Dandelion Perspective

I find this fitting considering the background of my blog:

"When you look 

at a field of 

dandelions, 

you can either see a hundred weeds,

or a

hundred wishes..."

We Bought a Zoo!

First of all, I love that show. 

Second of all, I love this quote form that show:


Speaking of courage, that seems to be a popular word in my family:

En-COURAGE-ment

My older brother, Ryan, was born two months prematurely. He was kept in the NICU in an isolette, with lots of monitors and wires. On Valentine’s Day, my mom decided she wanted something to be there with him when she couldn’t be there, and set out to find a small stuffed lion. She planned to make a little card to hang around the Lion’s neck identifying it as “Ryan’s Lion.” She wanted a lion to represent courage, and his courage in fighting for his life. She searched stores but couldn’t find any lions among the shelves of dogs and bears. So, she went to the hospital discouraged and empty-handed. A few days later, a package arrived addressed to Ryan. Inside was a small stuffed lion, and a note from Aunt Marilee.

Baby Ryan, and the first Ryan's Lion

"Your mom mentioned in her last letter that she and grandma had been looking for a stuffed lion, and that they had been having a hard time finding one. Well, wouldn't you know that I just happened to have one, and had been looking for someone special to give it to?

"You see, this lion has been all over the country. He comes with a legacy. This lion (like the one from the Wizard of Oz) has been passed from friend to friend to friend to help give them courage to do difficult things in their lives. A friend of mine gave it to me last summer when I moved away to Texas. It was given to her when she was going through a painful divorce.

“I don't need him anymore, but you do, Ryan. Take him, hug him tight, use all his courage, and grow up big and strong. Then, if someday, you find that you don't need

him anymore, pass him on.

"XOXOXO,
Aunt Marilee”

Ryan was eventually able to come home from the hospital, and then had to return two more times—once for a bout with pneumonia, and a second time for heart surgery. Each time, my Mom would put the Ryan’s Lion in his crib “so it wouldn’t seem so empty”, and at night, she would give it a hug and use up all of its courage. When Ryan was in the hospital having his heart surgery, a strange coincidence happened. One of my Mom’s cousins had a baby boy who also had a heart defect, so they were there in the hospital at the same time. This little boy’s name was Devin. He lived for three weeks, waiting for a heart transplant, and then contracted an infection and had to be taken off from the transplant list. His heartbroken parents held him for a few hours until he passed away. My mom then went and found a lion that she gave to them. After that, it just turned into a family tradition to find a lion anytime someone was going through something really hard.

The first hand-made batch of lions

            When Ryan turned 14, he wanted to make giving away Ryan’s Lions into something bigger than just a random family tradition. He was old enough to start an Eagle Scout Project, so it seemed like a good excuse to kill two birds with one stone. He enlisted some volunteers, registered a website domain, www.ryanslion.org, and found some signature blue fur. Ryan and his helpers made 24 “Ryan’s Lions” and gave them to one of the hospitals where he had stayed as a baby. But those were soon gone, and the hospital requested more, so friends and family searched fabric stores and found more blue fur and we made another 45 lions. Each one took about 5 hours to make, and it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to keep up with this forever. My Aunt Karlyn came to the rescue and asked if she could help Ryan organize a fundraiser. Ryan successfully raised the money he needed and found a manufacturer who could produce 500 of them. But the demand was growing. After several donations to the hospital, and random give-aways to friends and family, we began to run low again.

The new manufactured lions!

            By this time, Ryan was on an LDS Mission in Mexico City. My Aunt Karlyn, who had been extremely involved since the beginning decided to keep the snowball rolling, and invited me to join her. We planned a big Bake Sale, and got donations from friends, neighbors, and whoever was willing to donate a plate of cookies, a pie or a batch of rolls. Two other Eagle Scout projects raised additional funds, but because the manufacturing costs had doubled in China where the lions are made, we were still short of the $7,000 we needed to order a new batch of Lions. We set the funds aside in a savings account until other fundraisers were able to cover the cost.

           

The next summer, my aunt and I put on a second big Bake Sale, which in short, was a HUGE success. With the proceeds we were able to get a second batch of lions.

All of this is because a baby made his entrance to the world a little early, and because my aunt sent a stuffed animal in the mail. What started out as a simple act of kindness snowballed into big blessings and opportunities for me and anyone who is involved. One Ryan’s Lion went to parents of a soldier who had committed suicide after a standoff with police. Another one went to a little boy suffering from epilepsy. 100 of them were donated to the Children’s Christmas Cancer Foundation. Ryan’s Lion recipients also often pass their lions on to others in need. One boy who had his leg amputated because of bone cancer passed on a lion to another boy, a stranger to him, who was going through the same thing.  One went to a mother who accidentally backed over her 18-month-old baby. One went to a man whose safety rigging gave way when he was cleaning windows, and he crashed through a window of the building he was cleaning and was seriously injured. 

Every year, several dozen are given to the hospital NICU where they are given to parents of critically ill babies. When I reflect on where it came from to where it is, I’m amazed at how something so simple and small can be something so big and life changing to people. Why was my angel brother allowed to make it through his heart surgery? Ask the recipients of a little blue item, and see that they can stand as an answer.

Paperman

This video totally made my day. It's called "Paperman", and it's a Disney Animation Short Film. super cute. :) Happy Valentines Day!

Enjoy! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aTLySbGoMX0


-Jannallred

The Winning Combination

The Winning Combination:

1) Dream Big!
*
This is probably the most cliche lesson, but arguably the most important. 

There's a story of a man who saved all the money he could to fulfill a life-long dream: A cruise. He had always wanted to go on a cruise. When he finally raised enough, he brought cans of beans, crackers, and cookies (yummm...?) so he wouldn't have to spend money for food on the cruise ship. 

Throughout the journey, he watched jealously as people put on fancy tuxedos and dresses, and went to dinners and parties with one another. He watched the places he dreamed of visiting pass by through his cabin window. All throughout these events, he continued to eat his humble foods, and spent most of his time in his small cabin room.

At the end of the trip, a worker asked which farewell party he would be attending. The man sheepishly admitted he did not have enough money to attend such a party. It was only then that the worker informed him that not only the party, but the majority of the events on board were free.

How often to we lower our expectations in life only to find out we could have jumped twice as far? There's always another higher level of success we've never thought about.
"You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can't have it."
-Robert Anthony


2) Get a mentor/ Get educated!
*
 You might be able to do something OK by faking it, but if you learn and study, you're more likely to do something great. 

Everybody needs a Dumbledore, Yoda, or Mr. Miyagi in life.
Once we get a wise friend, we have to be willing to learn from them. Harry Potter had no idea what he was doing when he first got to Hogwarts. Luke Skywalker didn't know his dad was what he was fighting against. The Karate Kid didn't know why he was painting fences. 

If we have the self-discipline and enough patience to learn from our mentor, we can get so much farther. In summary, all of those young pupils learned to succeed. It got Harry to defeat Voldemort, it helped Luke Skywalker succeed, and the Karate Kid learned how to do karate. 

There are obviously a lot more lessons simmering under the purpose in the story. They learned bravery, standing up for yourself, working hard, never give up, etc. 

They all learned! The got educated! Hoo-rah for learning and for the mentor that taught them!

3) Work Hard!
The biggest problem with our society today is we aren't willing to work for ourselves. There are too many people that don't like their current situation in life, but they aren't willing to do anything about it. If there's something in your life, DO something about it instead of whine about it.

Big Dreams require big motivations. Big motivations require big passions. All of these things require effort. You are welcome to dream big and imagine the best in life, but then you have to go out there and get it. You can't just sit around and hope that someday... "POOF!* A genie to come knocking on your door to grant you three wishes (Aladdin got lucky). It requires  getting down into the grunge and sweat (physical, mental, emotional, whatever state it is).

 The reward isn't just succeeding in reaching your goals by checking it off the list.It's being able to look back and throw a fist in the air because what you worked so hard for happened.

Completing your dreams should be work, AND fun. If you can follow this winning combination, it's going to make a difference, even if it's a difference just for you.


*



-Jannallred



*Credit of images goes to proper owners

Thanks, Eleanor

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
-Eleanor Roosevelt


Well said, Eleanor, Well said.

Till tomorrow,
jannallred

Limbs and fruit....TREE limbs and fruit.

Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is.
-Mark Twain

A Cookie is a Friend

I love cookie monster. :)

...And, I totally agree with that quote. Recently, my mom had an experience with this. We have a family in our neighborhood who has some challenges with children who have autism. How do you make friends with a child with disabilities? How do you reach out to the family? 

So, my mom decided she could kind of break the ice with a cookie. I was a big valentine sugar cookie like the ones we had used for our 15 random acts of service. I stayed in the car while she ran it up to their door. The dad opened the door, and called his son. I watched as my Mom handed over the cookie. A HUGE grin spread over this young man's face, and he took the gift to go and show it off, when his Dad caught him by the elbow and gently reminded him to say, "Thank You." And then he skipped away from the door. 

My mom came back to the car with a big smile on her face the whole way. When she got in, I asked her what he'd said. 

"He just said, 'THANKSS!!'" She then explained to me that his reaction had been so much better than she had hoped. I think it made her and his day. 

What would the world be like if everyone could be made happy with just a cookie? Just a cookie. 

-Jannallred