The winner is Donna from the USA.

——————————————————-

I have been inspired by many individuals on this great journey.  But this beautiful women who I have met on Twitter has a remarkable story.  Her’s should be told over and over again in order to share with others that LIFE is great no matter the circumstances

 ”..With God, all things are possible.”  Mathew 19:26 NIVan

Hello, my name is Erika Bogan. I am a 27-year-old parapalegic. I was injured at the age of 21, in 2002. I am an aspiring motivational/public speaker, dedicated to giving other spinal cord injured patients the hope and proof that life goes on and ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.  Life can be full of unexpected obstacles.  This site is dedicated to putting my story out there, and to give others a chance to not only read my story of strength and determination, but to give them a chance to contact me and bless my life with another opportunity to bless someone else. 

My blog is updated, with my progress since Experience Project has launched the campaign for me to go back to college.  This whole journey has been such a blessing!  I am excited about sharing this journey with you all as it progresses and my dreams become within reach!

 ”There are moments in your life that make you and sets the course of who you’re going to be. Sometimes they’re little, subtle moments.  Sometimes they are big moments you never saw coming.  No one asks for their life to change, but it does.  It’s what you do afterwards that counts.  That’s when you find out who you are.”

~Erika Bogan aka Unperfect Angel

Wow!  Imagine having the courage and strength to carry on after such an ordeal.  And not only that but to want to make a difference in the lives of others. Anything is possible.  Here is a little bit more of her story and what she has accomplished so far.

I could not understand why my life had been spared.  While in the hospital, I had a physical therapist named Craig.  He tried not only to be my therapist, but also my friend.  We spent five hours a day, five days a week together.  He saw me on my best days and my worst days.  I thank God to this day, that he was with me on the day that I finally hit rock bottom.  This particular day was also the day before I was to leave the hospital to return home. 

   Craig was trying to show me how to pull myself into the wheelchair from the floor.  This activity was probably the hardest thing that I had to accomplish, up until that point, anyway.  It required me to pull my body up, dead weight, using only my arms.  As I made my first attempt, I could feel every muscle in my body stretch to its limit.  I yelled out in pain.  My second attempt was even worse.  I yelled again.  But this time, I didn’t yell because of the pain, I yelled because I was so angry.  I wasn’t supposed to be going through this.  I had kept all of my emotions bottled up and now they were all beginning to pour out.  Why me?  Why was I being punished?  What did I do to deserve any of this?  Craig gave me a hug.  We sat for a moment in silence as we embraced.  I looked at him with tears in my eyes and just asked him why? 

      He explained to me that God had a plan for me.  There was a purpose behind all the pain, suffering and loss that I was feeling.  He looked at me full of confidence and reassured me that something good was going to come from this tragedy.  With tears still running down my face, I looked at Craig with a smile and thanked him for this encouragement. 

     That night was my last night in the hospital.  I was so thankful, yet, I was still had a lot of emptiness and curiosity as to what my destiny was.  I started thinking about what Craig had told me about God having a bigger and better purpose for my life and all that I was to face in the future.  Then I remembered the feelings that I had as a little girl.  The feelings that one day I was going to do something big to help others and make a difference.  It came to me then.  I suddenly had a sense of peace and ironic joy.  I had been blessed with a new life and a meaningful future.  My life up until that point had no direction and no greater purpose.  I had just an ordinary life.  My life had been a book of blank pages.  I now could start filling those pages with inspiring words.  I decided that I could take my tragedy and turn it into something much greater.  I had hope that I could make it through all of this and come out stronger.  I could not let this event stop my life. 

      The next day I left the hospital.  As I watched the familiar surroundings pass by, I knew that there was hope with determination.  I could make my life anything that I wanted it to be.  I would find my purpose.  I just had to believe. 

Now, six years later, I have three beautiful daughters;  I have accomplished many great things and touched many lives with my testimony.  I know that I still have more good to come.  Without this accident, and my wheelchair, so many blessings would have passed me by.  I believe that my purpose is to tell my story, to inspire those who have lost hope because of their tragedies.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.  Life does not give you anything that you can not handle.  I am proud of the person I have become and that I am yet to be.  I would not have the joy that I feel today, if I would have allowed myself to be overwhelmed with self-pity, and gave up.  God always has a plan for our lives.  All things are possible with him, if we just believe…the sky is the limit. 

Thank you Erika for sharing your amazing story.  You are an inspiration to all of us. Please follow and support Erika on her journey at http://lilunperfectangel.webs.com .  And if you are on Twitter follow her at @unperfectangel.

I am so grateful for this wonderful life I have.  And I am grateful that The Lawttery of Attraction has chosen Donna from the USA.  She will be receiving $70.00. 

 Happy Monday!

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David Slocombe

P.S. Thanks to Sejual Shah (http://www.HealthyInMind.com) from the United Kingdom who donated $20.00 and Karen (last weeks winner) from Canada who donated $5.00. This coming weeks jackpot will be at $75.00.  Yee ha!

P.P.S. Please check out a previous post at http://tiny.cc/vUfsT  and if you are like me and love this picture then please vote and leave a comment and help Amandeep.  Thank you.

 

 

 

One of my reasons for blogging is to highlight the great power that resides in each of us. 

Even if it is only a little speck in the bottom of your stomach.  With love and encouragement it can expand exponentially.  Growing inside us until it must overflow .  Gliding and touching everyone and everything with such confidence and love.  Climbing up and going around  all obstacles .  Flowing with such ease that mountains are moved because of your desire.

I will share with you how others have accomplished their goals in the hopes that it might inspire, encourage you to fulfill your dreams and desire.

Watch how Christina without any experience will conquer her mountain in order to help others.

I want to thank Dave Adsett editor of The Wellington Advertiser and David Meyer for allowing me to share this story.

The following story was taken from The Wellington Advertiser vol 42 issue 7.

Woman climbs African mountain for local Alzheimer’s Society

by David Meyer

GUELPH -

A 27-year-old woman will salute her grand­mother later this year by climb­ing Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest mountain in Africa.

Christina Pilgrim admits she is not a mountain climber, or even an avid camper or hik­er, but she will be attempting a feat that 20,000 people try each year. Over half of them fail, but she expects to make it.

Pilgrim is taking part in an As­cent for Alzheimer’s, a project that has been running through the British Columbia Alzheimer’s group and is now in its 11th year. Partici­pants must raise $10,000 in sponsor­ships, and then pay their own way to Tanzania to make the ascent, which will take about two weeks up and back.

Pilgrim said in an interview that last summer, her grand­mother, Rita Rudiger, of George­town, suffered with

Alzheimer’s disease. She died at Thanksgiving.

“We saw her going down­hill,” Pilgrim said.

She said she wanted to do something in Rudiger’s honour, and then she learned about the mountain ascent program. Fur­ther, she met Sue Brown.

Brown completed the same trek with the same group about four years ago, and carried a Wellington County flag with her that she unfurled at the top of the mountain.

Both women were involved with seniors in Wellington Coun­ty. Pilgrim works with the Seniors Day Out program.

When she spoke with Brown, she received nothing but encouragement.

“I talked with Sue this past summer,” she said. “She said it was a fabulous experience. ‘Go for it.’ ”

She contacted the Alzheimer’s Society of British Colum­bia in August, but it took until the end of November before she was approved for the trek. She said the reason was she wanted all of her money to go to the Guelph Wellington Alzheimer’s Society. The B.C. group finally agreed.

Pilgrim noted that “One hundred per cent of what I raise goes to the society.

She has already started fundraising, and has set up a website and has been gratified to find that donors are already responding. She is planning a fundraising event in May with tributes to Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, as well as a silent auction, and she is currently soliciting donations for that auction.

She is also aware she needs to be in good condition to make the ascent of the mountain. Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,340 feet above sea level.

Each year, only 48 per cent of those climbing reach the summit. The Ascent for Alzheimer’s climb has a 90% success rate of taking climbers to the summit, and Pilgrim added it has a “100% safety rate.”

She found a personal trainer and fitness coach in Heather Ennis, of Elora, and the Guelph YMCA has offered its facilities for workouts until she leaves for Africa in September.

Pilgrim said the climb does not involve sheer rock face or pitons and ropes, but is a very steep ascent, not to mention shortage of oxygen as the climbers near the top. With that  in mind, Ennis designed a program for Pilgrim that will strengthen her knees and joints, as well as cardio training for stamina.

There are two climbing teams this year. Pilgrim said one will start in early Sep­tem­ber, and hers starts climbing Sept. 15.

She expects at some point to meet the first group.

Her personal cost is about $6,500, and that does not include climbing equipment but does include such things as hiring porters.

There is a Canadian guide, Sue Oakey-Baker, and a Canadian doctor making the trip with her group.

“I’m doing this because I appreciate what the Alz­heim­er’s Society does for indi­viduals and families trying to navigate their way through this debilitating disease,” she said.

Pilgrim works at the St. Joseph’s Day Out Centre with many county residents. She sees many people of varying abilities and with different disabilities, including those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

It was there that she has become familiar with how non-profit organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Society of Guelph-Wellington provides assistance for those people and their families.

She hopes the community will help her in far surpassing this amount.

She added that she believes the people she knows and works with from Fergus, Elora, Alma, and Arthur will be thrilled she is making the Ascent for Alzheimer’s.

Anyone wanting more information, or to donate to her silent auction fundraiser in May, or to make a cash donation should visit her website  www.myclimb.ca.

To learn more about the climb, people can also visit http://­www.­alzheimer­bc.org/­ascent.php .

Great job Christina.  We will be watching your ascent with great interest.  Sending you positive vibes knowing that you will reach the pinnacle.  You are awesome.

And you know what, you are awesome too.

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David Slocombe

P.S.  Don’t forget there is less than 4 days to enter The Lawttery of Attraction.  Enter at www.IWannaGiveNow.com

 

 

 

Vol 42 Issue 07

The winner is Nicole from the USA

_________________________________

Barrie Hopkins has graciously allowed me to share this riveting little story. 

I read his column Bits and Pieces weekly from The Wellington Advertiser.  That is our free newspaper that is delivered all over Wellington County.

I can honestly say that after finishing this article I was amazed at how easy  and abundant  my life is compared to Jennifer’s.

You see Jennifer Jones works at Tim Horton’s.  Which is Canada’s favorite place to get a cup of coffee.  However you will notice that this is no ordinary Tim Horton’s.

And one more thing.  While pulling up a chair to read this little ditty.  I want you to think of one thing that you are grateful for.

Why?

While I’ll let Jennifer Jones tell you her story and then we can talk.

Now for Jennifer and Barrie to explain the rest.

An Insider’s View I Bits and Pieces 01-30-09

Jennifer Jones worked at Tim Hortons in
Kandahar, Afghanistan for six months. When
she wrote this essay, she was a month away
from returning home. I pass it on, word for
word, to give you, as it did her, a greater
appreciation for our soldiers- and our country.

“My alarm goes off just before 5 a.m. I pull
on my bathrobe, pad down the hallway and
open the plywood door to a gravel road and a
line of large rounded tents surrounded by
concrete highway dividers. The sun is already
up, and hundreds of birds have congregated in
the few trees to bid the morning welcome with
their cheerful chatter. It is almost cool, but the
promise of 50-degree heat hangs in the air.
I walk over sand and gravel to the shower
trailer. This early in the morning I have the
place to myself, which doesn’t happen often.
The trailer is ripe with the smells of chlorine
and disinfectant, and I hurry back to my tent
where I’m living for six months and change
into my uniform. I put on sand-coloured pants
and a shirt, my name tag and a desert
camouflage hat. As I arrive at work, there’s
already a lineup, so I hustle in the side door.
My coworkers are bustling about, making
coffee and stocking cups. I grab a hairnet, put
it on under my cap and take my place as the
doors open.
This is no ordinary Tim Hortons. I work on
the Kandahar military base in Afghanistan.
The store is roughly in the middle of the
base. In the centre is a large sand-and-gravel
field where the Americans play football and the
Brits play cricket. There’s a ball hockey rink
right outside our store where we watch the
Canadian troops play enthusiastic games of
hockey in the sweltering heat. Other food
outlets and stores line two sides of the boardwalk
in the sand.
The store is actually a trailer and in the
mornings, with six people behind the counter,
it’s a busy place. We rush about in a practiced
ballet of coffee and doughnuts, calling out
orders and dodging the bakers as they come to
fill up the showcase. Sometimes I marvel that
we don’t crash one another.
We can often tell what someone will order
just by looking at the uniform. The Canadian
troops usually just want a double-double,
known as a NATO Standard over here.
Sometimes we tempt them into an apple
fritter.
The Americans prefer honey dips with
regular coffee, whereas the Brits can’t turn
down a Boston cream or Canadian maple.
They’re also partial to French vanilla
cappuccinos. When the cappuccino machine
is temporarily out of service, we almost have
a mutiny on our hands.
“No French vanilla?’ A group of four
British soldiers gasp and moan. “What are we
supposed to do?”
“What will you do when you go home?” I
ask.”You’ll have to start a franchise in
Sussex.”
“Oh we’ll just order the French vanilla
online then.” They grin and buy two cans of
the mix to tide them over.
I enjoy seeing our regulars as well as the
new faces that arrive all the time.
Good mornin’, m’love! And how’re you
today?” one of the older soldiers from
Newfoundland lilts. His face is tanned and his
blue eyes sparkle as he smiles. I return his
smile and say,”Just great! And you?”
“Oh, livin’ the dream,” he laughs and
orders his morning coffee. I know he’ll be
back three or four more times before the day’s
end.
The Tim Hortons caps we wear are perhaps
the most in demand.
“Can I have six double-doubles and a hat?”
” How much for your hat, darlin’?”
We hear these questions all day long.
Conversation is mostly casual and
lighthearted.
“Make my coffee better than his,” one
soldier jokes, pointing to his friend. Give him
the old stuff.”
“Are you still here? I thought you’d be
home by now! When do they let you out?”
“Of course, we’re the only Tim Hortons
where the majority of customers come in fully
armed. But by now I’m used to the sight of a
soldier with a rifle in one hand and a coffee in
the other. We’re also prone to rocket attacks
on the base, and when the alarm sounds, we
have to get all customers out of the store and
sit in the back until the all clear sounds.
There’s a heavy thud, a feeling of impact and
then the eerie wail of an old air-raid siren.
That’s the signal to get to a bunker, or to the
back of the store, if I’m working.
The first time I experienced this I wasn’t
really scared, but it gave a note of seriousness
to my job that hadn’t been there before. We sat
on the floor and waited until the all-clear alarm
went off like a British police siren.
Because of the hot weather, we make a lot
of iced cappuccinos, and I often dance a little
when I make them. I sway back and forth,
moving my hips to the sound of the mixer. I tell
the customers it tastes better that way. It never
fails to get a smile.
There are days when it’s hard to be upbeat,
though. We’ve had six ramp ceremonies since
I’ve been here. A ramp ceremony is when we
send soldiers home in the very way we don’t
want to - in a coffin. It’s a very formal event,
with the troops marching out in formation.
Those of us with the Canadian Forces
Personnel Support Agency are put in our ranks.
We march behind our troops and take our place
on the tarmac in front of the plane that will fly
the bodies home. Other than the sound of
marching feet, all is silent.
A brief service is usually conducted by the
padre, a military minister. We pray, then the
troops salute the caskets draped in Canadian
flags, which are carried high on the shoulders
of other soldiers. A bagpiper follows behind. I
don’t think I’ll ever hear the sound of bagpipes
again without remembering these ceremonies.
Sometimes I cry, a little - for lives lost, and for
families I’ve never met.
When we get back to work the mood is
sombre; soldiers come in with grief on their
faces. They give their order quietly, avoiding
eye contact. I can sense that tears are close for
them. It can be hard to speak in those
moments. Yet most of the soldiers appreciate
our smiles and jokes. When we celebrate life,
it helps us all deal with death a little easier.
I applied for this job in August 2006. I was
wrapping up a contract job with an arts
festival in Niagara-on-the-lake, Ont.,
processing donations and sending out
membership packages. I was looking for
something different to do with my life;
something that would feel like I was helping
out a larger cause. I didn’t think I would get
the job.
Im 35, and although I’m not married and
don’t have children, I assumed I’d be
bypassed in favour of younger adventurers.
But I found a range of ages and experiences
when I was accepted into the two-week
training course. One of my coworkers,
Chantal, 24, from Timmins, Ont., signed up
because her husband is a soldier here and she
wanted to support him and their friends who
are serving in this mission.
We work long hours, and there are no days
off. By the end of a shift, I’m tired as I walk
back to the tent, My little room is home, for
now, and though it’s only the size of a small
car garage, it’s comfortable. I have a bedsheet
door and a curving tent wall above my
head. When it rains hard, as it sometimes
does, the tent often leaks.
I miss simple things, like having a
bathroom in the same building as my bedroom
and walls that go all the way up to the ceiling.
I miss picking berries and making pies and
jam. I have a friend who recently died of
cancer, and I wish I could have visited her, or
at least called her more easily and frequently.
I have even missed winter. But at night in
Kandahar, I look up and I see the same
familiar constellations that hang over my
home town of Thunder Bay, Ont., and I know
I’ll be back there before long.
I rest easy knowing that my home is where
roadside bombings and landmines are
unheard of. I have a huge appreciation for
Canada - I always did - but this experience is
magnifying it.
This job has given me more patience and
shown that I can live through difficult
circumstances with a smile on my face, I came
here with very little understanding of the
military culture, and I will leave knowing that
our soldiers are proud to serve us this far from
home; they want to make the world better for
their own families and their country.
For the soldiers, being able to feel normal by
ordering “the usual” helps make their tour more
bearable. Just the other day, a soldier told me,
“if it weren’t for this place, I’d have gone crazy
by now.” So when a young soldier comes in
and gives me a thankful grin because he can
finally get an iced cappuccino after six weeks
out in the desert, I feel that, even by just
serving a coffee, I can make a difference.”
So there you have it folks, in words that can
no better paint a verbal picture than Jennifer
Jones just has. And if you think I didn’t have
tears cloud my eyes while typing parts of this,
you are wrong, wrong, wrong.
Take care, cause we care.
Barrie@barriehopkins.ca 519-843-4544

Thanks Barrie for allowing me to share her story.

And a special thank you to Jennifer Jones.  Your story shone a bright light on how important the small things in life are.

I love finding stories that demand me to examine my life.  I am constantly amazed that I still find fault with my fantastic life.

This is what I constantly critize in my life.

My dial up is to slow.

So what?

My kids don’t listen to me.

So what?

And my wife might not totally agree with my plan.

But you know what.

At least I still have a computer where I can talk to the outside world.

Most of the times my kids do listen and they love me dearly.

And Debbie is on her own journey.  She loves me like the first day we met.  May be even more.  It just might take her a little longer to see the big picture.

But no one is shooting at me.

I do not have to dodge shrapnel.

And there are no bombs going off in the back yard.

Let’s just say that life is good.

And you know what?  I am sure you can say the same thing.

I am grateful that Debbie will bring home a large double double from Tim Horton’s.

And I am grateful that Nicole from the USA played The Lawttery of Attraction.  Because she is this weeks winner, Nicole will be receiving $75.00.  Congratulations Nicole!

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David Slocombe

P.S.  Thanks to Lori, Derek and R.A.L for their donations, $85.00 is the jackpot for this weeks  Lawttery of Attraction.  But you have to play to win.  So enter at www.IWannaGiveNow.com

Well this is one man I would like to meet.

He kind of reminds me of the “Bald Guy”

Yeah this guy has a booth set up in New York City and is handing out money. 

I wonder where he thought of that?

Any way after he is  done in New York City he is off to a few other cities in the States. He is just going to keep handing out money.

Now as long you tell your story you are guaranteed to receive something.  Bailout Bill is handing out $50.00 all the way up to $5000.00.

See the huge lines, hear the amazing stories of receiving.  Read the article by Sima Kotecha and the BBC here http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7869000/7869277.stm

Now the only thing that he is doing differently is advertising a new website.

But heck we all want to get recognized. 

So maybe The Universe is just showing us other free ways to receive money.  You know like http://www.me2everyone.com/14048and The Lawttery of Attraction.

Speaking of that there are less then 4 days for The Lawttery of Attraction to choose this weeks winner.  So hurray now and enter at www.IWannaGiveNow.com .  Remember this weeks prize is $70.00.

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David