Tag Archives: drama

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How bad do you want it?

How would you feel if you found yourself one night sleeping locked in a public bathroom? Chris Gardner was no kid when a series of troubles left him struggling, then homeless as depicted by Will Smith in the 2006 film, The Pursuit of Happyness. It is one thing to be homeless yourself; it is quite another when you have responsibility for a small child.

Public bathroom. ©iStockphoto/JordiDelgado.

Public bathroom. ©iStockphoto/JordiDelgado.

What was Gardner’s staircase out of homelessness? Gardner got a break when he was accepted into the Dean Witter Reynolds stock brokerage training program, a San Francisco based program that provided no salary. Gardner passed the licensing exam and his hard work earned him a permanent, salaried position. A few years later, he started his own brokerage firm and through hard work became a financial success.

Who did Gardner help with his hard earned wealth? According to Wikipedia, one recipient was the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church which allowed Gardner and his son to stay at their women’s shelter when they were homeless.

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Up from homelessness

Sleeping bag. ©iStockphoto/stuartrtaylor

Sleeping bag. ©iStockphoto/stuartrtaylor

As we saw from the homelessness stories in one sentence on cardboard signs, homelessness can happen to men and women. Sometimes it happens to those who have yet to hit adulthood. Lifetime aired one such two-hour story in 2003, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. 

Murray, whose parents are separately living the horror of AIDS from drug-addiction, is shocked into beginning to work her way out of her nightmare when her mother dies. She obtains admission to an alternative high school which she completes in two years instead of four. In a twist of favor, possibly the first of her life, Liz is awarded a scholarship to Harvard by the New York Times for an essay she writes about living homeless.

Murray graduated from Harvard in 2009. She wrote about her experience in Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.

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Nine famous barrier breakers

Have you looked at your life and been dissatisfied with something others might shrug off saying “that’s just how things are.” If you want to fight status quo, it’s going to take courage.

Little Rock Nine monument. ©D.L. Ewbank

Little Rock Nine monument. ©D.L. Ewbank

In September 1957, nine African American students – Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls – gathered their courage and broke through the invisible barrier to the all-white Little Rock Central High School.

Little Rock Nine monument. ©D.L. Ewbank

Little Rock Nine monument. ©D.L. Ewbank

Their world-rocking efforts are commemorated in a monument by John Deering that stands looking toward the Arkansas State Capitol.

What barriers would you like to break with courage in your life?

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One thing that’s better old

The handyman arrived thirty minutes before he said he would. From my viewpoint, that’s a very good sign. I need a few boards replaced. When you have an older frame home, the routine, at some point, is going to be rot, replace, paint.

Cracked and peeling paint on a house that isn't mine. ©iStockphoto/jhorrocks

Cracked and peeling paint on a house that isn’t mine. ©iStockphoto/jhorrocks

“See that wood,” he said pointing at remaining original boards used ca. 1950 to build my home. I nodded. “It’s better than that wood,” he said pointing to newer boards replaced since I’ve owned the home.

Someone pointing to something older that’s better than something new is music to the ears of a sexy-generian. I clarified the cost again.

“You’ve got the job,” I said.