Below is a quote from Travis Roy, who, 16 years ago, stepped onto the ice as a freshman for his first-ever Boston University hockey game. He was hit and cracked a vertebra that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Recently, Roy wrote a book called, "Eleven Seconds". Roy also runs a foundation that gives grants for spinal cord injury research and equipment. Below is a quote that connects in many ways to what we focus on in 5SFN.
"The first time I went down to the cafeteria my freshman year in the wheelchair and going through the food line, and I’m thinking, “Oh my gosh, how am I going to fit in here and how’s this going to go?” And later, as I was finishing up, I realized that, as crowded as the cafeteria was, nobody came down and sat next to my table. All of a sudden I realized I am pretty darn different here. And I didn’t have a lot of confidence. I kept my head down.
And when I came back my sophomore year I promised myself that I’ve got to take some responsibility for this, and I’ve got to get my head up and look people in the eye and put a smile on my face and say hello, and it’s amazing what that simple gesture does.
Growing up, my parents, there was only one lesson that they shared with me as far as dealing with people with disabilities, and it was: don’t stare. And that’s true — you don’t want to stare. But the problem with that is that it makes you not acknowledge somebody. That looking them in the eye, it’s such a simple gesture to put a smile on your face and say hello because all of a sudden it makes me realize that that person has truly acknowledged me. And not only have they acknowledged me, but it shows a little bit of a comfort level that just opens that door for maybe another sentence or two or a little bit of dialogue.You can read the whole interview with Travis Roy here:
Quotes by Doctor Martin Luther King May Help Us Make Our Voices Ring.
On NON-VIOLENCE:
“It’s one of the strangest things that all the great military geniuses of the world have talked about peace. The conquerors of old who came killing in pursuit of peace. . . And the leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. . .What is the problem? They are talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. All this is saying that, in the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is pre-existent in the means, and ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends. “
“Cowardice asks the questions, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the ques- tion, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question, “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”
“It’s one of the strangest things that all the great military geniuses of the world have talked about peace. The conquerors of old who came killing in pursuit of peace. . . And the leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. . .What is the problem? They are talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. All this is saying that, in the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is pre-existent in the means, and ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends. “
“Cowardice asks the questions, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the ques- tion, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question, “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”
Quotes by Henry David Thoreau could make our thinking grow
In 5SFN we know that leaders do not get anywhere by leaping over others. It means an accumulation of all the small steps, the positive small steps, one does, in each moment, to support and care for the people and environment around you.
"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."