by Francis on July 24, 2010
“How would you like to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic?”
A phone call of a lifetime! A time to make history! A moment to live your dream! Amelia Earhart got that phone call and responded by being the First Woman to fly across the Atlantic. She did it! Earhart was welcomed back with Congratulations from the President!
What few people knew was that Earhart had only been the passenger on the flight! She was getting ALL the attention and all the headlines but she had just sat through that flight. Earhart took to the challenge of flying the Atlantic herself in 1932! She didn’t have to! She was all ready recognized as being the “First Woman” to fly the Atlantic 5 years earlier.
Amelia Earhart took to the challenge of completing the task herself. Flying and receiving the intense training to achieve her goal! She did it! Even after Earhart had started her career in success! She made history!
Amelia Earhart died a legend pursuing her dream of flying! She took the driver’s seat of her dreams and followed her passion! She showed that being a passenger is not enough!
The joy and the success that we feel after having accomplished a goal is priceless! Where are you today…are you in the passenger seat cruising through life or are you taking charge of your life and goals in the driver’s seat?
http://www.ellensplace.net/eae_intr.html
P.S. I feel I am in the Driver’s Seat now! I always thought my accomplishments would be measured in a paycheck but life is more than that! Life for me has become finding a joy in my everyday life with the people I love the most..my family 
by Francis on July 7, 2010
The World Cup will always remind me of:
Pele!!
If you recognize the name and know him as a player…then stop reading!!! My writing will perhaps fall short of his excellence!! A player with no formal training, because he could not afford it, he played soccer with a sock stuffed newspaper or a grapefruit!!!
Pele started playing in a team at 16 years old and by 17 he was off to the Brazil National Team. Pele’s talent was recognized instantly and and he was declared “Official National Treasure” to keep him from transferring out of the country!
Pele’s title was given to him after his first World Cup! After 3 World Cup Championships, 2 decades of play, 2 Roca Cup Championships, and the FIFA World Cup Best Player in 1970 I would say he earned his title of National Treasure!
Pele’s love for the sport and excellence drove him to the United States after he had retired to play for the New York Cosmos! Pele’s love for the game made him a soccer ambassador! His natural talent was legendary and to this day I think “Pele” when I think of World Cup!
Pele’s ability to play captivated audiences world wide and even stopped a war!! In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos.[22]
A person that started out his hobby playing with a sock stuffed with newspaper or a grapefruit is now a Legendary Figure of the sport!! There are no boundaries to pursue our dreams or work with what we have!! I am humbled beyond words to share my World Cup hero!!
What do you think of when you think World Cup?? A certain play, or player, by all means share your thoughts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelé
by Francis on June 30, 2010
I would wake up in the middle of the night when I was little and scream “Spider-Man” for him to come rescue me from my nightmare, from being scared, from the World! Spider-Man was my hero so I did not need to be afraid. I read the comics (cheap copies nothing valuable), saw the cartoons, and was Spider-Man’s biggest fan!
Yes, I grew up to discover Stan Lee and am amazed at his story. It is not that Stan Lee had a humble upbringing or that he joined the United States Army it is the fact that Stan Lee knew he was writer, wanted to be a writer and pursued his dream.
Stan Lee got his start at Timely Comic (later to evolve as Marvel Comics) and he started off filling the ink in the inkwells. Stan Lee’s duties consisted of getting lunch for the office, proofreading, and erasing pencil marks from finished pages. Captain America 3 gave Lee a big break!! It was the episode where Captain America’s trademark became the ricocheting shield-toss. Stan Lee published many of his works but even he wanted to quit on himself.
In 1950 when Stan Lee was about to change careers he got a phone call to develop superheroes that he and Jack Kirby would respond to with Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, X-Men, with Bill Everett, Daredevil; and with Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange and Marvel’s most successful character, Spider-Man. It took the phone call and the right people to promote Stan Lee’s talent!
Stan Lee also went on give credit where credit was due by adding a credit panel on the splash page of each story, naming not just the writer and penciller but also the inker and letterer. “I always sympathized with people who did work for hire, I was one of them”~Lee
Stan Lee also wrote a three part series on dangers of drugs in a Spider-Man Comic for the U.S. Health Education and Welfare. Stan Lee also touched on real life topics of racism and bigotry. In comic books and through his other writings he also discussed prejudice and discrimination.
It took a phone call to bring back Stan Lee and now he has comic books, cartoon series, and movies! Not to mention he did create my childhood hero!! What will it take to get you to believe in your dreams and passions. To continue even when you want to quit on yourself?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee
