When I have a picture in my mind, then I think for a while how I can put it on the canvas.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Thoughts are Things. What you hold in your mind as thoughts will eventually manifest itself as your reality. The following story is a great example.
Now You Can Help People
At 3 years old, Akiane (pronounced ahKEEahnah) had a dream......about God. And He told her to paint. “He said, ‘You have to do this, and I’ll help you. Now you can help people.’ I said, ‘Yes, I will.’ But I said it in different words in my mind. I speak through my mind to Him.”
Sounds like something a cute 3 yr old might say, Many young children have dreams. But there was no religious influence in her home, at all. Akiane was home schooled, had no babysitters, and no television. Her father was a former Catholic, and her mother an atheist. “We didn’t pray together, there was no discussion about God, and we didn’t go to church. Then all of a sudden, Akiane was talking about God.”
Born in 1994 to a Lithuanian homemaker and an American father, Akiane suffered from poor health as a child. While poor, the Kramarik family created their own fun making wreaths from flowers and pine needles from around the home, play dough from flour, and doll houses from cardboard boxes. At age four, Akiane began having visions of heaven. Because her parents were not religious people and Akiane was home schooled, they were initially very concerned about their young child. Yet they were certain that Akiane’s visions came from within, no outside influence was involved.
“I was four when the visions first began,” said Akiane. “I had visions and dreams of being an artist and helping the whole world. I felt inspired to draw.”
In the beginning, Akiane drew pictures of family members and pets, but her interests eventually shifted to the creation of faces. She started “scribbling” more and more faces. She tries to recreate visions that she says God gives her in her dreams. She does a pretty amazing job of recreating. Her paintings are sold for between $50,000 to $1,000,000.
“We donate a portion to different charities. My goal is to help many poor children around the world.”
When asked when she actually signs her paintings, Akiane replied,
“Sometimes I sign twice. Before the painting and after. When I sign before, it gives me confidence, and it makes me imagine that the painting is already completed.”
On Learning to Write
“The words just come to me. I would say ideas somehow have been planted in me.”
“I do not write from what I know, but from what the Spirit shows me. Before I pray, I am empty and have absolutely nothing to write about. But then I know, if I am silent, I start seeing pictures and words.”
Today, Akiane, 13, gets up at 4 a.m. five to six days a week to get ready to paint in the studio and write poetry. She works for about 45 hours each day. She also speaks four languages: Lithuanian, Russian, English and Sign Language.
And even though young, she offers advice to other kids her age as well:
“Work hard and believe that you can do it. Don’t say that you can’t do it; say, ‘I will do it!’”
The word handicapped just sounds like it has so much limit to it.
“I know anything’s possible” says 12 yr old Nick Santanastasso. And he’s proof of the fact. He can play baseball and football, do a headstand on his skateboard, play the keyboard and drums, type on a computer, help in the kitchen and play video games with his siblings.
So? Lots of 12 yr olds can do all that you say. True. But Nick was born with Hanhart Syndrome TypeII, a rare genetic disorder shared with only 11 other people. That means he has no legs . . . only one arm . . . and only one finger.
My parents just keep encouraging me to do stuff — like, don’t give up and keep trying. If you fall down, get back up.
Everyday tasks are a bit harder for Nick, but according to his family, there’s nothing he can’t do, whether it’s on the baseball diamond or the football field, where he emulates his favorite player, Tiki Barber, former star running back of the New York Giants. The secret of his success? His parents didn’t treat him any differently than any of their other children. And even with that said, his parents are still impressed with just how normal their son is.
“We’re supposed to be heroes to our children, but Nick is a hero to us. He’s proved to be a real trouper, and our hero.”
He’s also Tiki Barber’s hero. On Nick’s last birthday, Barber himself presented Nick with a brand new skateboard. The inscription read, “Nick, you’re an inspiration”.
Did I say he even helps in the kitchen? How many of OUR kids help in the kitchen?? How many of US wake up with the love for life that Nick does?? The answer is................ not enough, unfortunately. Our excuses? I’m too poor. I’m too overweight. I’m not pretty enough. I’m not smart enough. Oh that stuff happens to OTHER people, but never for me. Unlike us, Nick has REAL excuses if he wanted to use them. Hmmm. I can’t play baseball because.......
I HAVE NO LEGS AND ONLY ONE ARM AND ONE FINGER!!
Kinda puts our silly excuses into perspective, doesn’t it? Nick is teaching us that we should get off our unmotivated behinds and DO SOMETHING!! Take action!! If he can do it, surely we can too.
Nick just recently won another achievement. He will spend his upcoming 13th birthday at the NewJersey governor’s mansion being honored for a poster he drew in a statewide competition intended topromote family values. Chosen from more than 100 finalists, Nick’s drawing shows a tree with roots spelling out a word underneath. The word?
Love.
The one simple word that makes everything possible. Love of family. Love of life. Love in the belief that anything’s possible. Because as young Nick has proven to all of us, it really is true.
Dad, when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!
I have tried to be a good father, I really have. I gave my kids whatever I could. Worked extra to pay for their activities, their toys, cell phones, Christmas.
I’ve attended countless football games, choir recitals, and band concerts. I even drove my daughter back and forth to school just so she wouldn’t have to ride the bus.
I tried, really……I tried. But compared to Dick Hoyt…………
….I suck.
Meet The Hoyt Family
Rick Hoyt was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, cutting off oxygen to his brain. The result was brain damage and a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy. His parents were told he’d be a vegetable all his life, with no use of his limbs, nor his voice. The doctors said to put him in an institution.
But his parents said no. They raised him just like they raised his two brothers. As normal as possible. In fact, they fought to get him admitted into public schools. “Because he couldn’t talk they thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true.” The dedicated parents taught Rick the alphabet. “We always wanted Rick included in everything,” his father, Dick Hoyt said. “That’s why we wanted to get him into public school.”
Using money the family managed to raise in 1972 - a group of university engineers built an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write, using slight head-movements. Rick called it his “communicator.” A cursor would move across a screen filled with rows of letters, and when the cursor highlighted a letter that Rick wanted, he would click a switch with the side of his head.
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first “spoken” words. They had expected perhaps “Hi, Mom” or “Hi, Dad.” But on the screen Rick wrote “Go Bruins.” The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season, and his family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. “So we learned then that Rick loved sports.”
Dad, I Want To Do That
Three years later, one of Rick’s high school classmates was paralyzed in an accident. The school organized a charity run for him. Rick typed , “Dad, I want to do that.” His father, wondering how he would manage to run 5 miles himself, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but the smile on Rick’s face was worth a million bucks, said Dick. That night, Rick told his dad, “Dad, when we were running, I didn’t feel handicapped anymore”.
That sentence started a chain of events that still boggles the mind.
For the past twenty five years or more Dick has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. Eighty-five times he’s pushed Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars - all in the same day.
Why? It makes his son feel normal.
24 Boston Marathons
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 - only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don’t keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much - except save his life. Two years ago Dick had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,” one doctor told him, “you probably would’ve died 15 years ago.”
Today, Rick lives by himself in an apartment in Brighton with the help of personal care assistants and the love of his father. He graduated from Boston University in 1993 with a degree in special education, and works at their computer laboratory helping to develop a system through which mechanical aids can be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
I am fully aware of everything that goes on around me and if someone takes the time to get to know me they will realize I am no different than anyone else…….
….other than the fact that I will not beat you in a foot race and you will never have to tell me to shut my mouth
I found the following video on Youtube. Grab a box of tissue and enjoy.
Truly, if you can believe, then ALL things are possible.
A good friend sent me this inspirational video - and I just had to share. You’ll find the video at the end of this post - but the video’s message is short and sweet……
When the time comes, I may not be able to hold my wife’s hand - but I will be able to hold her heart…
Like many 25-year-olds, Nick Vujicic (pronounced VOY-chich) can surf, golf and swim and he’s training for the Los Angeles Marathon. What’s surprising is the fact he is also an author, motivational speaker, evangelist, investor, holds 2 Bachelor’s Degrees, and started an international non-profit organization called Life Without Limbs. That’s right, Nick was born without arms, or legs. He has a small ‘foot’ with 2 toes. And he has a never give up attitude.
Nick Vujicic was born in Australia in 1982 to a Church pastor and his nurse wife. The ultrasound gave no clue that their baby’s limbs were not growing normally, so Nick’s birth was a huge surprise. With no medical explanation, his family and his father’s church questioned why a God of love would allow the pastor’s son to be born without limbs.
As he grew up, Nick himself often questioned what sort of a God would do such a nasty thing. He remembers reading a Biblical verse in Sunday school which stated that he was created in the image of God. Nick remembers thinking, “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, riiight.”
When he was young, Nick often wished he was dead, so he wouldn’t be such a burden to his parents. At age 8 he tried to drown himself. At age 10, he fantasized about asking his parents to put him on a kitchen stool — so that he could “fall” off and break his neck.
Not being able to commit suicide, Nick begged God to let him grow arms and legs. “Just think God, a modern-day miracle I’ll be! Think of how many people we’ll convert!” But that never happened either. Nick finally began to realize that maybe he didn’t need to grow arms and legs for his life to mean something. Maybe his accomplishments were enough of a miracle.
He can walk or hop almost anywhere - including up steps, using his only foot. And he can type with his only two toes (43 words a minute, thank you very much). He is brave enough to plunge into pools, trusting he will bob to the surface where he paddles around on his back using his foot as a paddle. And he writes, gets dressed and opens doors with his mouth.
He began to realize he was impressive, if not downright inspirational.
At 15, Nick officially thanked God that he was alive. At 17, he gave his first talk to a prayer group. Nick was influenced by a speaker at his school who had been orphaned and who talked about his bouts of loneliness. The idea that someone who had struggled could give others hope appealed to him. So he started speaking - first at school, and then church-sponsored events. By the age of 19, he seemed to have found his calling, and was getting dozens of speaking invitations. The requests to speak snowballed. And now, at 25, that’s all he does. His nonprofit is called Life Without Limbs.
He says his message resonates with teenagers because they are often told they are not good enough, sometimes by both their parents and their peers.
“It’s the fact that they understand how it feels to be alone, how it feels to be rejected, how it feels to be confused and broken. That’s the level that I come in on, and they can see that straight away. When I get up onstage, they know that I’ve been broken.”
And while Vujicic spent the first part of his life learning how to adapt to others, much of his success now lies in how he has made others learn to adapt to him.
“If we went by the world’s definition of who I’m supposed to be because I look weird … ‘well, surely, this guy can’t have a productive life, surely, he doesn’t have a sense of humor. Surely, he can’t love life.’ We stereotype people in this world. And so … if the world thinks you’re not good enough, it’s a lie, you know. Get a second opinion.”
Inspirational
