Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - October 25th

The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. - Molière

I am more than my scars. - Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle

Those who don't know how to suffer are the worst off. There are times when the only correct thing we can do is to bear out troubles until a better day. - Ming-Dao Deng, Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony

What do you do when you practice all you can on something, make changes based on feedback provided and the outcome of the situation still does not go the way you want it to?

You remember what you wrote in your blog and move on!

A couple weeks ago, I won a Toastmaster Area Speech Contest and was honored to participate in the Division Contest last Thursday night.  Over the last couple of weeks, my Toastmaster Club made suggestions to improve the speech and I practiced it daily.  On the day of the competition, I worked my schedule so I would be well rested.  I arrived early at the location so I would not be rushed.  When I gave my speech, I performed with the most energy, enthusiasm and panache I could muster up.  The person from my Toastmaster Club who attended the competition told me it was the best he had seen me perform it.  However, I still came up short.  I was upset and could not understand the outcome.  When I dropped off my fellow Toastmaster, we discussed and understood how the winner won, but were confused by second place.  

It took me about 12 hours to process through the situation and here is what I learned:  

• Winning the speech contest will not make a difference in my life in 100 days (from blog post on September 20, 2016).
• AND as my mother told me the growth of character I am going through by not winning will be more beneficial for me in 100 days than actually winning the competition. 
• I prayed and believed the best outcome would happen.  There was a reason I did not win.  Maybe one of the other contestants needed to win to build their confidence or maybe I will have something else going on the day of the next contest that I do not know about yet. 
• Even after you work hard on something, people still have a choice.  That is why it is so important to work as hard as you can and be able to tell yourself that there was nothing else you could have done.   

CHALLENGE: Think about recent situations that you have gone through and were not happy with the outcome.  How did you handle it?  What will you do differently next time to grow as an individual?

Some fish love to swim upstream. Some people love to overcome challenges. - Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. - Abraham Lincoln

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - October 18th

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. - Og Mandino

A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. - Colin Powell

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination. - Tommy Lasorda

How would you feel if you lost all feeling in your legs, lost all movements of your hands, lost all functioning to swallow, speak, and then everything goes black? 

That is what Victoria Arlen encountered at the age of 11.  Up to that point, she had been a very active child swimming in the local lake and her family’s backyard swimming pool.  She competed in local swimming events and had become a very good swimmer.  Then, everything went black in her life.  For two years, she heard nothing, could not communicate with anyone and was in a vegetable state.  When she finally did wake up, she could hear everything going on around her, but could not communicate with anyone.  Three years after her “black out” doctors finally diagnosed her with two equally rare conditions: “Transverse Myelitis and Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, autoimmune disorders that caused swelling in my brain and spinal cord” (espn.com).  

Through all of this, her parents supported her and in December 2009 she made eye contact with her mom.  During the next year, she slowly started to relearn everything such as how to say vowels, eat, swallow, arms movements, but her legs never moved.  She had come to the realization that she would never walk again and never swim again.  In 2010, her three brothers threw her into the family’s swimming pool.  She was terrified, but soon learned that she did not need her legs to swim.  Victoria soon discovered that she was still a very good swimmer and regained her confidence in the pool. 

In 2012, she made the USA Paralympic swim team and competed in the London games.  She won 3 silvers and won gold in the 100-meter freestyle, where she set a world record! 

On November 11, 2015, she took her first step on a treadmill while strapped to harnesses to hold her up.  March 3, 2016 she threw away the crutches and has not stopped walking since! 

Victoria Arlen now works for ESPN and has reported for espnW, X Games and Sportscenter across all platforms.  Her motto:

Face It, Embrace It, Defy It, Conquer It

CHALLENGE: We all go through tough times.  Your tests become your testimony to help others.  YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N96ozDohWiM

http://www.espn.com/espnw/voices/article/15743440/one-small-step-my-10-year-journey-wheelchair-walking

http://victoriaarlen.com/wp2/

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - October 11th

Relentless, repetitive self talk is what changes our self-image. - Denis Waitley

Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought. - Napoleon Hill

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. - Benjamin Franklin

Learning never exhausts the mind. - Leonardo da Vinci

Learning is more effective when it is an active rather than a passive process - Euripides

After last week’s Tip, I started catching myself reading things aloud to help comprehend and remember important facts, figures, etc. more effectively.  In the past, I would read aloud and never understood why I was able to understand a sentence better, but now I do! 

Here is another quick tip in regards to learning styles.  Research shows that we have one main dominant learning style, but we usually learn from a combination of learning styles.  When different learning styles are used, different parts of the brain are activated stimulating more parts of the brain. Using more of the brain will help us remember more of what we learn.

For example, I am starting to incorporate visual and auditory learning styles by reading aloud.  Others may need to play with a toy while reading incorporating the kinesthetic and visual learning styles. 

CHALLENGE:  Throughout this week, determine your second most dominant learning style and start incorporating it with your dominant learning style. 

Sources

http://www.dyslexiavictoriaonline.com/learning-style-auditory-visual-kinesthetic-dyslexics/

http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/