Aa
Some Words for My Friends
This poem has seen me through some of my darkest times. If you know it, I hope you enjoy it again. If you have never read it, I send it from my soul to yours:
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.
BLESS YOUR HEART!!
You are so right...
and i thank you for reinforcing what i already know...our precious little boy is in a loving, VERY loving family. He is a happy, beautiful child ...
He is getting PT/OT/Speech since he was 6 months old... he has made progress..he is the joy of our lives and we thank God daily for bringing him into our lives... this recent scare when he went unconscious was rough but he is doing well and as you stated it could be only a one time event.
Thanks again for your very reassuring words, i shared them with my daughter and she asked me to thank you too... she said i am blessed to have sucha caring new friend.
I keep you in my daily prayers.
Frann
I find more reliability in the readings of my subspecialists. What the pediatric neurologist is seeing sounds as though it would be more from diffusely, and slightly decreased blood flow, or a viral infection. A stroke would show as a specific area of scar or missing brain. It sounds like the effect that the peds neuro sees is very minor, as it wasn't even noticed by the radiologist.
Your next question is what does this mean for your grandson? The answer I can give readily. No one knows. We do know that intervention now, with physical therapy, peds development therapy (called OT) speech therapy and lots of love and experiences can do wonders - real wonders - at overcoming mild insults. Babies surprise us all the time doing far betterthan we ever might expect even with major insults, which they don't apparently see in your grandson. The baby's brain has so much potential, much more than an older child or adult. Make NO predictions. Live for each piece of growth you get. Love, enrich, encourage, play and be joyful. He will respond to it all.
When you read, rather than reading on diminshed white matter for which we have no medical cure, read on stimulation, therapy and early intervention. This is where his future is - a loving attentive (and not to protective, let him explore) family and skilled therapy begun as early as possible.
Quix
Your next question is what does this mean for your grandson? The answer I can give readily. No one knows. We do know that intervention now, with physical therapy, peds development therapy (called OT) speech therapy and lots of love and experiences can do wonders - real wonders - at overcoming mild insults. Babies surprise us all the time doing far betterthan we ever might expect even with major insults, which they don't apparently see in your grandson. The baby's brain has so much potential, much more than an older child or adult. Make NO predictions. Live for each piece of growth you get. Love, enrich, encourage, play and be joyful. He will respond to it all.
When you read, rather than reading on diminshed white matter for which we have no medical cure, read on stimulation, therapy and early intervention. This is where his future is - a loving attentive (and not to protective, let him explore) family and skilled therapy begun as early as possible.
Quix
Thank you for your kind words of comfort. God bless.
Quix, if you know of any sites we can search for info on white matter in a baby's brain. Is this similar to having a stroke in utero? if the radiologist called it normal mri, could that mean it is not a significant insult to the brain> I know i may be asking too much, but i am so worried. If you cannot address this, i understand & will search elsewhere.
Thanks again,
Frann
Quix, if you know of any sites we can search for info on white matter in a baby's brain. Is this similar to having a stroke in utero? if the radiologist called it normal mri, could that mean it is not a significant insult to the brain> I know i may be asking too much, but i am so worried. If you cannot address this, i understand & will search elsewhere.
Thanks again,
Frann
I am such a dork! I posted these posts to the wrong thread, Brain fog sucks!
To the artistic…I have always been artistic and I went to art school at Kent State University (good well rounded art school) , but lately my hands do not cooperate with my will to create.
I love to write also and have always longed to be published, but my brain fog has made the completion of some books difficult.
Once I turned 40 years old I started on a quest, but the quest was halted. Now I am trying to work part it all.
Wanna
8/09/07
All No wonder I am not published...I cannot seem to form a complete sentance.
To the artistic…I have always been artistic and I went to art school at Kent State University (good well rounded art school) , but lately my hands do not cooperate with my will to create.
I love to write also and have always longed to be published, but my brain fog has made the completion of some books difficult.
Once I turned 40 years old I started on a quest, but the quest was halted. Now I am trying to work part it all.
Wanna
8/09/07
All No wonder I am not published...I cannot seem to form a complete sentance.
Quix-great poem!
When I was in 7th grade, our English teacher would read to us. Mr. Rosen was his name and I will never forget him. One of the stories he read to us, a short story (I do not know the title and have tried to find it for years!) but I vividly remember the story.
The setting was in the “future” and I believe the story begins in a museum. The characters in the story are museum patrons and enter an elevator that time travels and takes them to the past. The group of people in the story went back to prehistoric times.
Before entering the time traveling elevator there were posted warnings on signs that stated in no uncertain terms were patrons to step off the provided path and to be extremely careful not to touch anything. When the museum patrons exited the elevator to enter “prehistory,” they were taken down a pre-existing path on their tour.
As two of the patrons ventured down the path on their tour, a butterfly landed on the path and one patron accidentally stepped on the butterfly and killed it. The two patrons were wondering if they should report what had happened, but they decided “it was just a butterfly” and that it was insignificant.
When the tour was over all the patrons entered the elevator and went back up to the present.
As they exited the elevator, all the signs that had been posted seemed to be in another language and the patrons from the tour could not read them. The entire language had changed, all due to the death of a butterfly millions of years prior to that day.
I have always loved this story, and still pursue finding a copy of it, I love it becasue it clearly makes the statement that no matter how insignificant an action, IT MATTERS.
A simple smile and a “hello” to the unfriendly Wal-Mart cashier could make a difference in her life.
This forum has been a profound help to me, and I am sure many of you feel the same way. These seemingly insignificant posts matter.
When I was in 7th grade, our English teacher would read to us. Mr. Rosen was his name and I will never forget him. One of the stories he read to us, a short story (I do not know the title and have tried to find it for years!) but I vividly remember the story.
The setting was in the “future” and I believe the story begins in a museum. The characters in the story are museum patrons and enter an elevator that time travels and takes them to the past. The group of people in the story went back to prehistoric times.
Before entering the time traveling elevator there were posted warnings on signs that stated in no uncertain terms were patrons to step off the provided path and to be extremely careful not to touch anything. When the museum patrons exited the elevator to enter “prehistory,” they were taken down a pre-existing path on their tour.
As two of the patrons ventured down the path on their tour, a butterfly landed on the path and one patron accidentally stepped on the butterfly and killed it. The two patrons were wondering if they should report what had happened, but they decided “it was just a butterfly” and that it was insignificant.
When the tour was over all the patrons entered the elevator and went back up to the present.
As they exited the elevator, all the signs that had been posted seemed to be in another language and the patrons from the tour could not read them. The entire language had changed, all due to the death of a butterfly millions of years prior to that day.
I have always loved this story, and still pursue finding a copy of it, I love it becasue it clearly makes the statement that no matter how insignificant an action, IT MATTERS.
A simple smile and a “hello” to the unfriendly Wal-Mart cashier could make a difference in her life.
This forum has been a profound help to me, and I am sure many of you feel the same way. These seemingly insignificant posts matter.
Thanks quix, you just the good advice, knowledge and support coming. Do you ever think of yourself.......I truely hope so.
Em
x
Em
x
Oh my goodness!
I remember when my oldest was a little guy and had uncontrolled asthma. One of the most frustrating things was the fact that he couldn't talk yet. It made it so much easier when he took an active role in his care as he got older (he's off to college next month).
I can't imagine the helplessness you must have felt as his limp little body lay unconscious and he couldn't even tell you how he felt upon wakening. Or after! I'm sorry that happened and I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.
Quix knows that of which she speaks, so know that he'll be fine and most likely it won't happen again. Get some rest.
Take care!
Momzilla*
I remember when my oldest was a little guy and had uncontrolled asthma. One of the most frustrating things was the fact that he couldn't talk yet. It made it so much easier when he took an active role in his care as he got older (he's off to college next month).
I can't imagine the helplessness you must have felt as his limp little body lay unconscious and he couldn't even tell you how he felt upon wakening. Or after! I'm sorry that happened and I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.
Quix knows that of which she speaks, so know that he'll be fine and most likely it won't happen again. Get some rest.
Take care!
Momzilla*
What a hard thing to go thru with your grandson! As a peciatrician I know how easily a child can have a simple seizure. Their little immature brains just "fit" more easily and rarely does it do any damage. If he has low muscle tone and some delays, that abnormality in the brain does make them a little more prone to seizures, but it may very well have been a isolated event. Only one third of kids that age that have a febrile seizure will ever have another.
I hope you'll feel better. I've missed hearing from you. Quix
I hope you'll feel better. I've missed hearing from you. Quix
Thank you fro sharing this poem, it has been a difficult week for me and my family. My grandson (18 months old had what we believe was a seizure... he just went limp & unconscious for about a minute... he was in the middle of playing with his dad... by the time the ambulance arrived he was awake and himself...he was hospitalized for a few days. The video eeg was fine and so the neuro feels it is a isolated event... he did not have a high fever, low grade 100.4 the day of the event. He has low muscle tone, showing developmental delays. We just saw a specialist today who reviewed the mri which was initally read as fine by the radiologist, the pediatric neuro said he sees diminished white matter. He feels he may have had decreased blood flow through the placenta causing the motor planning delays. It is good we have some answers but it has been an exhausting week, i feel horrific, physically and emotionally. I want to be there for my daughter & son in law so i am trying to be strong... i love them all soooo much.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Frann
Please keep us in your prayers.
Frann
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