RAYS OF HOPE ™
..A light to your path
Saturday 15 September 2012
SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF MARIE CURIE
Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a famous
Polish scientist. She was born Marya
Skoldowska in Warsaw on 7 November
1867. Her father and mother were both
teachers. They had 4 other children, all of
them older than Marya. She had a brother
named Jozef and 3 sisters, Zofia, Bronia and
Helena.
However Zofia died of typhus in 1874 and
her mother died of tuberculosis in 1878.
(Both were common diseases in the 19th
century).
Marya herself proved to be a very bright
child and did very well at school.
Unfortunately at that time women were not
allowed to go to University. That meant
Marya would have to study abroad. So in
1885 she made an arrangement with her
sister Bronia. Marya would work as a
governess (teaching a wealthy family's
children in their own home) and she would
support Bronia while she studied at
University. In turn when Bronia left and got
a job she would support Marya while she
went to University.
So Marya worked as a governess until 1891
when she began studying at Sorbonne
University in Paris. (Since she was living in
France Marya started calling herself by the
French version of her name, Marie).
Marie did very well at University and in 1893
she gained a degree in Physics. In 1894 she
gained a degree in Maths.
In 1894 she met Pierre Curie and she
married him in 1895. In 1897 Marie Curie
had a daughter called Irene.
Meanwhile in 1895 a German named
Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays. Then in
1896 Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered
that uranium gives off mysterious, invisible
rays.
In 1897 Marie Curie started investigating
uranium. (In 1898 she coined the term
radioactive to describe any substance that
gave off the mysterious rays). Marie also
examined a substance called pitchblende,
which she realised is much more radioactive
than pure uranium. Marie Curie realised that
pitchblende must contain some elements
that are much more radioactive than pure
uranium.
In 1898 Marie and her husband Pierre
isolated an element they called polonium
(after Poland). However they realised there
was another element in pitchblende. Finally
in 1902 they isolated radium. In 1903 Marie
and Pierre Curie were awarded the Nobel
Prize for Physics along with Henri Becquerel.
Winning the prize brought them fame.
Unfortunately the Curies did not realise that
exposure to radiation was harming their
health. Nevertheless in 1904 Marie Curie had
a daughter called Eve.
Unfortunately in 1905 Pierre was killed by a
horse-drawn vehicle. However after his
death Marie was offered his post as
Professor of Physics at Sorbonne University.
In 1911 Marie Curie was given the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry.
Marie continued to research radium and in
1921 she visited the USA and met President
Harding. Marie visited the USA again in 1929.
However her health was failing. Eventually
she was diagnosed with leukaemia. Marie
Curie died on 4 July 1934. She was 66.
»»» ©Arojo Adesina Sunday
via www.localhistories.com/curie.html
Sunday 9 September 2012
THE STORY OF A BLIND GIRL
There was a blind girl who hated herself
just because she was blind. She hated
everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He
was always there for her. She said that if she
could only see the world, she would marry
her boyfriend.
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to
her and then she could see everything,
including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked
her, “now that you can see the world, will
you marry me?”
The girl was shocked when she saw that
her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to
marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in
tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying:
“Just take care of my eyes dear.”
This is how human brain changes when the
status changed. Only few remember what
life was before, and who’s always been
there even in the most painful situations.
Life Is A Gift
Today before you think of saying an unkind
word–
think of someone who can’t speak.
Before you complain about the taste of your
food–
think of someone who has nothing to eat.
Before you complain about your husband or
wife–
think of someone who is crying out to God
for a companion.
Today before you complain about life–
think of someone who went too early to
heaven.
Before you complain about your children–
think of someone who desires children but
they’re barren.
Before you argue about your dirty house,
someone didn’t clean or sweep–
think of the people who are living in the
streets.
Before whining about the distance you
drive–
think of someone who walks the same
distance with their feet.
And when you are tired and complain about
your job–
think of the unemployed, the disabled and
those who wished they had your job.
But before you think of pointing the finger
or condemning another–
remember that not one of us are without
sin and we all answer to one maker.
And when depressing thoughts seem to get
you down–
put a smile on your face and thank God
you’re alive and still around.
Wednesday 15 August 2012
(A Seed of Honesty) GUESS THE NEXT C.E.O
A successful business man was growing old
and knew it was time to choose a successor
to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or
his children, he decided to do something
different. He called all the young executives
in his company together.
He said, “It is time for me to step down and
choose the next CEO. I have decided to
choose one of you.”
The young executives were shocked, but the
boss continued. “I am going to give each
one of you a SEED today – one very special
SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it,
and come back here one year from today
with what you have grown from the seed I
have given you. I will then judge the plants
that you bring, and the one I choose will be
the next CEO.”
One man, named Jim, was there that day
and he, like the others, received a seed. He
went home and excitedly, told his wife the
story. She helped him get a pot, soil and
compost and he planted the seed.
Everyday, he would water it and watch to
see if it had grown. After about three weeks,
some of the other executives began to talk
about their seeds and the plants that were
beginning to grow.
Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever
grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks
went by, still nothing. By now, others were
talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t
have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s
pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.
Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but
he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to
his colleagues, however… He just kept
watering and fertilizing the soil – He so
wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young
executives of the company brought their
plants to the CEO for inspection.
Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to
take an empty pot. But she asked him to be
honest about what happened. Jim felt sick
to his stomach, it was going to be the most
embarrassing moment of his life, but he
knew his wife was right.
He took his empty pot to the board room.
When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the
variety of plants grown by the other
executives. They were beautiful — in all
shapes and sizes.
Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many
of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry
for him!
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room
and greeted his young executives.
Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what
great plants, trees, and flowers you have
grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will
be appointed the next CEO!”
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the
back of the room with his empty pot. He
ordered the Financial Director to bring him
to the front.
Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO
knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me
fired!”
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked
him what had happened to his seed – Jim
told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except
Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced
to the young executives, “Behold your next
Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!”
Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even
grow his seed.
“How could he be the new CEO?” the others
said.
Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I
gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you
to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring
it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled
seeds; they were dead – it was not possible
for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have
brought me trees and plants and flowers.
When you found that the seed would not
grow, you substituted another seed for the
one I gave you. Jim was the only one with
the courage and honesty to bring me a pot
with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one
who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”
* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
* If you plant goodness, you will reap
friends.
* If you plant humility, you will reap
greatness.
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap
contentment.
* If you plant consideration, you will reap
perspective.
* If you plant hard work, you will reap
success.
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap
reconciliation.
* If you plant faith in God , you will reap a
harvest.
So, be careful what you plant now; it will
determine what you will reap later..
“Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You
Back”
LEARNING FROM A CARROT,AN EGG AND A CUP OF COFFEE
What can a carrot, an egg, and a cup of
coffee teach a young woman tired of
fighting and struggling with adversity and
heartaches? Read on and find out the lesson
the young woman received from her
mother.
A young woman went to her mother and
told her about her life and how things were
so hard for her. She did not know how she
was going to make it and wanted to give
up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.
It seemed as when one problem was solved,
a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled
three pots with water and placed each on a
high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the
first she placed carrots, in the second she
placed eggs, and in the last she placed
ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil; without saying a
word. In about twenty minutes she turned
off the burners. She fished the carrots out
and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the
eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then
she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked,
“Tell me what you see.”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked
her to feel the carrots. She did and noted
that they were soft. The mother then asked
the daughter to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the shell, she observed the
hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked
the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The
daughter then asked, “What does it mean,
mother?”
Her mother explained that each of these
objects had faced the same adversity:
boiling water. Each reacted differently. The
carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.
However, after being subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell
had protected its liquid interior, but after
sitting through the boiling water, its inside
became hardened.
However, the ground coffee beans were
unique. After they were in the boiling water,
they had changed the water. “Which are
you?” she asked her daughter.
When adversity knocks on your door, how
do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or
a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with
pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft
and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable
heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have
a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a
financial hardship or some other trial, have I
become hardened and stiff? Does my shell
look the same, but on the inside am I bitter
and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened
heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean
actually changes the hot water, the very
circumstance that brings the pain. When the
water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and
flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at
their worst, you get better and change the
situation around you. When the hour is the
darkest and trials are their greatest do you
elevate yourself to another level?
How do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
ARE YOU BULDING YOUR LIFE
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire.
He told his employer-contractor of his plans
to leave the house building business and live
a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying
his extended family. He would miss the
paycheck, but he needed to retire. They
could get by.
The contractor was sorry to see his good
worker go and asked if he could build just
one more house as a personal favor. The
carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to
see that his heart was not in his work. He
resorted to shoddy workmanship and used
inferior materials. It was an unfortunate
way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and
the builder came to inspect the house, the
contractor handed the front-door key to the
carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my
gift to you.”
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only
known he was building his own house, he
would have done it all so differently. Now he
had to live in the home he had built none
too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a
distracted way, reacting rather than acting,
willing to put up less than the best. At
important points we do not give the job our
best effort.
Then with a shock we look at the situation
we have created and find that we are now
living in the house we have built. If we had
realized, we would have done it differently.
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think
about your house. Each day you hammer a
nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build
wisely. It is the only life you will ever build.
Even if you live it for only one day more, that
day deserves to be lived graciously and with
dignity. The plaque on the wall says, “Life is
a do-it-yourself project.” Who could say it
more clearly? Your life today is the result of
your attitudes and choices in the past. Your
life tomorrow will be the result of your
attitudes and the choices you make today.
Tuesday 14 August 2012
A TRUE LIFE STORY : TRUE WINNERS DON'T GIVE UP
This is a true story of a young woman who
went through the most gruesome
fire. When you read her story, you’ll realize
that your trials are absolutely nothing
compared to what this young girl went
through.
It was September 25, 2000. Maricel Apatan
was an 11-year old girl in Zamboanga. On
that day, this little girl went with her uncle to
draw water.
Along the way, four men met them. They
were carrying long knives. They told her
uncle to face down on the ground, and they
hacked him on the neck and killed him.
Maricel was in total shock, especially that the
men were their neighbors. She tried to
escape, but the men ran after her.
She cried, “Kuya, ‘wag po, ‘wag n’yo akong
tagain! Maawa po kayo sa akin!” (“Don’t kill
me! Have mercy on me!”)
But they weren’t listening. With a long knife,
a man slashed her on the neck too.
Maricel fell to the ground and lost
consciousness.
When she woke up, she saw a lot of
blood. She also saw the feet of the men
around her, but she pretended to be dead.
When they walked away, Maricel ran back
home. But along the way, she saw that both
her hands were falling off. Because the men
hacked them too. She cried but she kept
running.
Sometimes, she would faint and fall to the
ground. But she’d regain consciousness and
run again.
When she was near her home, Maricel called
her mother.
Upon seeing her daughter, her mother
screamed in terror. She wrapped her
bloodied child in a blanket and carried her
to the hospital.
Here was the problem: From her house to
the highway, it was a 12-kilometer walk. It
took them 4 hours just to reach the
highway.
When they arrived in the hospital, the
doctors thought Maricel was going to
die. But for 5 hours, they operated on her. It
took 25 stitches to stitch together the long
knife wound in her neck and back.
Maricel barely survived. And she lost both of
her hands.
Ironically, the next day was Maricel’s
birthday. She was 12 years old.
But tragedy didn’t end there. When they
went home, they saw their home was gone.
It was ransacked and burned down by the
goons.
Being very poor, Maricel’s family also didn’t
have P50,000 for their hospital bills.
But God sent many angels along the way to
help them.
Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, a distant
relative, paid for hospital bills and helped
them bring the criminals to court. They were
sentenced to prison.
Today, she’s staying with the nuns at Regina
Rosarii with Sr. Eppie Brasil, O.P.
But this is the incredible miracle. Instead of
staying down, Maricel kept running.
Instead of cursing God why she had no
hands, she now uses her wrists in incredible
ways that will boggle your mind.
Maricel was cited as the most industrious,
best in computer, and most courteous in
the School for Crippled Children.
In 2008, she graduated from a course in
Hotel and Restaurant Management. She even
received a Gold medal for Arts and Crafts.
In 2011, she finished her education to be a
chef. Yes, a Chef without hands.
Nothing can stop this young lady from
reaching her dreams.
Real Winners Don’t Give Up! ....do u Truly want to win??....then type ''I WONT GIVE UP'' in the comment box.,
Sunday 12 August 2012
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE
A philosophy professor stood before his classwith some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to yourhappiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
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