People who change the course of a life with one insightful comment.
People who change your life by who they are - I am so lucky to have been associated with them.
In my life, there have been many people who have been generous with their time, sharing their experience, lifting me up, and helping me make decisions when I am at crossroads.
Fred Shair: Chemical Engineering is more versatile than other disciplines
Glen Cass: You will succeed in whatever you choose to do/set your mind to do. (I took it as a compliment at the time, but realized the universal truth about being passionate later.)
Mark Zahniser: It is not what you work on, but whom you work with that matters.
Christian Seigneur: I work faster when I am stressed. I write more proposals when the backlog shrinks.
Frances Arnold: Energy is the place to be.
Nikki Blane: I never lived beyond a Senior Engineer's salary, everything else I invested.
Greg McRae: Reinventing oneself and chasing challenges/interests. If you are good enough, rules can be bent (true for Greg, at least).
Kate Baty: optimism, ability to thrive under extreme uncertainty.
Carleton Miyamoto: acceptance of people, their strength and their flaw.
Rick Flagan: If you don't do research, you will have to work with people. (I believed him and reinforced my choice about grad school. He was wrong. You always have to work with people.)
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Choice
Brittany Maynard ended her life with dignity.
Diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, Brittany Maynard moved to Oregon with her family where death with dignity is authorized.
Some say she was brave to choose to end her life this way. Others think she was wrong, because what she gave up was not life, but hope. Yet others question the meaning of courage in this situation: is it brave to choose to die or is it brave to keep fighting despite overwhelming odds?
Each person has to find his/her answer.
For a religious person, faith alone may be enough to keep living and putting every day, every hour in God's hands.
For a practical person, the benefits of an extra day or an extra hour with their loved ones may be worth the pain and suffering.
Everyone who faces these adversities head on is brave. Those who are in good health have no right to judge, not even a right to an opinion.
One thing for sure, if ever I am in that boat, I would prefer to make my own decision. I will be the one to judge whether the value of spending an extra day or extra hour with loved ones is worth the pain and suffering, to me and to them, watching. I will be one to decide whether there is hope left. I will choose whether to believe in a miracle or die on my own terms. (I will be the one to go to heaven or go to hell.) No one else should have to make that choice for me; no one else should have to be responsible for my life; no one else should second-guess or regret their choices on my behalf.
May we all be compassionate. "It is people who pause to appreciate life and give thanks who are happiest. If we change our thoughts, we change our world! Love and peace to you all." - Brittany's last words.
Diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, Brittany Maynard moved to Oregon with her family where death with dignity is authorized.
Some say she was brave to choose to end her life this way. Others think she was wrong, because what she gave up was not life, but hope. Yet others question the meaning of courage in this situation: is it brave to choose to die or is it brave to keep fighting despite overwhelming odds?
Each person has to find his/her answer.
For a religious person, faith alone may be enough to keep living and putting every day, every hour in God's hands.
For a practical person, the benefits of an extra day or an extra hour with their loved ones may be worth the pain and suffering.
Everyone who faces these adversities head on is brave. Those who are in good health have no right to judge, not even a right to an opinion.
One thing for sure, if ever I am in that boat, I would prefer to make my own decision. I will be the one to judge whether the value of spending an extra day or extra hour with loved ones is worth the pain and suffering, to me and to them, watching. I will be one to decide whether there is hope left. I will choose whether to believe in a miracle or die on my own terms. (I will be the one to go to heaven or go to hell.) No one else should have to make that choice for me; no one else should have to be responsible for my life; no one else should second-guess or regret their choices on my behalf.
May we all be compassionate. "It is people who pause to appreciate life and give thanks who are happiest. If we change our thoughts, we change our world! Love and peace to you all." - Brittany's last words.
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