I once read about an athlete who had been temporarily paralyzed from the neck down while playing football. While he was in the hospital, his family and friends formed what he called a ”feeling of assurance” around him to communicate their love and hope for his recovery. He has since made great progress and is walking again, even although doctors initially only had given him a 3 percent chance of doing so.
This made me think about what it would be like if each of us also knew we were surrounded by a ”feeling of assurance” and support from those around us. Wouldn’t that give us extra strength in dealing with all of life’s problems and hurts? Wouldn’t that strengthen us? How much different would our lives be with such good feelings directed at us? But, to receive such love, wouldn’t we also need to be able to offer such assurance to others, too, and without any reservation?
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Have you ever felt such a ”feeling of assurance”? What was it like? How did it affect you?

You have a friend who sees visions.  One day she has a vision in which the greatness of the human spirit and intellect is fully unleashed and revealed. The vision suggests a whole new period of civilization and human endeavor.   What is this golden age like?  What is humankind capable of accomplishing when it puts all its resources into something good rather than into war and conflict?

There was a wonderful piece in the March 2, 2011 Wall Street Journal (”Erasing Signatures From History” by Jeffrey Zaslow) which talks about a high school English teacher who encouraged his students to write their most creative thoughts on the walls of his classroom.  They covered ”those painted cinderblocks with original art, quotes from favorite books, and deep thoughts born from teenaged angst,” writes Zaslow.  And many of the students looked to those walls for inspiration.  I know I would have.

What a creative idea! A way of telling young people that their ideas and thoughts have value and should be shared by others.

I wonder what you might write on the walls of your own classroom.  For me, I think the most important words are, ”Persist. Never take ‘no’ for an answer.”  And,  ”Be kind, there is so much pain in the world, be kind!”

But tell me, what would you write?

After reading his soaring poetry, you are encouraged by the great American poet Walt Whitman to write a ”song” of yourself.  It celebrates all that is special about you, about your life and your unique consciousness. It may even include your dreams and hopes.   What are some of the lines in your song or poem of yourself?