestant Reformation, Christmas feasts assumed more modest proportions.

What is the Christian's responsibility in a pagan society? We must be careful not to incorporate pagan customs into the worship of our God. The story of Jesus is generally familiar to anybody who knows anything about Christianity and many people who know very little about Christianity. Christmas has become so confused with paganism. We hear a lot of talk about the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of love. What Christmas is about is God loving us sinners. Christmas is, of all things, the event that focuses on divine redemption. Christmas is not about people to people, it is about God to people, showing His love and forgiveness through Christ. "Is my spiritual life superficial or real?" I will not understand my spiritual character deeply unless I subject myself to the spiritual discipline of the Holy Spirit and have a wonderful relationship with God who I know.

Love that God gives to a friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Friendship eliminates half of our troubles and doubles our joys. A real friend is scarce and rare. My perspective from what I am reading from the Scriptures, that if we desire honor and glory from God, we must display humility first. Many Christians desire spiritual excellence because they see Christ's image in the Bible, but they fail to have the daily discipline required to produce that excellence. If its hard to forgive, then it is hard to love another because LOVE forgives. Love hopes all things (1 Corinth 13). Love refuses to take human failure as final. With Christ in me, my human failures are never final. Love never keeps a record of wrongs. Love forgives and love is unable to think about them anymore. Forget the past and move on. Focus on the future as I focus on Christ at the same time. Romans 4:8 (also Psalms 32:2) "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him". If I am not amicable and being cold, then I am not behaving like Christ who is ALWAYS amicable and inviting.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Real Numbers for Deaf Individuals

Sorenson Communications Now Providing Real Numbers for Deaf Individuals. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent order requiring VRS providers to offer real numbers and Enhanced 911 (E911) to VRS users by Dec. 31, 2008.Read More

Memories through Facebook

I ran into many of my old classmates through Facebook. Its been between 20 and 40 years since I seen many of them. Ran into those who attended:
Boston School for the Deaf
Duxbury High School
Rochester Institute of Technology/NTID

Now... that's cyber reunion. :)

Sunday Thoughts: Getting closer to Christmas and 2009

Now that I am 50 years old. Its like starting over for me. What I did was that I kept going to remember my mistakes in my thoughts, learned from them and do my best not to them again in the future. Scriptures states that my own interests before God is sin, in God's point of view. I have to be careful of my own desires that are often contradicts with God's desires. We all can be "theologically knowing while at the same time spiritually ignorant". I can have GREAT knowledge but if I don't have spiritual wisdom, my knowledge is worthless. Reality basically means "the state of things as they actually exist" and often to many people, reality means perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes toward reality. We do have problems with our own weaknesses.

I have learned that I never stop the process of spiritual maturity. The process of spiritual growth is an ascension toward the goal of knowing God. The process of sanctification goes on all our life long and it will never be completed until the day we die. Progressing in our sanctification and our spiritual growth and it only happens as we live in the environment of the truth and respond to that truth.

Growing up in a Christian family, I have learned that I possessed an intellectual understanding and knowledge of the truth and yet not be saved. I was able to live "morally" right but still a sinner and was unable to acknowledge God. Until later once I understand with the help from God. I have learned through many denominations that confused me about salvation. I have learned that through them, they took credit for salvation which includes "membership" (born in church), infant baptism, and other means. Church's Tradition and doctrines often gets in the way of the doctrine of salvation. I cannot say a particular Church/denomination's theology is truth because the Bible is truth while doctrines are taught by man.

We all can claim to be a Christian, and we all believe that the root of the matter is in us and the seed of God is in our hearts. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God. To understand reality is not the same as to know about outward events. It is to perceive the essential nature of things. The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential.

Life is:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. -- Proverbs 3:5-6

I am still learning to be careful how I read and need to look from doctrinal perspective rather than my own flesh-desire satisfaction. In the Christian life, thinking is crucial, emotions are crucial and doctrines are crucial. Our flesh search for pleasure, pride, passions and selfish motives. The heart is the source of our emotions, thoughts and motives.

One of the greatest and most essential attributes of God is His sovereignty; God rules over all things and controls all things. 'Providence" means God’s faithful, moment-by-moment control over everything He has made to ensure that everything He has created are going according to His will. He is active in every detail of it. He’s active at every moment. He doesn’t stand back and let things happen because He decides to intervene if something or someone is not going according to His will. He governs the world moment-by-moment through providence, so that everything that happens, every detail of our life occurs by God's divine providence or by God’s express permission. He is in control of everything. Even the bad things that happen to us are circumscribed by a loving providence and God promises to use them all for our ultimate good. There is a verse in the Bible that God promises that there won’t be anything so bad happen to us that we’re not able to bear it. God does everything--He governs everything.” God doesn’t just sit back and wait until He wants to act and then do it through a miracle.” God constantly intervenes in our lives through providence.

One day soon, I will find a NEW HOME CHURCH in or near Upper Arlington, Ohio.

According to one State in United States, Good Samaritan should be punished

California's Supreme Court ruled that the state's Good Samaritan law only protects people from liability if the are administering emergency medical care, and that Lisa Torti's attempted rescue of her friend didn't qualify.See more

Lemonade Award

I received this

award from whimsical brainpan.

Thank you !!

I will be giving this award out sometime in the next few days.

I am WAY behind.... Back in May, I was giving an award from

Angela


In the spirit of gratitude and being thankful....and kindness, of course, I created this award. I truly love giving out kindness awards more than anything else because people who are truly kindhearted never expect a return on their actions.

The definition:
n.1.
1. The quality or state of being kind. 2. An instance of kind behavior: I will always remember your many kindnesses to me.

“Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm... As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” Audrey Hepburn

In remembering those who show kindness daily I have to recognize the following people:

Of course I am giving this to Angela. I enjoy reading her blogs.

More than Conquerors for her words and encouragements.

And finally Merelyme for her wonderful blog.

Thank you for your kindness and words when you post your comments.

City Zoning Laws are preventing us from "Going Green"

In Columbus, Ohio - Going green is not productive due to zoning laws. In today's Columbus Dispatch, there is an article called "Family might get burned by solar panels". Where the city basically disagreed with itself when they gave a homeowner permission and then they got a violation notice.

Columbus have this website called "Get Green Columbus". On February 22, 2007, Mayor Coleman, with the support of City Council, signed the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. However, according to the latest article we have read, it is not really happening. In 2006, they have this "Green Principles" in which The City of Columbus is committed to achieving an environmentally sustainable community that meets today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and accepts the responsibility to promote these Green Principles in policy decisions and programs.

Many companies, local governments and others are going green. "Going green" means to pursue knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles, which can help protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations.

U.S. EPA have a website that is called Green Power. The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power by offering expert advice, technical support, tools and resources. Partnering with EPA can help your organization lower the transaction costs of buying green power, reduce its carbon footprint, and communicate its leadership to key stakeholders. Green power is electricity produced from a subset of renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact hydro. Buying green power is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your organization’s environmental performance.

What can a local zoning code do about these huge global issues? Local zoning regulations can help promote solar power by making sure residences have access to the sun.

What is the REAL Christmas?

I guess the spirit of Christmas is giving presents and family gatherings. There's nothing wrong with them if our hearts are in the right place. Over the years, I have seen shallow observance of the birth of Christ and
superficial worship finds no place of acceptance with Him. We live in a fallen world, and that much of what is around us is pagan, or of pagan origin. The Bible did not commanded to honor or celebrate His birth. Think of the Christmas carols,they're filled with invitations. "Come let us adore Him." "Then let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord." What ever your response is to Jesus Christ determines your destiny.

In the United States, there is a "money monopoly" which defines that we "free" to earn as much "money" as we want. Excessive greed have driven United States to the lowest level. There are those who have this blind desire to accumulate wealth that can never be satisfied. Gandhi was correct when he said "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed". There are those who do not accept moral laws in their hearts: you will not steal; you will not bear false witness (lie, deceive, defraud); and you will not covet. Lately, when you hear and read the news, that's all you see.

In the New Testament, Judas was an ungodly, ambitious, selfish man. He could have come to Jesus, but he didn’t. Judas is an example and the greatest story of lost opportunity the world has ever, ever heard. Someone said this quote: “Man as of old by himself is priced. For thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ.”

You see greed everywhere, including on TV where you see Word of Faith preachers who are using "prosperity" to attract people with itching ears so they will be motivated by greed for themselves rather than sound spiritual doctrine. I am reminded of this verse: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. — 2 Timothy 4:3. Such teachers only want your money. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money 2 Peter 2:3 (NLT). A.W. Tozer: We are against this world's greed and sinful ambitions. We are against this world's vices and its carnal habits.

I understand this verse much better than I did when I was younger: Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Greed surrounds us. A person's heart is always found running in the direction of his/her desires. The heart that desires often leads a person towards the wrong direction. Our hearts are like a garden and will always have weeds and insects. To expect the fruits and flowers bloom in an untended heart by following flesh's desires that leads to downfall. Worst, unsaved. The condition of the heart determines how receptive we are to God. We may know a lot about God but we don't want to follow God. God's divine circumstances can turn or don't turn people to God. People may despise it instead of embracing it. Romans 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to Garden.

During Christmas and Easter, we seize this opportunity afforded us by Divine providence to tell people who Christ is, why He came into this world, what He did, and they may be convicted by the Holy Spirit to be understand His salvation. It is no accident that once every year every human being in the world is confronted with the fact that the Son of God assumed human flesh and came into the world to save men. The heart of Christmas is this, Christ came into the world to save sinners.

So, what do we really think about during Christmas?

Deaf Newspaper reaches worldwide audience

Ken Davis's newsroom is much quieter than most others. Davis runs a website called deafnewspaper.com, where he uploads sign language stories in video form.

GOP's political divisiveness is getting out of hand.

I agree with McCain that the nation's problems are too daunting for political divisiveness. Divisiveness is creating dissension or discord. It seems the political climate in our nation has been more divisive than any I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. We call ourselves Christians? If the Republican Party want people to see them with approval, they better stop being arrogant, wrong attitudes, ignorance, stereotyping, and alienation. My current view with GOP is that they are strong-willed people who are so controlling that they are not yielding to the wishes of others. More often than not, self-willed people will not listen to advices of others. A self-will person will always insisting stubbornly and arrogantly of having their own way.

What we all need is diversity and unity with proper attitude. We all are living in the same country and we are actually living in a society that we all have to live together. We all are suffering the same and we all will overcome together.

Solitude

I enjoy my time alone. Solitude is probably what my family and friends noticed about me. This is probably why I like to swim. I like to swim alone. I love to have my own swim lane.

I like being alone but I don't like feeling lonely. Loneliness is a terrible feeling.

In the last 8 years, I have used my solitude time to understand myself better and learned to get rid of "me" and "I" attitude. I have learned to be more understanding and able to give myself more freely to others. Love is important when you are with your family and friends. We all desire to share joys and happiness together.

It has been a good pause in my pursuit of happiness and learned to just be happy and content. True happiness is when a person accepts as "who" and "what" he/she is.

"Adversity often produces an unexpected opportunity. Look for it ! Appreciate and utilize it! This is difficult to do if you're feeling sorry for yourself because you're faced with adversity." John Wooden

My pass is my pass. My future is my future. I can make my future better. I have a "new" life with "new" friends. It was like I was starting all over with new relationships and new friends. Finding friends who truly accepts you will take time. Old friends became new friends again.

Deep thoughts for today on my 50th birthday

Between now and then, I will be in deep thoughts about what I am going to do in 2009. Give up a few things and do something different. I need to focus on my internal driven motives which I noticed are more effective. This past few months, I am re-discovering my motivations when I was focusing with introspection of my life, self-examination, from the inside out. It time for me to REALLY set my personal goals because it is important to keep goals going for a long period of time by making it a part of my daily habits.

I felt so energized after swimming yesterday. I am still energized and feeling really good. I am going to commit myself into swimming faithfully from now on. Swimming yesterday made me realized how much physical activity is needed for me and my body. I will be swimming tomorrow morning.

It appears that being on the computer much is not worth it and I need to be more productive. I won't decide until December 31, 2008. Time will tell between now and then.

Mistakes & successes of the past often teaches us of what's likely to happen in the future....

Often my mistakes have revealed for who I am and people will remember them. That's the saddest position of all. To be loved and accepted in spite of my weaknesses often will be difficult due to our human nature. The word "fret" comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon that fret often expose our true self and bring us out from behind our disguises. Reading Ecclesiastes have reminded me that people have been taking "life" for granted. I know that God's divine intervention (i.e. trials) goes BOTH WAYS. The fact of the matter is the visible providence of God has no respect of persons.

All circumstances can turn people to God. Scriptures reveals that no trial, no disease or illness, no accident or injury reaches us apart from God's permission. We can answer like Joseph to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” There are some who seem to look on the gloomy side and never able to do respond in faith to life's problems, instead, they grumble about the trials that they forget God's powerful grace. One of my favorite singers, Twila Paris came out with this song: The Warrior is a Child. I prefer the Original 1984 Version. This video includes lyrics.

My life just seems to get better and better each day.

I like these two quotes by John Calhoun:

* In looking back, I see nothing to regret and little to correct.

* Learn from your mistakes and build on your successes.

John Caldwell Calhoun (March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was a prominent United States politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. He served as the seventh Vice President of the United States, first under John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) and then under Andrew Jackson (1829-1832).

Oh yes... I am thinking about turning 50 tomorrow.

A deaf couple, who received renovations to their home on ABC's Extreme Home Makeover, fear they may lose it.

In addition to mortgage payments, the couple also owes $20,000 for autism treatment -- which isn't covered by their medical insurance -- for their 16-year-old son, Lance.

Article

Researchers work on developing sign language for cell phones

Supported mainly by grants from the National Science Foundation, the team plans to conduct further field studies on the device, called MobileASL (American Sign Language), next year. Click on link to read more......

Motivate myself to start exercising... I joined a health club today

From the day I was diagnosed with MS, I weigh about 180 or less. Today, I weigh about 230. Yeah, I know... that's too much. That's what my doctors said. Time for me to get back to physical fitness. I know I can't "cycle" anymore as I used to for good workout. I can "swim" and I finally join a health club today. This is a Y located downtown near my work. I am planning to swim there whenever I can, early in the morning, lunch hour or after work. I am looking forward to swim again. I already set up my swim workout plan but I won't be using it after a week or two of easy workouts since I am way out of shape. Who knows, I might rejoin Masters Swim Team again. :)

If I do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness. My willpower is the art of replacing bad habits for good habits. I am a product of the choices I make, not the circumstances that I face but rather how I decide based on those circumstances in my life. Circumstances have taught me that the greatest good of personal life is not absence of pain, but Christ-likeness. One side of the circumstances is to bring out the BEST in me and the other side is to bring out the WORST in me. At times, I was too blind to see my own dark characters. If those who saw my mistakes and ignore their own mistakes are those who only care about themselves.

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in my own determination. No one can defeat me unless I first defeat myself. Once I defeat myself, then others will defeat me. My success happens when both my heart and mind share the same perspective. Desire is the key to my motivation, but it is my determination and commitment that leads to my failure or success. It's up to me to get hold of my mind and control it while God does the rest for me. My will is one of many characters in action and its up to me act on my will. In order to make goals come into reality, this requires my determination, my dedication, my self-discipline, and my own efforts.

It is wise for me to learn from the mistakes of others because I can't live long enough to make them all by myself. If I have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always more chances for me. True failure is not the falling down, but rather "staying down" and not doing anything about it. If I focus on results, I will never change. If I focus on change, I will get great results. Understand that their are no failures but rather temporary setbacks to overcome.

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try." -Beverly Sills

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." ~ Jim Ryun

Judge me all you want, just keep the verdict to yourself

My wake-up call about my life, my marriage and my future occurred in between 2002 and 2003 during the time I was struggling and dealing my life-changing illness. I always love "history". What is "true maturity"? Maturity means acting responsibly; it means learning from my mistakes and trying not to make the same ones over again. Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way.

Learning the hard way. Is there a difference between a rumor and a piece of gossip? A rumor is a piece of information or a story that has not been verified, meaning that the person telling it doesn’t know if it’s true or false. A rumor might be true, it might be partially true and partially made up, or it might be totally made up. Unless somebody can definitely say that a story is real or fake, it will stay a rumor.

Never make a defense or an apology until you are accused. ~King Charles I

If I wronged a special friend and I want to fix it but unable due to avoidance. Obviously, my human heart is very selfish. My heart is the source of my emotions, thoughts and motives. My heart is the place of conscience. My heart is the part of my being where I desire, deliberate, and decide. I have faults like everyone else. When confronted, I will repent and ask for forgiveness. When I am not confronted and rumors are going around, then I am unable to defend myself from exaggerations (false rumors).

I have learned over the years that Christ's definition of Beatitudes (Matthew 5) contradicts Flesh's (the world’s) definition of happiness.

There are people so addicted to exaggeration they can't tell the truth without lying. ~Josh Billings

Man is inclined to exaggerate almost everything - except his own mistakes. ~Author Unknown

Private matters from someone who knows the details of one person's situation, and then speaking those things to others when a person should not do so. If there are past hurts, or unresolved conflicts, keep them to yourselves unless you confront the accused and have your story verified.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting. ~William Arthur Ward

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. ~Paul Boese
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. ~William Blake, Jerusalem

Without forgiveness life is governed by... an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation. ~Roberto Assagioli

My personal mission statement regarding my health

Attitude towards life is important. Therefore, attitude about my own life is very important.

Recently, my doctors said that I need to set a healthy priority in my life. I am happily married and my wife is the most wonderful woman who is very concerned about my health. She said she will kill me if I die before she does.

Before being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, I was very athletic, swam for 30 plus years and road cycling 25 to 100 miles every weekend. I played golf every week. When I was healthy physically, I have learned nothing about real life until my doctor told me that I need to be active again. I will be turning 50 on December 11th. I have type 2 diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, high blood pressure and about 30 lbs over-weight. Lifestyle modification, including a combination of weight loss and exercise, is important. Exercise helps to control weight, reduce stress, and keep blood glucose in check. If I want to live almost 100 years like my grandmother did, I need to value my health as one of the highest priorities.

Living with multiple sclerosis often put me on a roller coaster of emotions and I am learning to cope with my depressions. MS disease has an on-again, off-again pattern called relapsing-remitting MS, in which symptoms flare up and then disappear. Swimming is often recommended for people with MS because it provides a way for a patient to get exercise without becoming overheated. I have been swimming in the water since I was very young and been on many swim teams over the years all the way up to my 40's until MS hit me.

There are millions of excuses not to exercise. Too busy, too tired, too bored. None of them are valid reasons.

I am not as self-disciplined as I used to be when I was younger and athletic. I have some habits to overcome which have caused me to procrastinate and lack of assertiveness. Throughout my life, consciously or not, I will have to constantly formulating, revising, and (at least to some degree) following my personal priorities. The simplest are the day-to-day lists that basically consist of chores, errands, and plans for the very short term. Priorities, the things in my life that I think are important, can change over time, especially when I face a serious illness such as multiple sclerosis. I have to recognize that my priority list may change over time.

This morning, I checked out downtown YMCA's swimming pool and it looks good. I will be making an appointment sometime this week (hopefully today) with a membership staff and join.

December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December, aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The theme of the Day is based on the goal of full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities, established by the World Program of Action concerning Disabled Persons, adopted by General Assembly in 1982. The official title of the Day was changed from International Day of Disabled Persons to International Day of Persons with Disabilities by General Assembly resolution 62/127 on 18 December 2007.

December 1: The Woman Who Changed the World

Rosa Parks

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man forty years ago on December 1, 1955, she was tired and weary from a long day of work. Parks was tired of the treatment she and other African Americans received every day of their lives, what with the racism and segregation.