What's your excuse ...

[Guest D***el B***e]

Beautiful.

[Luckyme 41401]

Thank you, Daniel, very beautiful.

 

Here is one of my favorites - a girl playing piano with no finger on one hand -

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhW_K3NvmQ

 

The song she was playing is Richard Clayderman's Souvenirs D'enfance. Such a beautiful piece, and - after watching this video, I really have no excuse not to start learning piano which is one of my favorite musical instruments.:icon_redface:

[CristyCurves 169032]

Yes sometimes we need a reminder, thank you for that. Nearly losing what I love most woke me up recently now every moment is a good one, I am truly blessed:)

[Guest **cely***r***ne]

Very nice!

Sometimes I think to myself...if they can do why cant I. Then in the same breath I think how could I even think that? We are all human and capable of doing anything we set our minds to.

 

Thank you for this post! It made me think and I love it!

 

[Rounding Third 9567]

I somehow missed this the first time through. Puts things into perspective very well, don't you think? I am writing this post only to put Daniel's thread back on top for a spell, for those like me who missed it the first time. Thanks Daniel.

[nntsci 11076]

I hate to be a naysayer but I have two problems with the post.

 

First being unhappy is often not a voluntary choice. Your brain does stuff that is beyond conscious control. Things like traumatic life events, and just plain ordinary chemistry may not allow you to feel happy, at will. I also wonder if the people in the photos are really all that happy, or if they are just acting happy for the sake of the photographs. Anyway, the post has a tone of blaming the person for their moods when their moods may well be out of conscious control. I don' t like the moralistic tone that doesn't take into account individual circumstances.

 

Second, personally I think that contentment, not happiness, is the goal. One needs to accept ones limitations. Expecting to be happy is setting the bar too high so that it is often not obtainable and creates stress that may in itself lead to unnecessary unhappiness. Many of the photos simply set the bar too high. Ones job may be boring because the truth is that most jobs are boring, but a necessary evil. Telling a person whose job is boring that it s their fault is not going to be helpful to them, and even if they change careers to find a more exciting job, odds are the next job will be just as boring (and they may have lost out on seniority etc.). Another example is the image of a hot 43 year old in the photographs. Sorry, but not everyone can be hot at 43... I wasn't hot at 18 ... and now that I'm well past that age, being hot is not likely to happen, what so ever, lol (fortunately I'm a man so I don't need to be hot, just well paid, lol). I think being realistic and accepting ones own limitations is a pretty good state of mind. Another example is the "no excuses to not make art". The fact is that most people can't draw or create anything worth looking at. I personally don't have that limitation -- I can paint with near photographic realism, but most people cannot do that. So to tell people who can't draw that they have no excuses because some armless kid can, just rubs it in their face that they can't draw. They have a perfectly legitimate excuse, art worth looking at is not easy! And no, don't tell me that abstract art as something easy, creating a half decent abstract is harder because it requires more imagination to pull it off. Did you know that since Jackson Pollock, no one has successfully made a career using a splatter technique. I took part in an art therapy class on the weekend and one of the things the instructor told the participants was NOT to draw anything representational because it may intimidate people who cannot draw well.

 

So that's my too cents.

[piano8950 32577]

One of my best friends dealt with depression/suicide. I have to agree with nntsci, being happy isn't a choice sometimes. I get the good hearted nature of the post, and the inspiration behind the pictures, but I think a more positive outlook would be an affirmation that the viewer is important, instead of a happy looking amputee.

 

My friend nearly committed suicide, in part because she knew she was blessed, but couldn't be happy about it. And felt lousy as a person for feeling ungrateful. I guess my point with all of this is that life isn't clear cut. "No excuse" is in my humble opinion, a bit judgmental.

[Rounding Third 9567]

Right - your points are valid and well stated but... you can't paint everyone with the same brush and for those that can be inspired by these message ought to be inspired by them...

[Guest fi****ek]

The 70 year old guy is a heavy HGH user. Human Growth Hormone. Basically, he didn't get those muscles just through exercising. He cheated, plain and simple. I've seen him on a number of programs promoting the use of HGH. And you can bet your bottom dollar, he's also a steroid monkey as well.

 

There are a number of serious negative side effects with the use of HGH. Sly Stallone is also a heavy HGH user and from some recent photos of him, he looks terrible.