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Tuesday 22 April 2014

LIFE LESSONS IV: HOW HANDICAPPED ARE YOU? (by Austin Queensly @AustinQueensly)

Imagine not being able to see the world around you, the beauty of nature, and the faces of your loved ones. Terrible, right?  Now throw in the inability to listen to good music, or the voices of those around you.
Well, that was the case of Helen Keller who was born with good sight and the ability to hear but lost both senses when she was 19 months old which made her situation feel even worse. Some of us may have heard the story of Helen Keller but not about the person behind her story.
It is hard enough teaching people who have their 5 senses intact and harder to teach someone with a disability. Anne Sullivan definitely had her work cut out for her with the responsibility of tutoring Helen Keller who was both blind and deaf; these two senses are unarguably the most necessary for smooth learning to take place.

At first, expectedly, there were many challenges but as time went by, progress was made in teaching Helen to associate objects with words. They became lifelong companions and traveled the world together even acquiring a seven-acre farm together. Helen Keller went on to become an author, American activist, and lecturer and I daresay that without the entrance of Anne Sullivan into her life, achieving all this will have been almost if not impossible.
Fulfillment does not come from acquiring money and possessions, it comes from making an impact in someone’s life, no matter how little it may seem. Never think that that little act of good you do will go unnoticed and not produce fruits. What kind of seeds are you sowing in the lives of others?
‘The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt by the heart.’
Helen Keller

Oh, I forgot to add…Anne Sullivan was also blind.

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