Positive Chronicles – Edition 76

Mother of all inspirations

Kristan Cronin didn’t have to look far to find inspiration in the field of education. She simply looked toward her mother. Cronin’s mother, Nancy Hall, was a longtime educator in Indiana, where she taught high school special needs students.

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WHY DIGITAL ENTREPRENEUR SUDHA YADAV IS AN INSPIRATION TO YOUNG GIRLS

Sudha Yadav is a 20-year old digital entrepreneur hailing from a small village of Rewari District in Haryana.

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Provo students draw inspiration from COVID art contest

Don’t let the COVID monsters get you, says sixth-grader Chloe Winget. Her art piece joins other winners on display in the Provo City Hall lobby. Feb. 10, 2021.

Imagine a world without COVID. Eighth-grader Megan Hoffman does. See her poster on display in the Provo City Hall lobby. Feb. 10, 2021.

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Being a source of inspiration

To master how to inspire others, you must lead by example. This means exhibiting conviction and courage to act, to stay relentless yet flexible and agile, being authentic in everything you do.

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Brewing up a dirty-water remedy (and more) with kombucha-inspired biosensors

PhD student and 2017 J-WAFS graduate fellow Tzu-Chieh Tang designs living materials to solve environmental challenges, with an emphasis on safety and scalability.

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Zen Fable : What is egotism

The Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty was a national hero for his success as both a statesman and military leader. But despite his fame, power, and wealth, he considered himself a humble and devout Buddhist. Often he visited his favorite Zen master to study under him, and they seemed to get along very well. The fact that he was prime minister apparently had no effect on their relationship, which seemed to be simply one of a revered master and respectful student.

One day, during his usual visit, the Prime Minister asked the master, “Your Reverence, what is egotism according to Buddhism?” The master’s face turned red, and in a very condescending and insulting tone of voice, he shot back, “What kind of stupid question is that!?”

This unexpected response so shocked the Prime Minister that he became sullen and angry. The Zen master then smiled and said, “THIS, Your Excellency, is egotism.”

Interpretation :

We often don’t understand our own selves which is why it is very hard to progress further. This is why understanding ourselves is always the first step towards growth.

Positive Chronicles : Edition 75

CNY Inspirations: Imagine the possibilities

Bishop Colette Matthews-Carter

Hope, unity, peace, racial equity, and economic sustainability for all are just a few things I imagine for our nation. There are those who don’t believe they are possible. They believe our world is too broken and divided to ever fully embrace the former.

Behind the music – World’s First Cinema

LA-based band World’s First Cinema have released their new single, Cold Sets In. We asked them the BIG questions . . .

SHINING A LIGHT ON POSITIVE DISRUPTION IN TRADITIONALLY MALE INDUSTRIES

Commit to Diversity and Inclusion

The Universal Womens Network™ is a global platform committed to gender equality by raising the bar to advance women in their network, workplace, and communities .

2020 showed us just how powerful and resilient women are. Now is the time to commit to be a visible supportHER and champion for diversity and inclusion.

Bits of good news for the earthReview:

“Rewilding Earth: Best of 2019,” eds. John Davis and Susan Morgan, The Rewilding Institute/Essex Editions

Kids Count book shows good and bad news for New Mexico children

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the child advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children had some good news about how the state’s children have fared.

Fable : Inch Time Foot Gem

A lord asked Takuan, a Zen teacher, to suggest how he might pass the time. He felt his days very long attending his office and sitting stiffly to receive the homage of others.

Takuan wrote eight Chinese characters and gave them to the man:

Not twice this day
Inch time foot gem.
This day will not come again.
Each minute is worth a priceless gem.

Interpretation : No matter how uncomfortable the bus ride, how horrendous the airline food, or how saggy the bed, we need to remember: this moment will not come again.

Positive News :: Edition 74

Words of inspiration from women (from “A Woman’s Book of Inspiration”) for a new semester

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time when the tide will turn.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe Words of inspiration from women (from “A Woman’s Book of Inspiration”) for a new semester

Harriet Beecher Stowe published her anti-slavery novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1851.

There are going to be so many overwhelming moments this semester (and generally in life). It’s important to remember that endurance doesn’t mean you’re sprinting, it just means you’re going as fast as you can. It might be a walk, jog or run, but progress is progress, no matter how fast you’re going.

Earth911 Inspiration: Like a Tree

Earth911 Jan 29, 2021

This week’s Earth911 Inspiration comes from poet Ben Ditmars, who wrote, “Like a tree, I have stood my ground, not fallen.”

CNY Inspirations: The past is HISTORY

Updated Jan 24, 2021; Posted Jan 24, 2021

By InterFaith Works of Central New York

This feature is coordinated by The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com and InterFaith Works of CNY. Follow this theme and author posted Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Fable : Stop wasting your time complaining

“People visit a wise man complaining about the same problems over and over again. One day, he decided to tell them a joke and they all roared with laughter.

After a few minutes, he told them the same joke and only a few of them smiled.

Then he told the same joke for a third time, but no one laughed or smiled anymore.

The wise man smiled and said: ‘You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over. So why are you always crying about the same problem?’

Interpretation : As the wise man said, may of us keep complaining about the same issue instead of looking for solutions

Positive News : XXXXI

Inspiration is Just a Podcast Away

Science has shown that, “Thinking positive, happy, hopeful and optimistic thoughts decreases Cortisol [the body’s stress hormone] and produces Serotonin [the body’s natural anti-depressant], which creates a sense of well-being. This helps the brain function at peak capacity.”

These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids

The conversation about race needs to start early and keep happening.

Myka Stauffer and the Aggressively Inspirational World of “Adoption Influencers”

Huxley Stauffer had been turned into content before he even met the people who would become his parents. As early as July 2016, YouTube influencer Myka Stauffer was posting videos to YouTube about the long, complex process of adopting a boy from China. She talked about convincing her husband to adopt, cried while describing administrative delays, and exulted when the process inched forward. Over the years, Stauffer and her husband, James, posted 27 videos on their “adoption journey,” including a heartwarming montage of the family’s trip to China to retrieve their 2½-year-old son in 2017. Afterward, they kept their hundreds of thousands of viewers updated on the boy’s growth and his relationships with their biological children. That is, until earlier this year, when attuned fans began noticing that Huxley had quietly stopped appearing in the couple’s videos.

Soldier-Turned-IRS Officer Rallies Efforts, Aids Hundreds of Migrants in Bengaluru

The 47-year-old Additional Commissioner of Income Tax of Mumbai is a Shaurya Chakra awardee, for his bravery in an encounter with terrorists along the LoC in 2017.

Learning from others about honouring nature

Management Seminar. He was traveling in Uttar Pradesh with his wife for a picnic while he was the Chief Election Commissioner. On the wa, they saw a large mango plantation filled with sparrow nests. Seeing this, they went down there and his wife wanted to take two nests home. The police escort called a young boy who was grazing cows in the fields and demanded to bring the nests down and offered to pay him Rs10. He refused, so Seshan raised the offer to Rs.50. The policeman asked the boy to do it as Seshan was a big officer. The boy told Seshan and his wife ‘Saabji I will not do it for whatsoever you will give.’ He continued, ‘inside those nests, there will be baby sparrows, if I give you those nests to you, in the evening when mother sparrow returns with food for the babies and do not find them there, she will cry. I do not have the heart to see that’. Hearing this Seshan and his wife were shocked. Seshan says my position and the IAS melted away in front of that little boy. I was in front of him like a mustard seed. They gave up their wish and after returning, this incident continued to haunt him with guilt for days. Education, position or social status in never the yardstick for the measure of humanity. Knowledge is to know nature. We don’t achieve anything by gathering a lot of information. Life becomes blissful when you have knowledge, sense & wisdom.

Interpretation : We do need to learn how to respect nature and learn lessons from those who do, irrespective of their background