HELEN KELLER: One Last Word of Encouragement

Noeses identified Challenges as an important ingredient of great achievement. We further proceeded to explain the nature of challenges and we looked at what we call The Domino Effect of Challenges. We would love to end the Challenge Series for the time being with one last thing. 

What is this last thing? Well, inasmuch as Noeses has spoken a lot, we believe that there are some probable thoughts on our readers’ minds. Some of these thoughts include: You don’t know what I’m going through! , You have no idea what you are saying, It’s easier said than done and Life is not easy. Now, we are empathetic enough to understand your situation (we admit that we can’t feel exactly the way feel since we are not in your situation). One truth that we submit to, is that Life is not easy; it’s not meant to be easy and yes! It’s easier said than done. Despite all these, we still stand our grounds and say there is something absolutely phenomenal about challenges. One question that’s probably on your mind is; how long should I hold on? Don’t worry. It’s for this reason that Noeses has put together that “one last word of encouragement”- we chose one of those extreme cases to deliver our message and that’s the story of Helen Keller. 

Helen Keller was born healthy to equally healthy American parents, Arthur H. Keller and Kate Adams. However, 19 months into her life she contracted a strange illness that made her deaf and blind. Can you imagine the life of the deaf and blind? Anne Sullivan, the partially blind teacher of Helen Keller helped her to live an unimaginably meaningful and impactful life. Anne’s efforts made Helen the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude. She authored several books including her autobiography; The Story of My life. She travelled around the globe to give lectures and deliver speeches. It’s recorded that she delivered about 475 speeches. She contributed a great deal to the American Foundation for the Blind and other similar causes around the globe. Her laurels and honors are “uncountable”. We can learn a couple of things from her story: 

Had Faith
Helen Keller believed she could change the world in one way or the other notwithstanding her situation. She lived as such and set forth to start a “faith epidemic” through her inspirational speeches. She inspired and challenged the deaf and blind to do great.  She inspired the world with her quotes on hope and confidence as she believed it played an important role in her achievements. 

The human being is born with incurable capacity for making the best things-Helen Keller 

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face- Helen Keller 

Left a mark
Helen Keller left an indelible mark.  Her story alone is a wonder of the world. She is considered one of the widely admired people of the 20th century. Keller inspired the world through her writings. She had 12 published books and several articles.  She actually caused the world to believe that even the deaf and blind had unlimited potential. A potential which got some recognition-The Helen Keller Hospital in Alabama is dedicated to her and she was also elected into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in America. 

 
She was Happy
Among all things, Helen Keller found happiness. She didn't allow her disabilities to limit her. She found peace and harmony in writing. This is how she puts it; “literature is my utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of senses shuts me out from sweet, gracious discourse of my book-friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.”  What amount of difficulty is obstructing your happiness? Can it be compared to that of Helen Keller? 

Do you have an Excuse?
When I think about Helen Keller’s story, no question other than “what is your excuse?” comes to mind. If you have life and you can see, hear and perform all the basic human functions then my question still remains; what’s your excuse? I believe that every excuse has a success story- so I dare to say that your story is no different. I don’t know your situation but I believe you can find your encouragement in this story. 

In conclusion, I suggest that we should allow inspirational stories like this to stir in us determination, hard-work and imagination. Understand that your story is not as different as you think it is. Rise up, take on that challenge and conquer! 

In our next post, we shall introduce and start what we call “The Triple F series”- Faith, Focus and Fear. Like we said before, this trip will be interesting, educative, eye-opening and thought provoking. You might want to psyche yourself and be expectant of what is ahead. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. Cheers!

Sources:

http://www.afb.org/info/about-us/helen-keller/biography-and-chronology/biography/1235-

http://www.biography.com/people/helen-keller-9361967-

http://mobile.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/helen_keller.html

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