2007-12-28

Catch Me Daddy


Catch Me Daddy
If You Can
Run and Run
As Fast As You Can



Find Me Daddy
If You Can
Look and Look
As Best You Can


Tickle Me Daddy
Again and Again
Make Me Laugh
As Much As You Can
- Adam & Sofia Stuart, Dec 2007
(Dad, age 40 ~ Sofia, age 5)
*Although we're up North in the cold, Sofia and I found these pictures on my laptop from a few months ago in Florida, and came up with this poem. As I look at her sleeping next to me now, I realize that no matter where we are, true love keeps us warm.....

2007-12-24

To My Children

A Christmas hug

From me to you

My heart opens up

And covers you


You'll never know

What a gift you are

Without your love

I couldn't go far


So on this Christmas

And forever more

I give you my all

From Winter to Fall


Merry Christmas 2007

Daddy

- Adam Stuart (December 24, 2007)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!


Thank you for all your gifts all year long of warm thoughts, best wishes, internet hugs and electronic kisses :-)

2007-12-23

Crashing Into Christmas


music player
I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.


I've received so many nice messages, wishing me well, and that I'll get well. My recent response to a good buddy seems to sum it up perfectly.

"Thx amigo - all is good - i just gave 2 much 4 too long - and ended up crashing into christmas - LOL - better than holding back and having an armful of regrets"...(gifts I wish I would have given out).

I simply took a risk, "flying off the swing" too high, trying to give all that was needed to be given.

I didn't leave myself any strength or energy for the landing....and crashed into the Christmas tree.

I ended up in bed on my first day of vacation by 1pm, alternating being sick, sleeping, and playing board games with Brosden n Bella.

But, as my son just said, "bad things can become good things", and Ithink it's fantastic to have "run out" of gifts to give by Christmas...

...Versus just beginning to give on Christmas.


Bella just put in Singin' in the Rain, which always picks me up for some reason. Thank you baby girl. I wouldn't have survived as long as I did without the daily love hugs from you and your brother.

May everyday be like Christmas, with everybody unafraid to fully live, giving their gifts to everyone else everyday.

This way the "most special time of year" is felt year-round, and no one is crashing into Christmas, unable to fend off a large jolly guy in a red suit trying to give him CPR.

2007-12-22

Paradox, Humor & Change


music player
I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.


Paradox, Humor and Change...

Life's three simple rules,

that keep you from simply going insane


Giving everything you have,

leaves you so exhausted and deflated.


Ripping marijuana plants out of children's homes,

gets you attacked and very hated.


Life is a mystery,

don't waste time trying to figure it out.


A warrior's life is about right action,

and not about appreciation.


Life is change,

know nothing stays the same.


And when the world is an ugly place,

Don't let it come inside and make you crazed.


Instead have a sense of humor,

especially about yourself and your foolish pride.


Then change the world by closing your eyes,

and playing the music you hear on the inside.


Play it so loudly,

until it drowns out the noise on the outside.


And one day,

depending on how long and loud you can play,

you will open your eyes,

to a more beautiful and brand new day.

- Adam Stuart (December 2007)


*Katie and I celebrating her new day, going from an "F" to an "A" on a science test a few weeks back.

It took all my morning, all my patience, all of my love and ability....she was crying in the beginning....but I have to think that giving all of yourself to others can mean something more than just being taken for granted and used, which is what I've experienced so much of in my past.

It can mean creating a better day. And with enough better days.....better lives. And with enough better lives.....a better world.

And that day is the today when we close our eyes and begin to play the beautiful music we hear inside....





DON'T BE AFRAID TO LIVE

YOU'VE GOT THE MUSIC IN YOU!













DON'T GIVE UP

THIS WORLD IS GOING TO PULL THROUGH!








When the night is falling, and you cannot find the light. When you feel your dreams are dying....Hold tight

**My children keep me going. I trust their love. And no, it's not my little gymnasts' home or any of my current students I've gone into to remove drugs. But life has picked me up, shaken me, and thrown me against the wall more than once these past few weeks. To tell you the truth, I want to give up, even in spite of the victories (including the class having the highest science growth again and going from the lowest scoring regular class to the highest).

It's just taken a lot more giving than getting......You can't keep driving the car without gas or oil, or the engine will blow. Giving unconditionally, to honestly give versus get, is the right thing to do, but it means being vulnerable to a world that can be very taking...

This whole world, can fall apart. It'll be OK, follow your heart. You're in harm's way, I'm right behind. Just say you're mine....

.....It's OK though, because I have the dreamer's disease.....and I can't stop dreaming of this world pulling through. Go back and look at the children's faces as you listen to the lyrics of the song, "You Get What You Give". Tell me it's not true, that if we stop dreaming, we start dying....



DON'T GIVE UP


YOU'VE GOT A REASON TO LIVE

ONE DANCE LEFT

WE ONLY GET WHAT WE GIVE

2007-12-15

For London Marie...and Us All

I'm very upset about the death of London Marie, the latest victim of SBS (shaken baby syndrome). Three-to-four babies A DAY die in the US from this. It is a real-life situation that's too bad, TOO BAD TO CONTINUE HAPPENING.

I know, I know...I can hear it now, "Oh, Adam....you silly, silly man. We can't stop it. It has been happening since man and his naked emotions first arrived on this planet

'Eve, I got to tell you I'm really upset about the whole apple incident.'

'You're blaming this on me? Listen Adam, if you would have planted the orange tree like I had asked you months ago I never would have had to pick that apple. YOU made me do it!'

'Me?!? You're blaming this on me? If you hadn't eaten the apple we'd be in paradise instead of thsi run-down motel! This is so like you...you....Hippo!'

"Oh no you did-ent! You.....Ape!'

Smack!

Smack!"

And so it began, and always will be.....emotional creatures unable to control their emotions. And babies will continue being shaken, children abused, marriages broken, people murdered, environments ruined, etc. etc. etc.

And there's nothing we can do about it......too many will say.

I say......A Life For a Life!

If SBS takes a life, we save two, or 2 million....AND WE STOP IT! It can stop...and it DOES stop, when WE do our part to stop it, no matter what it takes out of us to do it.

A few years ago, Tewani lost control of his emotions and tried to "shake" a classmate with a chair to the head. I caught the chair in one hand and grabbed Tewani with the other, dragging him into the hallway and pinning him against the wall with my forearm buried in his throat.

I angrily reminded him I had promised to protect him from anyone harming him in and out of the classroom, and I would protect anyone from being harmed by him. Tears poured out of his eyes, not from fear, but from incredible hurt and inner pain....exactly what causes people to hurt other people, including babies.

I remember looking at him and saying in an intense low growl (controlling my own temper) to, "...Use this great pain you feel to turn it into great power. Focus all of this hate you feel for the world for giving up on you and use it to develop yourself. Turn weaknesses into strengths. Give yourself that, and I promise you I will work with you EVERY SINGLE DAY we have left together to help you do this. And there is NOTHING I can't do that I focus on, JUST LIKE YOU! I am willing to focus on you. Help me out. Work WITH me, not against. TOGETHER we will defeat your demons."

Tewani went from being an angry, uncontrollable, dangerous student who was dangerously close to being held back again and a destructive member of society, to a happy, smiling, productive member of the class and society....who did better than he ever had and went on to 6th grade.

The cycle CAN be stopped. As humans we are responsible for our own actions and emotions. We believe we can control ourselves when the adults in our world control themselves. Strong emotions aren't bad. They just need to be controlled, controlled by a greater inner strength than outer. And this works when you have no strength left at all.

Last week Katie had given up on her science test and snuck out to go home. I had her brought back in to finish it, angrily telling her if I don't give up on her, she doesn't give up on herself. She started crying. Even though she's in the top 5% of readers in the US, she doesn't believe she can learn science, and that scares her, so she avoids it and runs away, unable to control her emotions.

I took her hands in mine and made a confession. I told her I was tired, and that I had nothing left. The only thing I could feel was an unconditional love for her, one that wouldn't let me give up on her in any way. I told her I would be here for her no matter how long it took, and no matter how much it took out of me, but I couldn't do it on my own. I needed her to do it with me.....She answered by leaping into my arms.

Emotions can be controlled, even when you feel you have no strength left whatsoever. And in our choices to love versus hate, to believe versus doubt, to fight versus do nothing, and to be completely vulnerable versus hardened and completely "invulnerable"....changes are made between two people, then two more, and then two more, and then the world.

Our worlds get better when WE get better.


As I receive this wonderful blessing below from Anita, I pass it on to you, and dedicate it to London, a life much too short.

This is a picture of her after she had just passed away.



Traditional Buddhist Blessing and Healing Chant


"Just as the soft rains fill the streams,
pour into the rivers and join together in the oceans,
so may the power of every moment of your goodness
flow forth to awaken and heal all beings,
Those here now, those gone before, those yet to come.
By the power of every moment of your goodness
May your heart's wishes be soon fulfilled
as completely shining as the bright full moon,
as magically as by a wish-fulfilling gem.

By the power of every moment of your goodness
May all dangers be averted and all disease be gone.
May no obstacle come across your way.
May you enjoy fulfillment and long life.

For all in whose heart dwells respect,
who follow the wisdom and compassion, of the Way,
May your life prosper in the four blessings
of old age, beauty, happiness and strength."


Our worlds DO get better when WE get better. I see it happen in my own life and students' lives year after year. It is possible to stop SBS, and for Baby Kaleb and London Marie, I'm going to do my part by filling my world with powerful life-changing love, and ask you to do the same.

2007-12-13

To James, On His Last Day

Dear James,

Don't worry about what other people think. Most people are too busy worrying about others think of them. With your intelligence it's natural for insecure people to worry that you may be thinking you're better than they are, because it's so obvious you are so much smarter than they are. You can't hide it. And you don't have to.

Understand others have been picking on you and bullying you in other schools because you scare them, and trying to put you down makes them feel better. If you've missed the deadline again to get in a gifted class, love the bullies in the "regular" class anyway.

But feel strong for them, not sorry. And instead of being insecure yourself and putting them down for their emphasis on being cool, athletic, popular, etc. to gain a sense of importance, share your strength. Share your knowledge that everyone of them has gifts too. Recognize and appreciate this in others and they will learn to do the same for you. Make Minnesota a better place by your presence and attitude.

Don't shrink from this challenge. Expand in it. Be more by becoming more. Get in shape yourself. Don't be one dimensional. Don't limit yourself to incredible intelligence. You CAN be gifted in more than one way. A man can be both sensitive AND strong, intelligent AND physical, a poet AND a warrior.

As a species we have survived massive extinctions over the last 4.5 billion years. As a species we are unnaturally making extinct other species in our effort to unnaturally control nature and our environment. As an "intelligent" species we are killing off our own kind because of our perceived "differences". Just as sad, we become what our medias say we should be in order to be accepted, so we do and say things to impress others and gain acceptance by the outside world. Even worse, we stop living and evolving at all, because we feel so disconnected from and unlike this "outside" world.

It's OK for you to be you. It's OK for you to be better than others in certain areas, just as it is for others to be better than you. Teach and share your knowledge and wisdom. Learn from and grow from others knowledge and wisdom. Be patient in this process. Be courageous in the challenge.

Be more in this world, not by trying to be better than others, but by trying to be your very best self. Be your biggest self James. Be your greatest and happiest self.

Be real, and you will be happy.

2007-12-11

Did You Know? ~ Great Video

I told you that the world needs real thinkers, real problems solvers, and real, fully alive people.

You ARE being prepared for that every time I get you to

- stop waiting for me to give you assignments and start telling me what your own data says you need to work on today

- stop trying to memorize answers and start thinking for yourselves,

- stop waiting for me to tell you the answers and start with what you do know about the problem and build from there

- stop asking me if you are right and start telling me why YOU THINK you are right

- stop giving up after a failure and start getting excited about knowing you are another step closer to finding the solution

- stop seeing school as a boring necessary evil to get good grades, get in a good college, and get a good job....

....and start seeing every school day as a decision YOU MAKE to individualize YOUR OWN learning, discover what subjects and concepts BLOW YOUR MIND and THRILL YOUR SOUL, and LEARN TO LIVE FULLY ALIVE and GIVING IT YOUR ALL...

....NOW! THIS DAY...and not wait for some day way off in the future after all this schooling is done.

You HAVE started doing this!


You ARE being well-prepared for the challenges ahead!


YOU ARE the FUTURE!