The Mothers, Who Sent Their Sons From Faraway Countries

As it is for a lot of people, today was a day of remembrance, and  thanks. I have always felt emotional while attending an ANZAC day services.

This year we attended the Longford service for the first time. It was a different experience to what I was used to. As part of the service the names of the recently diseased veterans from the local community were read out. I thought this was a wonderful personalised touch to the service.

I was impressed with a young man who spoke at the service. Jordan Brazendale was represented Cressy District High School, and I have to say that he did an amazing job. I wish I could speak in public as confidently as him. I was certain that he would be my hero of the day.

When I returned home, I noticed that the dawn service was being shown on the TV. I had never watched the service before, so I was deeply engaged with the program. As part of the program  members of the Turkish military read a tribute that was written by Mustafa Kemal, the commander of the 19th Division of the Turkish army.  This is what he wrote;

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well (Australian War Memorial).

 I had a realisation and a picture in my mind of the impact that war has on mothers. These poor mothers that watched their young sons head off to war, in some cases never to return. How hard it must have been for these mothers. You may know the story of  James Charles (Jim) Martin (1901–1915) a 14 year old boy who convinced, rather, blackmailed his parents in to letting him go to war, never to return. He died just 9 months in to his service of ill health. How tormenting it must have been for his family. 

Mothers are amazing people, who endure so much for the welfare of their families and their countries. I am grateful for my mother, and the mothers of those who have fought for the freedom and pleasures that I endure today.

I Have Enjoyed My Children's Laugh

Children's laughter is such an amazing sound. I love to hear my children laughing, be it induced by me through tickling, or thought the the fun that they have together.

Often the things that we should be grateful for are such simple things. When you recognise that something so simple is actually superlative, you pay more attention to it.

I have enjoyed my children's laugh more the past two days than I have in the past two years.

Friends That Have Shaped My Life

I have looked hard for a hero today. I observed the actions of many. What I found was not a hero, but a overwhelming gratitude.

I met with friend who I had not seen in years last night. We have both grown a little taller, have deeper voices, give firmer handshakes and have ventured down different paths. Despite the separation, we recalled shared memories, historical events,and each others passions.

All my friends are heroes to me. I am grateful for their association. Their sacrifices for me have been many, I value their friendship.

I feel the desire to make contact with more of the friends that have shaped my life. I hope you do too.

Smiles Will Remain Long After The Mud Has Washed Away

My hero of the day for 20/04/2012 is Milly Terry. Milly is my two yer old daughter, whom I just adore just as much as Hanisi, my oldest daughter.

Milly taught me two things yesterday.

1. Our actions speak louder than words and these actions have a lasting impression on others. 
2. Sometimes enjoyment can be found in the simplest things. 

Yesterday was an inside day. It rained all morning and finally cleared in the afternoon. Milly and I made a last minute decision to make a dash to a garden nursery to grab some bargains before they closed for the day.

Milly spent her entire time at the nursery time jumping in the puddles that the rain had so kindly left for us that morning.

I watched other shoppers smile and laugh as they saw Milly enthusiastically jumping up an down in muddy puddles.

It wasn't till this morning that I thought about the impact that Milly had on those shoppers, and me.

I saw that by her jumping and playing in the water she was making others happy, and they were enjoying that part of their day. It may have been the highlight of their day. Her actions were more powerful than if she had asked each individual to smile a little more.

I hope that I can be positive in my actions and that those actions can have a lasting impression on others.

A muddy puddle is one of natures most simple creations, it is just water and dirt, yet it made a little girls afternoon so much fun, it made a few people smile and it taught me valuable lessons.

I am grateful for the 'muddy puddles' in my life. I hope that you and I can develop the ability to recognise these simple pleasures, and remind ourselves that the memory and smiles will remain long after the mud has washed away.

Thanks Milly!

What is This All About?

Who is a hero? What makes a hero? 

Mariah Carey penned these lyrics.

There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are

Look inside you and be strong,
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you. (Mariah Carey 1993)

Can we all really be someone’s hero?

Metallica’s song, titled Hero of the Day, expresses that heroes are often temporary, here for a moment and then forgotten as life moves on. 

Wikipedia describes a hero or heroine (female hero) as originally being “a demigod of ancient Greek religion”.  It goes on to say that “Later, hero (male) and heroine (female) came to refer to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good of all humanity”

I would argue that a hero does not have to be courageous or make a sacrifice for the “greater good” of all humanity, but rather, any person can be courageous for the good of just one soul, thus becoming a Hero on the eyes of the beneficiary.

Each day there are Heroes in our lives. Often they go unnoticed. We as receivers of heroic acts are often oblivious to the hero’s sacrifice, or fail to recognise their act of valor. Shouldn’t we be more grateful?

“In Judaism, gratitude is an essential part of the act of worship and a part of every aspect of a worshiper’s life”. (Wikipedia) 

“Gratitude has been said to mold and shape the entire Christian life” (Wikipedia).

“The Islamic sacred text, The Quran, is filled with the idea of gratitude” (Wikipedia).

Why is it that gratitude often escapes our mind on a daily basis?

As I researched this topic before posting,  I came across a section in Wikipedia that I just had to include.

A large body of recent work has suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of subjective well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships^. Grateful people also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life, and self acceptance.  Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpreted and grow from the experience, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem. Grateful people also have less negative coping strategies, being less likely to try to avoid the problem, deny there is a problem, blame themselves, or cope through substance use. Grateful people sleep better, and this seems to be because they think less negative and more positive thoughts just before going to sleep.

Gratitude has been said to have one of the strongest links with mental health of any character trait. Numerous studies suggest that grateful people are more likely to have higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress and depression.

Isn’t that just astounding? Who doesn’t want to have a better nights sleep, feel less stressed or simply to be satisfied with our lives. According to the research, all it takes is to be grateful.

Some 12 months ago I discovered that there were everyday heroes in my life. As I become aware of these ordinary people making my life easier, I had a desire to be mindful of what others were doing for me. As I was looking at what others were doing for me, I was also attentive of what I was, or could be doing for others. I had a desire to be a hero for someone else each day. My gratitude for others had made my days so much better. I was sacrificing for the good of an individual, or a family. I have to tell you, it felt great.

I want to create a space where I can come and express my gratitude for the daily heroes in my life. I experimented with this a while back. Some may remember my ‘hero of the day’ postings on Facebook. This is the same thing, but on a much bigger scale and I want to involve you!

I want to encourage and invite readers of this blog to post on here, who your hero of the day has been. You can email it (samuelvterry@gmail.com) to me and I will post an entry, or simply add it to the comments and I will re-post your comments for others to read. I will be grateful for those that contribute and I will express that gratitude.

I encourage you to follow the blog, see what ordinary people are doing for others. See if your heroic acts are mentioned by a complete stranger. I know that this will make a difference in the lives of those that participate. It had and impact on me.

Thanks for reading.