Watching the news this morning I felt a great sense of HOPE. Yesterday a plane leaving the NY airport flew into a flock of birds and was destined to crash into the most densely populated area of our country. Incredibly the pilot was able to not only maneuver the plane over the Hudson River but he landed the plane without tearing it to pieces. The pilot is truly an American hero today. But I also see this as a symbol hope for the year ahead. I can't help but think there was some divine intervention that that saved the 154 passengers aboard this plane.
The second sign of HOPE I received this morning was when I called my dad. My stepmother, Bonnie, received her first chemotherapy treatment yesterday for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. If you Google this disease you will find that there is not much HOPE for people with Mantle Cell Lymphoma. While Bonnie was in treatment, my dad went to the cafeteria at the Mayo Clinic to get a cup of coffee. He struck up a conversation with a gentlemen who asked what my dad was doing at the hospital. Dad replied that he was here with his wife who had Mantle Cell Lymphoma. The gentleman was taken aback because this is a rare form of cancer. He knew this because he was a survivor of Mantle Cell Lymphoma. He shared his story with my dad telling him that he would ride his motorcycle to treatment and even rode his cycle to the hospital for his stem cell transplant. He said that the Mayo Hospital has this treatment down pat and that it was not nearly as bad as he expected. He is now healthy and in remission. So you see there is HOPE!
Next week our nation will celebrate two days of HOPE! First on Monday we observe Martin Luther King Day. I can't think of any other American that better represents HOPE than Dr. King. And then on Tuesday we celebrate the Inauguration of the first black American President. Our nation is strong and you too are strong. United if we ride this wave of HOPE and OPPORTUNITY I feel confident that 2009 will be your best year ever! Enjoy the ride!
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1 comment:
Howdy,
A little story from back in college in a Psych class. This was an actual study done by B.F. Skinner at Harvard. A mouse was put into a 5 gallon bucket that was half filled with water. The little guy was treading water for about 15 minutes before he stopped and started to drown. Just as he was about dead, the research student pulled him out of the bucket and saved him. The next day the same mouse was put in the same bucket. This time he treaded water for 22 hours before he was totally exhausted and started to drown. The researchers concluded that the mouse had Hope that he would be saved and kept him going for so much longer than before.
Best!
Barney
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