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From: Jenaliegh Schroeder - Undergraduate St.Rose
Date: 14 Oct 2008
Time: 20:34:51 -0500
Remote Name: 72.226.99.123
Ms. Silverman, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article and found your thoughts refreshing. I think anyone would benefit from reading your article and soaking up your wisdom. Unfortunately, it usually takes a traumatic event or life-altering moment for someone appreciate what they have and live in the now. For me it was a near death car accident I was involved in when I was sixteen. I consider it a blessing though because I now take time to appreciate life and enjoy the beauty in simplicity. A hug from my little sister is more gratifying than any materialistic object, being able to simply walk and be independent is a luxury, feeling a cool breeze brush against my cheeks brings a smile to my face. However, I have to constantly remind myself that life is good because it’s very easy to get wrapped up in a negative train of thought. A dismal yet empowering thought for me is that life is unpredictable and can end at any moment so live each day giving your best, soaking up the knowledge that you can, and experiencing all the world has to offer. I could also relate your statement “We have the capacity to be happy right where we are no matter how dire the circumstance, not by relenting or settling but by altering our view, and we possess the power to do so once we realize that,” to a fluency council I observed. When discussing confidence in association to fluency, an individual who stuttered stated they “divorced esteem from fluency.” They appeared to be very confident in who they were and had achieved acceptance of themselves. They stated that when they stuttered they stuttered and didn’t harbor negative feelings. The idea I gathered was; if they were to let negative feelings arise it would inhibit their productiveness in life. As a future clinician, I see how important a positive self is to the quality of life yet I know I can’t necessarily teach that which can be discouraging for me. I could feel the emotion behind each person’s words during fluency council and my heart grew weak for the rollercoaster of emotions people who stutter experience. Students prior to me have had similar thoughts of, “As a clinician what can we do to help our clients find happiness and acceptance?” Internally I know it has to be a self experienced journey but would feel obligated to aid clients however I could. Can you recall any advice or techniques you received that indirectly aided you in feeling more confident? Thank you for your time, Jenaliegh