Courage is...

Liu Wei, a pianist who plays with his toes

The world is full of amazing people who choose not to let their circumstances defeat them. Liu Wei, 23, an armless Chinese pianist shocked the country on "China's Got Talent" playing the piano with his toes. He lost both of his arms when he was 10, after touching a high-voltage wire while playing hide-and-seek.

Wei, from Beijing, had always wanted to be a professional musician. His first piano teacher quit and said it was impossible for anyone to play the piano without fingers. At 18, he decided to teach himself.



He said, "For people like me, there were only two options. One was to abandon all dreams, which would lead to a quick, hopeless death; the other was to struggle without arms to live an outstanding life".

我的人生中只有两条路 - 要么赶紧死，要么精彩地活着。刘伟 [中国达人秀]

YOU CAN, WHEN YOU BELIEVE!

A Small Country but A Big Dream

The inaugural Youth Olympics Games is now held in Singapore! Being a Singaporean, I'm so proud of my country for hosting such a world-watching sports event. I was even more proud when I watched the spectacular performance at the opening ceremony last Saturday =)

Opening Ceremony of Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics:
YOG Opening Ceremony 1
YOG Opening Ceremony 2

Watch the games live and get an update on the results at YOG TV Live

Choose to Live Your Dreams - Tererai Trent

As a young girl in rural Zimbabwe, Tererai Trent lived without running water and electricity and had no hope for her future. "I remember very well my father pointing to my brothers and the other boys in the village and saying: 'These are the breadwinners of tomorrow. We need to educate them. We need to send them to school. The girls will get married,'" she says. "And that was just a painful experience for me."

Desperate to learn, this little girl with big dreams secretly did her brother's homework. "I learned to read and write from my brother's books," she says. Soon, Tererai's secret was exposed, and the teacher begged her father to let her learn.

Tererai attended only two terms before she was forced to marry at age 11. By age 18, she was the mother of three. "When my husband realized that I wanted to have an education, he would beat me," she says. "I have nightmares of that time of my life."

In 1991, a visitor changed Tererai's life forever. Jo Luck, from Heifer International, asked every woman about her greatest dream—something many of them didn't know they were allowed to have. "I remember very clearly saying: 'My name is Tererai, and I want to go to America to have an education, and I want to have a BS degree. I want to have a master's, and I want to have a PhD," she says. "And she just looked at me [and said], 'If you desire those things, it is achievable.'"

Hoping her daughter could break the cycle of poverty, Tererai's mother encouraged her to write her dreams on a piece of paper. The 20-year-old placed them in a scrap of tin and buried them under a rock in the pasture where she used to herd cattle. "As a woman without an education, life will continue to be a burden," she wrote. "I truly believe in these dreams, and I hope one day to work for the causes of women and girls in poverty."

Tererai not only broke the cycle—she shattered it. In 1998, Tererai moved to Oklahoma with her husband and now five children. Just three years later, she earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural education. In 2003—the same year her husband was deported for abuse—Tererai obtained her master's degree.

After every achievement, Tererai returned home to Zimbabwe, unearthed her tin of dreams and checked off each goal she accomplished, one by one. In December 2009, the now happily remarried Tererai will realize her greatest dream of all—a doctoral degree.

Tererai is a symbol of hope in her village. On a trip home in 2009, Tererai and her mother encouraged a new generation of girls to dream, giving them pens, paper and tiny metal tins. "It makes me feel happy, but at the same time, it makes me feel empty that there are more women who could have the same opportunity but they are not getting it," she says. "My story is not about me, but it's about what can come out of my story."

How I See Myself...

Clay Dyer - The Most Inspirational Fisherman Ever

Four Things We Cannot Recover

The stone.... after the throw!
The word..... after it's said!
The occasion.... after the loss!
The time..... after it's gone!

The Clutter is All in Your Mind

The Lunar New Year is nearing so it's time for the annual spring cleaning. So what are things we really need, and what the things we can donate to the needy or should toss away?

Many of us love to shop and often we ended buying things we like/want but do not need. And day by day these things start to clutter our space, shelves, cupboards, storeroom, and our mind.

Giving away or donating things we hardly use or don't really need is the step necessary for us to welcome newer and better things in our life. And not forgetting, "The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you."

The Clutter is all in Your Mind

View more presentations from ohJOYS. (tags: control clutter)

Quotes on Simplicity

Timeless Treasures

"Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
- Lao Tzu

"Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life,
and the labors of life reduce themselves."
- Edwin Way Teale

"Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language,
and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying.
The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things,
and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things."
- Elise Boulding