The Encouragement Foundation

Every heart that has beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind.~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.

If you’re going through hell, keep going. ~ Winston Churchill

Everyone goes through a rough patch from time to time. When you think you’ve hit rock bottom and there’s no way out, don’t give up. If you keep on going with enthusiasm and a positive attitude you’ll come out on the other side and you might just find yourself in an even better place than to begin with.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~ E E. Cummings

Our immune system reacts to laughter in an opposite way as it reacts to stress. People who like to laugh a lot rarely get sick. The analgesic effect of laughing has been showed in many studies. This is especially available for the relief of chronic pain in lesions, neurological diseases etc. Doctors are of opinion that laughing brings about the secretion of endorphins into blood. More than that, it is known that laughing is a strong muscle-relaxing method, which also relieves pain. ~ (Wikipedia)

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children, born prematurely and frail. There was little chance of her survival. At the age of four she was diagnosed with double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed, useless left leg and an iron leg brace.

When she was nine years old Wilma removed her leg brace and took the first step doctors said she’d never be able to take. Then in high school she entered her first running race. Although she came last it never stopped her from pursuing her dream of winning a race. She continued to enter every race in high school and continued to come last. Everyone begged her to stop but she never let it kill her motivation. And then the day came when she won her first race.

Wilma’s skill and strength continued to grow after years of perseverance and the help of coach Ed Temple, until she was accepted into the Olympic Games.

Wilma went on to win three Olympic gold medals against the fastest female runner in the world.

Pursuit of Happiness – Basketball Scene

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.

~ Alexander Graham Bell

When Thomas Edison was creating the light bulb he actually found over 1800 ways to not build one. Perhaps the question is, are we seeking out opportunities from our mistakes or from things that go awry?

At one of the times in my life when I was feeling defeated washed up and as if I was the only idiot that had ever suffered a set back or in fact failed in life….my very encouraging and very successful brother came to my rescue. He was kind enough to listen to my woes…but only for a short time. He quickly shared with me that he often failed at things and felt demotivated, destroyed and hopeless… but only until he changed his attitude.

He now considers failures as nothing but learning experiences. He learns from them and quickly moves on. “I just fail my way to success” he says. I figured that if this attitude can help you build a successful Earth Moving company that employs 200 people then it is something I could learn from.

Perhaps you will be able to offer incredibly valuable encouragement to someone you know by sharing this story and photo of the new door opening and letting light in to the darkness. With 67 years of life experience I have seen new doors open and new light come into life enough times to know, it will happen for your friend if they can see that there are no failures…only learning experiences.

Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remember, a kite rises against the wind rather than with it. ~Anon

When Walt Disney tried to get funding to develop Disneyland but was turned down by over a hundred banks. He was also fired from his job at a newspaper for “lacking ideas”. He also had several bankruptcies before he was able to develop Disneyland.

Radio interview with Walt Disney

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” Pick your dream carefully because we can become no larger than our vision. The size of your dream limits the size of your accomplishments. Although poor eyes limit what we can see, poor vision limits what we can do.

The Power of a Dream Changes Lives!

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN’T LOOKING
A message every adult should read because children
are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each
other.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you give of
your time and money to help people who had nothing,
and I learned that those who have something should
give to those who don’t.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’ t
feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw tears come
fr om your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you
cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking I learned most of
life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and
wanted to say,’Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn’t looking.’

LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT .

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, & friend)
influences the life of a child.

How will you touch the life of someone today? Just by
sending this to someone else, you will probably make
them at least think about their influence on others.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents’ bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.

As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar. They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled. I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate’s treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window.

When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the
coins before taking them to the bank. Taking the coins to the bank was
always a big production. Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. “Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You’re going to do better than me. This old mill town’s not going to hold you back.” Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly. “These are for my son’s college fund. He’ll never work at the mill all his life like me.”

We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. I always got chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. “When we get home, we’ll start filling the jar again.”

He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. As they rattled
around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. “You’ll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,” he said.
“But you’ll get there. I’ll see to that”

The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town.
Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and
noticed that the pickle jar was gone. It had served its purpose and had been removed. A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood.

My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the values of
determination, perseverance, and faith. The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done.

When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly
pickle jar had played in my life as a boy. In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.
No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar. Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar. To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring sauce over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me. “When you finish college, Son,” he told me, his eyes glistening, “You’ll never have to eat beans again…unless you want to.”

The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents. After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild. Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad’s arms. “She probably needs to be changed,” she said, carrying the baby into my parents’ bedroom to diaper her.

When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her
eyes. She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room. “Look,” she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins.

I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a
fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt.

Neither one of us could speak.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life, for better or for worse.

Julie Wilson, an Atlanta, Georgia (USA) wife and mother of two had been fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom for a number of years, thanks to her husband, Denny’s, entrepreneurial knack for building successful businesses. Over the years, Julie has worked diligently at taking care of her family, raising the couples’ two children and taking particular interest in their education. As a loving and devoted mother, Julie has spent countless hours studying with her children – now in 8th and 4th grades — and devising creative ways to help them study and have fun doing so.

Desiring to help her children succeed in school and ultimately in life, Julie devoted much time studying with her son and daughter after school, making flash cards, cutting and pasting in Word, and verbally quizzing at the kitchen table. As loving as Julie’s intentions were, the interaction during homework time wasn’t always uplifting and positive. Her son had some grades that needed to be pulled up, and Julie wanted to help him any way she could.

Julie genuinely enjoyed studying with her children but knew that she needed to find a creative way for them to learn that would still involve her but encourage independence and teach valuable study skills simultaneously. She began navigating the Internet for study tools that met the criteria she was seeking, but she ran into several road blocks. Some of the programs were very costly and others were way too complicated to use. She knew exactly what she wanted, but just couldn’t find it. Discouragement set in, but not for long. Tapping into her organizational skills and question-designing expertise gained while working for years in qualitative market research, she began to design Qwizzy’s World (QW) in her mind.

During visits with her parents and her beloved grandmother, she began sharing her thoughts, ideas and dreams regarding what she envisioned QW to be. Julie’s grandmother was quite the entrepreneur in her younger years and loved that Julie’s idea involved education. “Gramie Virgie” had graduated from high school in the 1920s and had continued on to secretarial school, providing her with solid training for the then male-dominated business world. She was a success story and an outstanding example for Julie. Her grandmother persevered when it wasn’t so easy to be a woman in a man’s business world. Julie knew she had to forge ahead with this idea that was growing in her head.

When her grandmother passed away in late 2006 at the age of 98, she lovingly left Julie a modest inheritance, and she knew, without a doubt, that Gramie Virgie was helping to make her dream come true. She had to pursue it. Hence, Qwizzy’s World began to evolve, and by November 2007, Julie had birthed a unique quizzing system that allowed kids, parents and teachers a new way to study together, while enabling students to learn a valuable skill – test anticipation without the anxiety.

When Julie launched her QW web site, she discovered that it helped her reconnect with her kids, something she treasured and knew Gramie Virgie would be smiling about. Homework time became an entertaining experience for Julie and her kids. The kids were becoming “whizzes at taking quizzes” and their classroom experiences were more enjoyable.

The kids learned to create their own quizzes, and when they went to bed, Julie would log on, use the QW edit function on the site, and add more challenging versions of the same material. The fact that the site randomized the questions on their quizzes ensured that they were really learning the material as opposed to just memorizing it, another of Julie’s goals.

Because the Wilsons had set up multiple accounts on QW within their household, they could ‘Buddyshare’ quizzes with each other – a special feature allowing Julie to create quizzes and send them to each child’s account with the touch of a button. Additionally, she could access quiz scores by reviewing them in the performance results section stored on QW. When mid-terms rolled around, Julie used another special QW feature enabling her to put several previous quizzes together, creating one ‘Ultimate Quiz.’ She watched as her kids experienced a boost in self-confidence at test taking, along with a boost in their grades.

Although the goal of helping her own children had been met, she desired to see other students excel as her children had with the help of QW. She envisioned the QW concept being used in schools, both public and private, all over the globe, along with the growing home school segment and the tutoring community. On this note, Julie made sure the site was made affordable for all students, teachers and families, regardless of their means.

Qwizzy’s World has become Julie’s passion and labor of love, and she truly desires to help students across the globe learn study skills that will take them successfully through all levels of school, enhancing their experience along the way. Her ultimate goal is to someday make QW available at no cost to students, and she looks forward to the day that it’s second nature for students to create their own practice quizzes and that test anxiety is a thing of the past. Gramie Virgie would be proud.

To learn more about Qwizzy’s World or e-mail Julie Wilson