5’9" DD’s, long legs, dark hair… Yep, sounds inspiring to me!
anybody and everybody who rises above the fray and figures out how to live a life filled with grace and aloha…
Cheers TonyLion for giving it up to the Owl Man.
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anybody and everybody who rises above the fray and figures out how to live a life filled with grace and aloha..
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bingo ! [....well said , lcc!]
interesting timing , lcc , , because just yesterday , walking back from a surf , for some reason I was thinking of and remembered my first day , and first student , back in 1986 , back at a school I worked in.
first day ...
I was walked into a large room , filled with teenagers , all wheelchair bound with various degrees of cerebral palsy. [ I was 25 at the time , so maybe 7 years older [not much] than some of the oldest students there . ]
The door was shut behind me . It was like being in some dream .
I must have looked a bit uncertain [ / ?scared even ? ], because , next moment , out of the crowd , a girl , maybe 16 at the time , wheeled herself over to me , stretched out her [very shaky hand] and said "hi ! I'm samantha, welcome !" gave me a big smile , and then introduced me to the people there [it took a while]
Later , when I worked as a teacher's aide in a class with her , she blew me away with two comments .
The first ?
...it was when the head of the education department , an office jock suit and tie guy in his fifties , had been standing up and talking down to the students , as if they were deaf and slow .
good old [young] Samantha , when introduced to him , said ...
" pleased to meet you .
you know , one thing ... you might need to rethink how you talk to us. Just because we are in wheelchairs , doesn't mean we are deaf and stupid . Please , don't patronise us "
the second ?
this was when she stood up [figuratively] for another student [who was non-verbal] who was being scapegoated for something that someone ELSE [not him] had done . Samantha confronted the false accuser , set the record straight .
but ...
the thing that really blew me away even more ?
.....it was what she said next , to me [it still brings a tear to my eye , 25 years later , thinking about it ...]
she said [and I quote , I remember it as clear as if it had happened TODAY!!]....
" you know , I am SO glad I have speech , so many of these guys and girls will never be able to express how they feel or think , so I want to help them do it , I will be their spokesperson any time someone puts them down , or doesn't understand"
.... WOW !!
a 16 year old girl , in a wheelchair all her life , with mainly speech and head movements functioning .... yet , SHE was so THANKFUL , for speech !!
maan , it left me speechless , I can tell you ! [and , people who really know me , know THAT doesn't happen much with me!]
so when things close in , and life seems a bit 'murky' , sometimes ...I often think back to Samantha ...
an inspiration for sure , and someone with an amazing perspective / priority in life !!
cheers !
ben
Nice story Ben, great dose of "perspective".
"I was sad because I had no shoes".......
Ben,
such a good story, so illustrative.
It is so simplistic, and yet so true, that the only thing in life we can control is our attitude. it is the key to happiness or unhappiness, must come from within, and yet we tend to spend so much time and energy looking for what we need/want outside of ourselves.
We would all be blessed to find the grace of Samantha…
"It is so simplistic, and yet so true, that the only thing in life we can control is our attitude.
it is the key to happiness or unhappiness, must come from within, and yet we tend to spend so much time and energy looking for what we need/want outside of ourselves."
I think that's why I miss woody waverider here , so much ...his signature said it all [and he lives it too !!]
" no attitude just gratitude"
an attitude of gratitude , not a bad thing to shape ourselves , right up there with a sense of humour , cos if we can't laugh at ourselves from time to time life would be really serious / sad for us . [ Besides , we can beat others to the punch , that way ...learn to laugh at me[self] , cos plenty of others ARE !! ....it disarms people , to say the least !!]
'KOKUA' is another here who inspires me , and although I have never met him face to face , he and the late ben shipman are DEFINATELY still inspiring / influential to me , while I have been visiting here ....
thanks guys !
ben
What an inspiring story Ben! Life is all about choice, perspective, and how you treat others. Great reminder!
Here are a few tthings that inspire me...
Watching my boys mature into men
Sunrises and sunsets
Photography
Dawn Patrols with my boys and friends
Clean glassy swells
Gloss coats that define detail on wood and foam swirls
Longboard curves
Fresh overnight powder on the mountain
Glassy lake to wakeboard on (dawn patrol)
The ring of my Taylor 810 guitar
Shop time
Running rough cut lumber through the planer to see wood grains
Wood grains in general
Hoots of stoke in the lineup
Dreamin up my next project or design
.....BEAUTIFUL photos and words , Bob ...keep 'em coming !
cheers mate !
ben
inspiring story chippy. really inspiring.
and mudy, it seems you and mean have similar tastes.
This surfing forum, not only the creations but the vibe. on others its so easy to get caught up in aggro baitning all all that 2 year old behaviour, this one actually has soul and grace...most of the time
maybe not so much towards anti certain surfcrafts or designs but whatever..its great...and its insiring to watch people creat an idea and shape it into something great