We are all on a search – a search for more meaning in our lives. Through choosing to enrich other people’s lives, you add meaning to both their life and your own.
Some simple steps to follow:
1. Commit: Commit to lifetime-relationships that span events, companies, causes and geographic boundaries.
2. Care: Care for the concerns of others as if they are your own.
3. Connect: Aim to connect those who will benefit and enrich each other’s lives in equal measure.
4. Communicate: Communicate candidly. Tell people what they should hear rather than what they want to hear.
5. Expand Capacity: Aim to expand people’s capacity to help them give and get more from their own lives.
The Litmus Test: If you are truly enriching someone’s life, they will typically miss you in their past. They think their lives would have been even better if they had met you earlier.
You are only as rich as the enrichment you bring to the world around you.
Taken from Seth Godwin's free e-book - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/what-matters-now-1.pdf. Advice is from Rajesh Setty, an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. His blog is Life Beyond Code.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Jamie Caudill First Recipient of Regan Robinson Scholarship
Soon after entering her first year at the University of South Alabama, Caudill watched in shock as news reports detailed the destruction the tornado, classified as one of the strongest and most costly in Alabama history, only two blocks from the house where she grew up. The tornado led to the deaths of nine children and is estimated to have caused more than $300 million in damages.
Though community organizations provided survivors with necessities, Caudill still saw a need to help those affected by the tornado when she saw the damage it had caused not only to the physical buildings of Enterprise, but also to the town’s way of life.
“To go home and see a path of destruction through the town,” said Caudill, who personally knew some of the families who had lost relatives. “It did something to me and made me want to try to get things back to the way they were before.”
Caudill spearheaded a drive to collect school supplies for Enterprise students to help them return to some sense of normalcy. Though she said she expected support from her medical school class, Caudill had no way of anticipating that her efforts would generate an overwhelming response from the entire USA community. Caudill ended up driving a U-Haul filled with school supplies back to her hometown.
“The whole experience revived my belief that people do care about people they don’t even know,” Caudill said. “I expected people from my class to participate, but we got support from the whole community. People really do care and want to do the right thing.”
Caudill’s humanitarian efforts in southeast Alabama were recently recognized with her selection as the first recipient of the Regan Robinson Scholarship, created by the class of 2009 to honor the memory of a medical student who passed away. Caudill said that she is both honored and humbled to be the first to receive the award, but she is also saddened by the loss Robinson’s family and friends experienced.
The Regan Robinson Young Scholarship was created in memory of Regan Robinson, a medical student at USA who was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in 2003 at the age of 23. She used her own experience to help others cope with illness. In 2007, just months before her graduation from medical school, Regan passed away. Her empathetic spirit and drive to continue medical school while completing chemotherapy made her an inspiration to fellow students, faculty and staff. The scholarship provides assistance to a rising senior medical student who embodies Regan’s spirit and character.
Caudill said she is touched that Regan Robinson is not forgotten and that the scholarship was established to remember Robinson as more than just a medical student associated with a disease. She was a person who went out of her way to help others.
Caudill said she is honored to receive an award that recognizes Robinson’s personal qualities in others. “It is one thing to be recognized for achievements,” Caudill said, “but another to be recognized for qualities such as caring and compassion. Patients don’t build relationships with accomplishments. They build them with a person.”
“A Little Dissipation is a Good Thing: The Suppressor of Superoxide Production Locus”
Dr. Mathews is currently associate professor of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He also serves as the Sebastian Family Professor for Diabetes Research.
His laboratory research continues to improve ways to treat individuals with Type I diabetes, commonly known as juvenile diabetes. He also strives to meet the need to identify a true cure for the disease. In an attempt to meet this need, Dr. Mathews performs studies seeking to improve our understanding on the means by which Type I diabetes develops, both in humans as well as in mouse models of the disease.
Dr. Mathews received both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in foods and nutrition from the University of Georgia. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at The Jackson Laboratory, a leading genetics research laboratory.
For more information on Dr. Mathew’s research, please visit: http://www.pathology.ufl.edu/~cxm/ .
For additional information, please contact Natalie Kent at 461-1548.
Exercise Advice for the New Year: Training vs. Straining
Friedlander, who is a McKenzie Certified Neck/Back Specialist in Outpatient Therapy at USA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, says the danger for many who are just starting is “over-enthusiastic training,” resulting in injury and frustration.
“When exercising, you actually stress your system and your body becomes stronger and faster because of the load of stress placed upon it,” said Friedlander. “If too much stress is endured, injury such as a strained or torn muscle can occur, making the healing process a priority and placing exercise on the backburner.”
In providing advice to newbie exercisers, Friedlander strongly recommends starting with an exercise plan that emphasizes long-term goals rather than short-term goals. The plan itself will help you avoid exercise-related injuries.
“When developing your exercise routine, having a definite schedule in advance helps you to stick to your plan and reduces the tendency to skip exercising or make excuses,” said Friedlander. “Having an exercise partner is another great way to create your health fitness habit and also provides you with encouragement to stay on track.”
As part of your exercise plan, Friedlander recommends keeping a written log of repetitions, distance, and weight to show your fitness progress over time. Then gradually increasing the exercise intensity to reduce risks of injury.
“Explore different exercise options and find something you enjoy doing,” said Friedlander. “Also vary the types of exercise you do as a way to keep the plan fun. Both of these tactics will increase your chances of sticking with your fitness plan.”
According to Friedlander, exercise variety is also important because different exercises focus on different joints and muscles. She gives the example of a workout with cycling for 10 minutes, rowing for 10 minutes, and stair stepping for 10 minutes.
Lastly, Friedlander encourages people to seek out advice. For those with medical conditions like heart disease or diabetes, she recommends talking with your doctor about your plan to ensure that it works as part of your overall treatment plan. At the gym, talk with the staff if you have questions about how to use equipment.
For more advice on developing your fitness plan and “training without straining” you can visit the USA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery website – http://www.southalabama.edu/com/ortho .
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Food Allergies Driving You Nuts?
The lecture will take place Jan. 19, 2009, at Christ United Methodist Church at 6101 Grelot Road in Mobile. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at noon.
Dr. Howell, an internal medicine and pediatric allergist/immunologist, will lecture on allergic reactions that can often result from common foods, including peanuts, milk, eggs and fish. She will also provide important information on how to avoid and control food allergies and allergic reactions.
A lunch will be provided for lecture attendees. The Med School Café lecture and lunch are provided free of charge, but reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations, please call Kim Barnes at (251) 460-7770 or email kebarnes@usouthal.edu .