Positive Attitudes

I thought It would be productive to read about people that inspire positiveness to the people around them, although they themselves have one thousand and one reasons to be depressed.  Here I present you with two examples of persons who look at life like a gift, and not as a right.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture - Carnegie Mellon University

This is a wonderful way of looking at life, even though his end is close, because it gives the people that stay, valuable advise on how to live a more productive life.  Sometimes we don't realize how much can a positive attitude  bring to one's spirit and how much time we waste complaining about what we don't have.  Life is a gift itself....it is a way of perfecting our spirits and looking for our ultimate goal...which should be the love of God and of all his children. 

Yesterday I was looking into the life of another great person, the famous writer and singer, Facundo Cabral, and he also is an example of positivity, amidst so much...let's call it: bad fortune.  He was one of seven kids, born to a woman who turned a widow when her children were small.  She had to struggle to survive, and unfortunately, 4 of her kids died of hunger and cold.  Facundo says that until he was 14 years old,  he was illiterate and lead a troubled life.  He thought of himself as a "lost person".  One day, as he was walking around his neighborhood, he found a loiterer...just like him...and the guy saluted him: "Hi, prince".  Facundo thought that he was making fun of him and asked him why was he calling him a prince.  The guy answered:  "aren't we sons of God, the king? We are princes, then".  That ocurrence changed his life, because he had never though of himself as he was more than a bum. Consequently, he called that incident "his rebirth". And so he went on and learned how to read and started writing poetry and singing and eventually, also through random happenings, he came to be famous.  He never forgot God and in all his music and interviews, he always praises Him and gives him thanks for his life.  Although he is also very sick, he maintains a positive attitude towards life and the opportunity that God has given to him in this world to better his spirit.
From Facundo: "When life gives you one thousand reasons to cry, show her that you have one thousand and one reasons to smile."  "God did not promise you days without pain, laughter without sadness, sun without rain, but He promised you strenght for each day, to shed your tears, and to lighten your path."