Truly it is difficult to give without expecting anything in return. I am running my mind through some times I did this, but my brain keeps doing a flip of reality on me… I ended up expecting something in return. I think it is just human nature to have two way gift giving. To rise above our human nature is often difficult. So… let me ‘think again’ regarding a time I gave without expecting anything in return. Bingo… Thought of something! I had an intern who was in a wheelchair. He was not just temporarily in a wheelchair. He was permanently in a wheelchair. He never had any hope of getting out of that wheelchair. I admired him greatly because he never complained and always found a way to get around an obstacle, literally and figuratively. He did everything I asked him to do and never shied away from any duty even though he could have used his handicap as a reason. I helped him go to the principal to discuss a concern ‘we’ had for worst case scenario. IF they brought the drug dog to the classroom, how exactly were we to handle that because he was medically required to carry his meds with him because his legs would get spasms he could not control unless the med was readily available. That was all worked out with the principal. He was grateful. That made me feel good and I was not getting anything out of it. Later at Christmas, the district gave us a bonus. It was around $400. I gave him cash money because he was a co-teacher for that semester and deserved that bonus just as much as I did. He took the money and I never expected anything from him. Giving that to him also made me feel good because I had helped someone.

Reading biographies give you a view into the life of different people you never get to meet. Elizabeth Edwards is one biography I read that helped me greatly even though I never met her. I admired her strength in the face of cancer and betrayal from her husband. When I read her biography, I gained inner strength for meeting my own disappointments. I had similar things happen to me, but no cancer – thank God! Another biography I read that helped me greatly is the Story of Steve Jobs. I did not know he was adopted prior to reading his biography. Once again, faced with cancer he overcame so many things. His driven personality gave me an example to follow because I could see in the technology world how being driven by the negatives in his life gave him such solid gains. I will continue to read biographies of great people because it helps me realize they are ‘just regular people’ like myself who never gave up when faced with overwhelming odds of success. These are the people who have helped me, but whom I have never met.

Longing enriches my life by giving me goals to achieve. If everything I ‘wanted’ and ‘wished for’ is given to me in the moment, I would not develop the ability to push forward to achieve goals. Longing develops strength in my life because I have to be patient and wait for somethings. I recently told someone “Patience is a virtue.” I think longing fits well with that. Patience and Longing are partners in building virtue in my life. What is virtue? Virtue is behavior showing high moral standards. Longing creates high moral standards in my life because I do not ‘settle for less’ and keep pushing forward toward the goal of reaching what I am ‘longing for’ in my life.