Confidence and Appreciating the Little Things

Frank McCourt was a high school teacher who was originally from Ireland. His thick accent made him insecure when he taught. His students saw him as the easy A and pitied him in a way. Learning that he was the easy teacher made him start to re-evaluate his teaching styles. Frank was never going to be the typical high school teacher. He came from a poverty ridden childhood and had very few connections with his students but he could tell stories. He could get them to think in a different way and for themselves. "You have the right to think for yourself." High schoolers don't know or forget that they can think for themselves. We are all in charge of our own lives and can make our own decisions. Frank McCourt gained confidence in his teaching by challenging students and saw the impact he left on them and what they left with him.

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard is all about confidence. After she was kidnapped, she wasn't allowed to say her name. She was given a new name by her kidnappers and lost her identity. When she was finally able to talk to the police she couldn't even say her name. She hadn't said it in eighteen years but she still remembered it. She ended up writing it down and was finally able to go home. She slowly was able to be the person she should have been. She got her confidence back with her name.

While she was still kidnapped, Jaycee Dugard learned to live with her awful life and make the best of it. She had two children and she loved then. It didn't matter that their father was a sex offender who kidnapped and raped her. They were her children. She even had some compassion for her kidnappers wife, whom he ignored and prefered sleeping with Jaycee.

The Otherside of Heaven by John Groberg is about a missionary. He travels to a country where no one speaks english and fights to spread his faith. He is forced to face many challenges and give up many of the things we take for granted. He never gives up. "I not only can but I will." He learns to speak the new language and helps the people rebuild their community after a hurricane.

Trust Addiction and Happiness

The Kindness of Strangers Penniless Across America by Mike McIntyre had a lot of interesting points. Mike traveled across America to escape the strain and conformity of his life. Throughout his journey he meets many strangers who he has to get to trust him and has to trust them. He described trust as being the biggest obstacle throughout his travels. Trusting himself, others, and getting others to trust him was really difficult for him. He met some really creepy people but he would take a chance and trust the next person he came across. He put his life in other peoples hands. He also said "We know who we are. The hardest part is trying to be that person. It is much easier to be someone else." I thought that was a really interesting point.

I have had many people in my family fight addiction and I could relate to Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis and Larry Sloman. As children my mom and her eight brothers and sisters were on their own for most of the day. A single mom with a full time job couldn't keep track of all nine of her children every second. They were able to get away with a lot of things that I never would be able to. In Scar Tissue Anthony talks about his dad letting him try everything. Any parent now would say that's terrible and how would anyone let that happen. But that's life. Now my aunts and uncles have grown up but many of them struggle with alcohol and cigarette addictions. I have seen it drive apart a marriage and really run people's lives. It is incredibly hard to get someone who isn't willing to quit to quit. Anthony talks about that and I have seen it first hand. It is hard and it hurts a lot of people.

Live Like Jay! I had never heard this saying before listening to the presentation on Making Mavericks by Frosty Hesson but I love the message. I have always connected to saying about striving for happiness and being happy even in the darkest moments. Jay was a happy and determined kid that Frosty ended up mentoring to surf. Jay was said to always have a smile on his face. It didn't matter what Frosty put him through or if he had a bad day surfing. He always found something good. Bad things happen but you can choose to let them run your life or make the best of it. You can choose to move on and appreciate
what happened without letting it hurt you. 

Love Out of Loss

Memoirs are usually about some of the hardest times in a persons life. It shows how they've grown into the person they are today. Everyone has a unique story to tell and most of them involve losing someone.

In Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen talks about being in a mental hospital. She has lost her privacy and possibly sanity but she can find love in the institution. She makes friends with the other girls and can enjoy her time. The book looked incredibly interesting. One of the lines that was in the trailer, "Whole families are crazy, but each family only has the money to put a few in the hospital to get fixed", really stuck with me. I thought it was an interesting view and very true. Why is one person considered crazier than the other? Aren't we all a little crazy?

The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls is about a girl who grew up with parents that weren't real parents. She raised herself with the he-

lp of her siblings. She missed out on a lot growing up but she doesn't have a bad thing to say about her parents. They were terrible parents but they still all loved each other. I am reading this book next.

The Last Lecture is definitely a book about living life to the fullest. Randy Pausch is dying but that doesn't stop him for a minute. He would "never stop having fun". I don't know if I would read it but it sounded very interesting. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers is a story of loss. Both of Dave's parents die and he is left to care for his younger brother. This book is intriguing and I might read it.

Two Kisses for Maddy, by Matthew Lugelin is definitely on my books to read list! The father-daughter relationship is something I can really connect to. Having lost a parent myself I can relate. I saw my mom live for me and my brother like Matthew lives for Maddy.

A few other memoirs were presented this week but these were my favorite ones. Under the Overpass looked somewhat interesting but it didn't stick with me like the first ones did. The two about Navy Seals weren't interesting to me and looked intense. I LOVE having new books to read!