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Good Afternoon. Here is a great thought for the day:

Helen Keller was born in 1880 into an affluent southern family in Alabama. At the age of nineteen months, Helen was stricken ill and left deaf and blind. I can remember when my daughters were that age. They were alive, aware, vibrant, happy, and engaging. Can you imagine the fear that little girl must have felt when her world went dark? In fact, as the years progressed, Helen became wild and hard to control. If it were not for her young friend Martha Washington, the daughter of one of the Keller family's servants, Helen may have been put into a sanitarium to live out her life in complete darkness. However, Martha befriended Helen and taught her to communicate through sign language. She taught Helen over sixty different signs that helped her communicate with her family. Most of us think of Annie Sullivan as the "miracle worker", when in fact it was young Martha that truly helped Helen's world open up. Experts agree that Martha's help was critical to Helen's later success. It's ironic that because of her limited communication she became demanding, spoiled, and uncontrollable. When she was six, Helen's mother reached out to friends to find help for Helen. She was referred to a specialist working with deaf children — Alexander Graham Bell. Mr. Bell spent time with Helen and ended up referring her to the Perkins Institute for the Blind. And this is where she met Annie Sullivan.

Annie was a twenty-year-old graduate of the school and was partially blind. She had been completely blind, but through a series of operations recovered part of her sight. Annie understood Helen's world. She received permission to take Helen away from her family to help her focus. After taking Helen into seclusion and isolating her from her family, she was able to essentially break her of her tantrums and ill behavior. Under Annie's guidance, Helen's world would open up exponentially.

"What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me."

She would go on to become the first blind person to ever graduate from college. She traveled the world as a famous speaker and author. She met some amazing people along her journey. She met every US President from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson and was friends with many famous figures, including Alexander Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin, and Mark Twain. Helen passed away in 1968 at the age of 87.

I have to ask, how could a deaf and blind little six-year-old in the 1800's rise to such prominence and make such a difference in the world? Without question her mother, Martha Washington, and Annie Sullivan have to be given a great deal of credit. But, I believe that the foundation for her success stemmed from within the spirit of Helen herself. Without the deep-seeded desire to learn and to rise above the challenges before her, she could not have overcome her physical limitations regardless of how much help she had. At the end of the day, we must all eventually look inward to grow outward. Helen understood this better than most.

"We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are."
- Anais Nin   

Have a wonderful day.

"Each morning is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When the sun rises tomorrow this day will be gone forever, in its place will be something you have left — may it be something good. Follow your heart, it knows what to do."

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