Statements of Encouragement: Overcoming

 Eku deede iwoyi o! Good day everybody!

Helen Keller said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

Helen Keller was a political activist, and was a huge influence for the women's suffrage movement. She was an author, a lecturer. But what I want you to know about Helen Keller is that she was deaf and blind.

Take a look at this story; during a class prank, a student stuck a paper on his classmate's back that said “I`m stupid, and asked the rest of the class not to tell the boy. Thus the students began laughing on and off.

Then came the afternoon math class and their teacher wrote a difficult question on the board. No one was able to answer it except the boy with the sticker.

Amid the unexplained giggles, he walked toward the board and solved the problem.

The teacher asked the class to clap for him and removed the paper on his back.

She told him: "It seems that you didn’t know about the paper your classmate has pasted on your back." Then the teacher looked at the rest of the class and said:

"Before I give you a punishment, let me tell you something:

Throughout your Life, people will put labels on you with many nasty words to stop your progress.“All you have to do in life is ignore the labels people give you and seize every opportunity you have to learn, grow and improve yourself.”

“Had your classmate known about the paper, he wouldn't have gotten up to answer the question.”

“It’s clear that he doesn't have any loyal friend among you all to tell him about the sticker.”

I would encourage you during this difficult time to listen to overcomers. You see all around us, we have people that are being overcome. They're kind of like victims, and then we have overcomers. These are victors. These are people that rose above the difficulties of their situations.

Helen was saying, I’m deaf, I'm blind I have all kinds of reasons not to succeed, not to do well, but I want you to know I've overcome. The fact is, she had a helper who literally taught her through touch.

Who you listen to determines how you respond to this crisis. So I encourage you, find some overcomers and listen to them. What they'll tell you is this: It's dark. It's difficult. It's not easy, but you can overcome, keep going, and keep running your race.

We celebrate you if you were born in September! The world got a little bit better on this day because you were born and we are blessed that we are your friend!

Have a wonderful month everyone. Stay safe, get vaccinated, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy until we will be able to gather again.

 Eric Thompson

 YAJ.