Life's Biggest Con








Daily Quote:-        Success

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

Often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, it is an adaptation of a poem published in 1905 by Bessie Stanley.
No version of it has been found in Emerson's writings. For more information see http://www.transcendentalists.com/success.htm


Life's Biggest Con


What scares you? What stories do you make up to con yourself into holding back? What would you do if you didn't con yourself into being scared?

I've done something that scared the heck out of me. But it also turned out to be the best thing I've ever done!

Two years ago, I discovered that my Dad needed a kidney and as soon as I realized I might be the answer he needed, the voices in my head began to resist and shout!

"NO WAY can I give up a kidney! Are you kidding me!?

I need both kidneys! I can't do it!"

Fear struck me down in an instant. I had never given up a body part. For that matter, I had never even stayed in hospital.

Despite the fear, I mentally considered the idea ... and I the more I thought about it, the more terrified I became. What if I had kidney failure in the future? Would I be able to have kids? What if something went wrong and I had impaired health for the rest of my life?

Don't we need both kidneys?

All the while, Dad never asked me or any other member of our family for a kidney. I decided to get tested on my own. I was the only one in my family that got tested and I felt isolated. I felt like Dad's health was my responsibility alone. The fear held an even firmer grip on my mind.

And to accelerate the mental spin I was already in, there were plenty of well-meaning people ready to offer up their unsolicited opinion to help build and fortify my "wall of fear."



These were just a few of the fantastic and ridiculous comments I heard:

• "I know someone who donated a kidney and they got really fat as a result.
You might get really fat". (A young woman's worst fear!)

• "Will you be able to have children?"

• "You'll have to give up alcohol."

• "You'll have to change your diet, become a vegetarian."

• "What happens if your kidney fails and you don't have a spare?"

• "What if you're in a car accident and your remaining kidney gets hurt?"

• "What about the yin and yang and flow through your body that they refer to in Chinese medicine? Losing a kidney will interrupt that and ruin your health!"

In the midst of all that, I decided to move forward. Dad told me I could pull out at anytime and he wouldn't think the worst of me. But I had made up my mind and I began to rise above the fear, rise above my own con job.

By the time the day of the operation arrived, I was actually calm.

When I awoke from the surgery, the doctors had me on a drip line and added 7kg of fluid to my body - even my chicken legs were fat! And they had pumped my body cavity full of gas. My surgeons joked that I looked like I should be in the maternity ward!

But, guess what? That was the worst of it. Despite my fears and the warnings of well-meaning friends, there were no complications and my recovery was quick. I was only in the hospital for 4 days. It only took a week for the fluid to leave my body and a few short months for the swelling to deflate completely. I was dancing - albeit somewhat carefully - after just 2 weeks, and returned to work after 4 weeks.

Now, giving up a kidney should be pretty scary for anyone, right? It's an important body part and you can't get it back once it's gone. It certainly was a scary prospect for me! But I did it, and the truth is that it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a big deal at all! It was only my thinking that made it so.

It's sort of like bungy jumping. The scariest part is the fear you con yourself into believing before you jump. After you jump, it's exhilarating.



I realized that I was incredibly fortunate to have been given an opportunity to donate my kidney. With that realization, though, came an insightful question that stopped me in my tracks:

If I could give up a kidney ... if it really wasn't such a big deal ... then what else could I have done if I hadn't let fear get in the way?

I could ... I CAN ... do so much more! I got it! I wasn't living up to my potential and I was 100% responsible. The only thing holding me back was me! I have since decided that I am not going to waste another minute.

I LIVE, not exist.

I've got massive goals and thoroughly ENJOY every moment of my life. 

                                 

It's been over two years now and I'm delighted to report that Dad hasn't rejected the kidney. My gift has given Dad a far superior quality of life, has had zero adverse effects on my health, and the whole experience has undoubtedly brought Dad & I closer. I have realized that the joy is truly in the giving.

And I understand that fear is simply a con game we play on ourselves. It is all in our mind.

By acting in the face of fear and giving up my kidney, I received the greatest gift imaginable. I feel fantastic! My life is utterly different now, I LOVE it! From this experience, I've acquired a massive desire to wake people up, to let them know that they should never let fear hold them back, to inspire them to live NOW ...and to make the world a better place.

I'm up for big stuff ... and I'm going for it.

What are you up for? You'll only discover what you're capable of doing if you are willing to do it afraid!



Author:- Adrienne Rich
Auckland, New Zealand

 

 

Adrienne Rich

Born in Baltimore in 1929, Adrienne Rich is the author of nearly 20 volumes of poetry. In 2004, she won the Book Critics Circle Award for her book, The School Among the Ruins: Poems 2000-2004. Rich has received the Bollingen Prize, the Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, the Academy of American Poets Fellowship, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the National Book Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. She has also authored several books of nonfiction prose.

 
 
 Implosions

The World’s
not wanton
only wild and wavering

I wanted to choose words that even you
would have to be changed by

Take the word
of my pulse, loving and ordinary
Send out your signals, hoist
your dark scribbled flags
but take
my hand

All wars are useless to the dead

My hands are knotted in the rope
and I cannot sound the bell

My hands are frozen to the switch
and I cannot throw it

The foot is in the wheel

When it’s finished and we’re lying
in a stubble of blistered flowers
eyes gaping, mouths staring
dusted with crushed arterial blues

I’ll have done nothing
even for you?

 

Questions for Reflection: “Implosions”
  1. How would you describe the mood and character of the world? Compare your ideas to those of Rich’s?
  2. Why does Rich feel that her words would change us? What do these words say about conflict, violence and the possibilities of war?
  3. How is Rich’s pulse different from how she views the world?
  4. How would you say that the offer of the poet’s hand in an extension of peace?
  5. What are the signs of distress in this poem? How do these signs relate to the title of the poem, “Implosions?”
  6. How does this poem signal “war” within oneself?
  7. What is the significance of the very last line of the poem, “I’ll have done nothing even for you?”
  8. How might “Implosions” be a call to rethink the mood and character of the world?
 

 

 




This Blog is to help in your life and lead to Success for you.
 
Richard Bejah  :0)



"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." ~ Thomas A. Edison

 

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Posted by Richard Bejah at 3 Oct 2009, 11:26 PM
Categories: Breakthru Generation,Health,Personal Development,Inspirational,Spiritual,Fun,Daily Quote,All Blogs List
Tags: Lifestyle Blog Rich Skithouse New Zealand Cricket Personal Development Poetry Mal Garvin Inspirational Personal Development towards Financial Success Amazon Blogs Spiritual Blind All Blogs Daily Quote Adrienne Adrienne Rich Health Auckland Breakthru Generation Joy Kidney
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  • 14 Oct 2009, 10:17 AM Linda Hazimi wrote:
    I was freshly amputee and I take the airport alone to LA to see my son graduate from UCLA and touch his son for the first time. I couldn't let being an double amputee at 62 stop me. I think my touch me. I let myself out of a box and live more now without fear than never. U make me right to share life. TY
    Reply to this

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