In a world of tech-savvy teenagers and white collar executives, we often find ourselves turning to Google for all the answers. From universal questions about love to how to assemble a bouquet of roses, Google seems to know just what we need to make our Valentine’s Day special.

Yet despite our best efforts and our rapidly typing finger-tips, no amount of googling can tell you how to love. Google’s Valentine Doodle is an inspiring message about the human heart, demonstrating how true relationships begin with a common interest rather than materialistic gifts.

Similar to the first few minutes in Pixar’s Up, Google’s Valentine Doodle let’s an entire love story unfold without relying on dialogue (unless you count Michael Lipmans “Cold, Cold Heart” playing in the background). Yet what it lacks in words, it more than makes up for in charm, creativity, and wit.

This touching animation involves a young boy seeking the best way to woo and impress his crush. With the ease of a Google search, he finds flowers, chocolates, and an entire array of interesting goods to supposedly win her over. Each new gift gets more and more extreme, but it seems as though the more he tries, the more she ignores him.

According to Google Designer Willie Real, co-creator of Google Valentine Doodle, “That was every girl I met up until college . . .The little girl who couldn’t see the magic within [me] – she had many faces.”

By the end of the animation, the boy gives up and simply decides to join her by jump-roping – which consequently, wins her affection. The overall clip is short and to the point, leaving behind the notion that not even a Google keyword search can navigate the mysteries of the heart.

Google may have a soft-spot for romantic gestures, but by the final montage of unusual couplings was specifically chosen to include all types of love – creating a little political tension beneath the seemingly innocent clip.

Easily offended citizens throughout American cracked down on the brief image of the gay couple holding hands, criticizing Google for advocating gay marriage. According to Josh Wolford at Web Pro News, “the collage itself seems to undermine Google’s Assumed Message,” and he goes on to point out that when set alongside unusual couplings such as the Princess and the Frog or Milk and Cookies, it implies that same sex couples may be interpreted as fictional.

Although the implication “likely wasn’t intentional” it brings a wide variety of scrutiny to Google’s seemingly innocent message.

Rather than nit-picking politics, can’t we just apply Google’s overall message and leave room for all kinds of love?

You wouldn’t think of it to look at him, an ordinary man in his 50s, that he was the epitome of the worker retraining success story. In a matter of years, Bruce Potts managed to take his blue collar job at Freightliner and turn it into a white collar career at the same company.

The Story
Since its opening in 2007, the Rowan Cabarrus Community College (R3 Center) has assisted over 9,000 dislocated workers and scheduled over 33,000 appointments for free career programs and services. The college has dedicated its services to helping individuals like Bruce Potts take control of their future by providing them with the tools they need to succeed.

In 2008, Bruce Potts walked through the doors of the college, looking for a way to secure his future. After 16 years in the maintenance department at Freightliner, Bruce Potts knew that he needed to make a change if he was going to continue providing for his family. At age 50, this seemingly ordinary man turned his life around by pursuing an education rather than simply putting his back to the everyday grind stone.

Although he had to work alongside much younger students, Bruce Potts didn’t let the age difference stop him from achieving his two-year mechanical engineering degree. A year into his classes, Bruce Potts was laid off – apparently Freightliner had no idea who they were dealing with!

Undeterred, Mr. Potts continued to study full-time to earn his degree, and though Freightliner called him back, he discovered that he was no longer satisfied with his old job. Why waste time and money working with maintenance when he could use his skills for something greater?

Instead of taking the easy road out, Bruce Potts, used the resources he had to reinvent himself. Mr. Potts stated, “The combination of my work experience, my Rowan-Cabarrus degree and the tools I learned through the R3 Center were a real trifecta for helping me get [a] job.”

Interestingly, Bruce Potts used his new-found education to become the manufacturing engineer at Freightliner, a huge step up from maintenance.

“I’m happy to tell my story so I can hopefully inspire others that it really is possible to change your life.” Bruce Potts added, and we can’t help but agree.

We applaud you Bruce Potts – Congrats on your new career.

And remember, never stop learning.

However, Miss NG Poh Peng can help us look past physical appearances with her remarkable strength and courage to simply live each day to the fullest.

Doctors said she’d be dead within two months

Yet despite the doctor’s pessimism, the Poh Peng baby continued to live, struggling to survive the first month, and then six, and now 20 years. Born with a rare hereditary skin disorder, Ng Poh Peng battles every day with congential ichthyosis which causes her skin to flake off like fish scales. Her condition leaves her newly exposed skin defenseless to the elements and prone to infection, and she has to be hospitalized every few months for fever and vomiting.

And unfortunately, her condition also leaves her vulnerable to rude comments as well.

Her Father, Mr. Ng Recalls: “When she was in primary school, some of her schoolmates called her ‘red ghost’,” said Mr Ng. “Some adults we met outside called her ‘a doll’.

“These grown-ups should really use their brains when talking. Why hurt our feelings like that?”

However, NG Poh Peng has learned to cope with both her physical trials and the lack of understanding in others. Instead, she tells reporters, “I just ignore the teasing now.”

With the unconditional love of her parents and the strength and support of her friends and admirers, NG Poh Peng finds the resilience to take each day on her own terms – looking for work and independence while trying to help her parents pay for the medical bills.

Although nearly $300,000 was raised to help ease the financial burdern, the Ng family gave half of the money to charity.

“There were other people who needed to money more urgently,” Mr. Ng stated. “We helped others, so heaven kept our daughter alive all these years.”

She persevered. . .

Despite her constant arthritis and the pain from her condition, Ng Poh Peng turned her struggles into a triumph, finishing school and obtained a Higher National ITE Certificate in Accounting. She hopes to be a data entry officer.

Rather than giving up and giving in, NG Poh Peng shows us that true beauty lies in the strength of one’s soul. Her courage to live each day despite pain and ridicule while generously donating to those in need demonstrates can truly inspire us to be grateful for the time we have.

Even if you don’t follow the LDS church beliefs, I highly recommend watching the movie 17 miracles if you’re looking to add a little inspiration to your life. Historically speaking, the film adds a little extra perspective to what these religious pilgrims had to go through while crossing the vast unsettled country of the United States. Emotionally speaking, I suggest you bring a few tissues.

The movie covers the expedition of the Willie Handcart Company of 1856, following Levi Savage and many other inspiring individuals as they struggle to travel to Zion (Utah) where they can be free to worship as their hearts’ desire. Due to the lateness in the season, the pioneers have to push through ice and snow with little food, clothing, and bedding. Only their determination and faith keeps them moving despite the seemingly impossible obstacles in their way.

Interestingly, Filmaker T.C. Christensen states that the 17 in the title is just a number. “I could tell you 25 miracles. Somebody else might watch the movie and say, ‘I don’t know maybe I’ll give you two.” Depending on how you look at it, a miracle could be an act of God, or it could be merely a coincidence. Either way, the events that took place in the film (and in history) are truly extraordinary and inspiring if you take the time to appreciate the courage required to finally reach their goals.

Although I personally stopped counting each and every miracle partway into the moving (and simply enjoyed the overall experience), 17 miracles is a surprisingly moving experience. It demonstrated the love that human kind can toward one another, and though I don’t want to spoil the whole movie for those who hadn’t seen it yet, the self-sacrificing love of children, parents, and couples demonstrated in this movie is enough to rekindle my hope that human kind is not completely given into self-service and greed.

To read more about the film and even see the trailer, you can visit the movie’s website here.

What kind of miracles have you seen today? Make a list and look back on it during times of struggle.

With the economy in shambles and your finances looking a little shaky, then perhaps now would be a good time to find inspiration while budgeting for bills. By keeping tabs on your spending habits, you can rest comfortably with the knowledge that you’re living within your means.

Money Management Tips:

1. Keep it Current: In your rush to get your groceries home, it can be easy to forget down that check number, saying to yourself that you’ll write it when after you’ve gotten the ice cream in the freezer and the pizza in the oven. But if you didn’t have time at the checkout stand, what makes you think that you’ll have time when you get home?

If you’re not careful, that unaccounted check can lead you to believe that you have more money in your account than you originally planned, resulting in bounced checks and even more fees. By keeping it current, you know how much you can spend and when.

2. Prioritize and Prepare: Although it’s important to get those bills sent off on time and still have money for food, clothing, gas, and the basic necessities of life, sometimes it’s nice to have a little extra just for yourself. By prioritizing your budget, you can put those extra pennies toward pursuing your dreams.

If money weren’t an issue, what would you want to do with your life? Travel? Become a wine connoisseur? Learn another language? Just because you can’t afford an entire trip to the Bahamas this year doesn’t mean you should give up on your dream completely. Instead, create a savings account that you refuse to touch – depositing a little from each paycheck until you finally have enough to purchase that golden ticket for your own.

3. Bigger isn’t necessarily better: Buying that big mac may seem like a good idea at the time, but you always regret it when you end up with heartburn and indigestion a few hours later. Buying the biggest truck Ford has to offer may boost your ego, until its resale price drops when you drive it off the lot and then your teenage neighbor scratches it with his skateboard.

Learn to enjoy what you have rather than craving the “next big thing.” Not only will you save money, but you’ll learn to appreciate the true value of the things you already have.

What many people don’t realize, however, is that everyone has the potential to rise to greatness if they’re willing to put in the time and effort to achieve worthwhile goals.

According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, “The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything.”

Follow Your Dreams
Whether you’re trying to become the world’s great concert pianist, singer, or scrapbooker, if you are completely committed to following your dreams and then put in the time and effort for regular practice, then you too can put your name alongside the world’s greatest performers.

Impossible you say?

Let’s break down the numbers here so you can visualize how long it would take you to hit the 10,000 hour mark.

• If you make it a full time profession, at 8 hours a day, it will take you roughly 5 years to complete
• If you only put in half that time, 4 hours a day, then it will take 10 years.
• A weekend gig of 10 hours a week, then it will take 20 years.

When you put it that way, somehow achieving a world class status doesn’t seem as impossible. The only drawback is the most people underestimate their abilities or prioritize their time to focus on meaningless tasks and time-consuming engagements. If only everyone recognized that they had the potential to achieve whatever they truly set their mind to. . .

Aren’t they born with it?
That’s a tricky question. Personally, I believe that everyone is gifted with individual talents and abilities that they can choose to develop or ignore. I also believe that even if a person isn’t born with those same abilities but is willing to develop a talent anyway, then he or she also can achieve world-class status. And interestingly, not even “geniuses” are an exception to the 10,000 hour rule.

Take Mozart for example.

Many considered Mozart to be a child genius, composing pieces at an early age that would leave his peers astonished and impressed. However, according to Michael Howe, author of Genius Explained, “Many of Wolfgang’s childhood compositions… are largely arrangements of works by other composers… the earliest that is now regarded as a masterwork (No. 9, K.271) was not composed until he was twenty-one.”
So even Mozart still had to abide by the 10,000 hour rule – committing countless hours to improving his natural talents before achieving his world-class status.

Still not convinced?

We could go back further in time to Demosthenes, whom Cicero proclaimed to be “the perfect orator.” Considered to be the most prominent Greek statesmen and Orator of his time, Demosthenes wasn’t born with natural powers of persuasion. In fact, he had a severe stutter, which would definitely deter most people from pursuing politics.

But he would not let his disability keep his voice from being heard.
Instead of giving up, Demosthenes practiced speaking by placing pebbles in his mouth, consistently working to improve his articulation. In order to project his voice over large crowds, Demosthenes would practice by shouting over the ocean waves. For years, Demosthenes studied the speeches of great orators to master rhetoric, and by the age of 20, Demosthenes gave his first judicial speech, effectively gaining his inheritance from his guardians.

A Small Addendum
Before you go full-steam ahead on your quest for success, take these words of wisdom to heart. My music teacher use to say, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

Practicing a song (or a speech or a dance) over and over again may help you hit that 10,000 hour rule, but only if that practice is aimed toward personal improvement. If you keep hitting the wrong note, and continually hit the wrong note, repetition won’t make it sound any better.

And then astoundingly right.

There are a select few individuals who have been blessed with some incredible gifts-photographic memories, the ability to perform complex mathematical calculations in one’s head, playing music perfectly after hearing it just once, etc. Often times the world praises this individuals for their skill and prowess, showering them with fame and fortunate.

And then there are savants.

Savants are almost super human in their area of expertise but are then limited with developmental disorders, such as autism and mental retardation. Most savants are born this way, with more skills at their fingertips than you could possibly imagine. Unfortunately, they are often at the mercy of their caretakers, a few of whom would dismiss their potential as a person and simply see the handicaps as a burden.

And then someone special comes along.

Someone who can see past the physical differences and brings out the beauty within.

Leslie Lemke

Leslie Lemke was one of these savants. Born with severe birth defects that required the removal of his eyes, Leslie Lemke was given up for adoption and was raised by May Lemke (a 52 year old nurse who had 5 other children of her own).

It took nearly seven years of force feeding before Leslie learned how to swallow. Then another year before he could chew food on his own. During this time, he never made a sound. Never showed emotion.

May Lemke didn’t see Leslie as a burden, however, but a joy. Rather than simply keeping him alive, May did everything in her power to give him the best life possible. By sheer determination and perseverance, May taught Leslie how to stand at the age of 12 then walk at the age of 15, strapping his fragile body to hers to teach him, step by agonizing step.

After years of painstaking care and love, May Lemke woke up to hear Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concert No. 1 playing in Leslie’s room. Originally, May thought she had simply left the radio on, and to her surprise, Leslie was playing the piece flawlessly. No training. No sheet music.

Leslie then began to use music as a form of communication, singing songs and playing ragtime as if those ebony keys were extensions of his fingertips.

Don’t Give Up
Beneath the deformed exterior was a heart willing to express itself, and only through compassion was Leslie Lemke eventually able to find music when words failed him.

So whether you feel lost in the dark, alone with no way to communicate, or feel as though you’re carrying a heavy burden strapped to your back, just remember Leslie and May Lemke-who persevered when the world thought it impossible.

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.” Dale Carnegie

September 11 was no exception.

Ten years ago, when the world trade center was attacked, nearly 3,000 people were killed—and the whole world stopped to watch in horror.

Now, we keep those who were lost during this tragic time in permanent remembrance. On Monday, September 12, the World Trade Center memorial was opened to the public.

Remembering those loved and lost

Americans and people from all over the world gathered together to see the victim’s names inscribed on beautiful bronze panels surrounding the memorial pools. These massive pools are the so called “foot prints” of the twin towers.

Every detail was created thoughtfully, out of respect to both the living and the dead. The design is amazing, and the calming rush of the waterfalls fades out the everyday noise of city traffic, allowing quiet meditation and contemplation of the events that took place one decade ago.

Although the memorial cannot bring back those who were killed during the attacks, it does grant us a small piece of mind: that no matter what happens, those we love will never be truly lost.

Tickets to visit the memorial are available, and to find out more about the memorial you can visit this site.

Paying Respect on a Local Scale

Such a massive event didn’t affect just a single city, but an entire nation. Much smaller tributes and memorials popped up across the US as citizens paid their respect to those who were affected by the 9/11 attacks.

At Utah Valley University, Matthew Holland, a published scholar stated in his tribute to that fateful day, “Property, peace and precious life were destroyed that day, on a scale that still makes our souls mourn, and in a way that has forever changed the way that we travel, govern and defend ourselves,” he said. “Yet here we are, millions upon millions of us. We sing and pray. We laugh and lounge. We toil and tour and trade, and we do so in the land still best described as a land of freedom.”

Payson Senior High School, a small-town high school in Utah valley, released 250 red and blue balloons into the sky following a commemoration ceremony and musical bagpipe number.

In Bayport-Blue Point High School, the students constructed a mini museum featuring memorabilia from September 11. These were displayed in the school’s lobby for an entire week, and many are encouraged to visit the collection.

The tributes even reached as far as Belfast, Ireland. Hundreds of people gathered to commemorate the 9/11 attacks, showing their support during a poignant service outside their city hall while similar tributes were held in London, Glasgow, and Birmingham.

In memory of those lost
In honor of those who died during the 9/11 attack, countless songs, poems, and books were composed to help ease the pain of those left behind. One poem touched me deeply, submitted by a 7th grade student, Hannah Schoechert, I leave you with these inspiration words.

Matter, the thing most solid and well-known, which you are holding in your hands and which makes up your body, is now known to be mostly empty space. Empty space and points of light. What does this say about the reality of the world?

–Jeanette Winterson (Sexing the Cherry)

“Failures” turned famous have some skeletons behind success. A few noteworthy authors, inventors, and public figures that faced failure and ended victorious include:

• Bill Gates first business called Traf-O-Data failed before creating the global success that is Microsoft.

• Albert Einstein was mute until the age of four, didn’t learn to read until he was seven, and was expelled from school by teachers who figured he was mentally handicapped and slow. Apparently these adults were no Einstein – the boy who grew up to change physics and win a Nobel Prize.

• Oprah Winfrey had an abusive childhood and was even fired earlier in her career as a television reporter because she was “unfit for TV.”

• J.K. Rowling wasn’t always a billionaire. Before the Harry Potter series, she was nearly homeless. Twelve publishers actually denied her manuscript – to their eternal regret—before one publisher took a chance that revolutionized literature around the world.

• Prior to Beatlemania, a recording company actually told The Beatles no. The company didn’t like their sound and told them guitar music was on the way out!

• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Now, Michael Jordan is a legendary athlete with a reputation for being the best basketball player of all time.

A slightly humorous and inspirational quote by Thomas Edison is “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”