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These stories were written by people like you. Read how their lives were changed for the better by adopting positive values. Be inspired by them.
My question to you today is...is it possible to now write 7 success stories of people affected by the downturn economy? It seems that all we read, see and hear these days from the media is negative jargon. We all know how negative media affects readers and viewers. I know it's a stretch, but wouldn't it be uplifting to actually open the paper or go online and see something good for a change? Gi... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
In the summer of 2000 I was diagnosed with a form of Leukemia that could only be cured with a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. My family was not a match. Through the summer I had to hope that a complete stranger would be found on a bone marrow data base who would be a match. I was fortunate that someone was found and did agree to donate her stem cells. To accomplish she had to fly to th... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
When I was 30, my mother died. I had a boyfriend who was not interested in marrying me. I found myself pregnant and alone at 31. My father was horrible, he and my baby's father called me constantly to urge me to give my child up for adoption. All I wanted was to be a mother. The only one who took me in and assisted me was my sister, a recovering heroin addict. I chose to live in poverty i... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
I still remember the first time I was “qualified” to go to a football game with my daddy. My parents had eight children; so they had a million rules for when you could “qualify” to do things. It was a cold fall day, and I had just turned eight years old, the magic University of Utah football eligibility age. The sky hung low and heavy over our heads as I raced to keep... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
About five years ago I started at a new school, when my family moved to Iowa. I was just a little excited, but I worried I would never fit in with the other sixth graders. Lucy, a girl in my class, who I thought was not ready for change, didn’t like me from the start. In fact, I was pretty sure she hated me. I would ask her a question, and I could tell she thought I was a total idiot... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
As a child, my parents, by their example, instilled in me a love for reading. I dreamed of being a writer but the pursuit of dreams was never discussed or encouraged - leaving me to write in secret in my room. Life progressed, however, and an interest in interior design surfaced in my teens. However, at my parents’ insistence, I enrolled in secretarial school and worked in that area con... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
Years ago my husband and I were walking in the city when a man approached us asking for money. He was quite dirty and smelled very bad. The television news had been focusing on the problem of people on the street begging, but not really needing help. They asked that nobody give these people anything. My husband, however, pulled out a small amount of money and gave it to the man. After wh... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
Jason is a man with vision. He lives in a rural Levy County area and saw a need. People with disabilities in this community had limited choices and not much of a chance of reaching their goals or fulfilling their dreams. He began by opening a gift shop, and has not only created a place for his friends and family with disabilities to craft and create, but also formed a strong networking resourc... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
Being from a well-to-do family didn't excuse me from work in the summer. My Dad, raised during the Great Depression, realized the benefits and discipline of hard work. He didn't want me to grow up soft. When I was sixteen, he sent me to work with Martin Brock, a sixty-something farmer. It was early June in central Minnesota. Martin contracted himself out to my Dad to clear some land for him, f... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
A few years ago when my youngest son Matthew was about 8 or 9 years old, we were getting things together to take to the Salvation Army at Christmas time. The boys would go through their old toys and give away what they didn't "need." I always make cookies and get together blankets and clothes. Matt and I were delivering the Christmas "package" to our local Salvation Army. We... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY
My 3-year-old showed me just how good it feels to give to others when we went to the store for our 'treat day' (Fridays). She picked out her treat, and noticed a little boy asking his mom to buy him a chocolate bar. The little boy's mom told him they only had enough for bread and milk. My daughter turned to me and asked if we could buy the little boy a chocolate bar as well. Of course, there's ... MORE
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OPPORTUNITY
I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store and decided to look at Barbie dolls for my nieces. A nicely dressed little girl was excitedly looking through the Barbie dolls as well, with a roll of money clamped tightly in her little hand. When she came upon a Barbie she liked, she would turn and ask her father if she had enough money to buy it. He usually said "yes," ... MORE
Values:
OPPORTUNITY