On the Brighter Side 3-18-07

Bonjour Tout le Monde,

Or Hello Everyone, I have to practice my French whenever I can. At Disneyland Paris, everyone always wants to practice their English, so I only get real practice when I am out on the streets of Paris.

I was updating my blog and saw some notes from some of you and I wanted to say thank you for the encouragement. I am using this site to share what I wish I could share with everyone I know in person.

I have felt the sadness of seeing wonderful things, turning and having no one to share them with. Being home for a short stay last week it really sunk in about how important keeping in touch with everyone really is. I talk to Betty almost every day, and I mean really talk. I think when I complete this project, I will call her, even if it is from the other room to share my day and hear about hers. It is tough to be away from home, but in a way, I am even closer. I never found the time to communicate the way I have here, it is my line to sanity in a very odd place.

They told me there would be hills and valleys of emotion living away from everything I am accustomed to, but I had no idea how steep the fall or how hard the climb back up would be.

On The Brighter Side

Every valley has a bottom, and every hill you mount has a better view than the last one. Nature has a way of dealing with deficiencies. The blind are more in tune with their other senses than most of us. You can see them almost sense objects as they approach them. The deaf sharpen their abilities to read lips and pick up on visual clues that others overlook. Wheelchair bound individuals develop great strength in their upper bodies and in their spirit to be independent.

The reduction in verbal connectivity that I have experienced has strengthened me in ways that I would never have worked on at home.

I found this quote on a web page that speaks of exactly what I am experiencing, and it is comforting to realize my creativity is being developed; it helps me cope with the valleys.

“The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way, and must compensate for what they miss by realizing and cultivating their capacities and talents.”
Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)


I will continue this roller coaster ride and scream all the way down, laugh all the way back up. That is as long as I know there are people out there that I can share the ride with. I have learned not only to cultivate my capacities but also to enjoy the deprivation as an opportunity to develop other capacities. True sadness will be when I no longer realize that everything presents an opportunity, when there is no one to share things with, and when I cease to… always look on the bright side of life.

Bon voyage par la vie, Good journey through life,
Robert