Never Give Up

NEVER GIVE UP LECTURE CHU GUO BU 25 November 2010 China has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, particularly among rural women, according to a suicide expert. Recent statistics show more than 287,000 people end their own lives every year on the Chinese mainland.Stress and depression cause 70 to 80 percent of suicides in urban areas, where many jump off buildings. An estimated 2 million suicide attempts occur each yearFOXCONN SUICIDES / 富士康– Shenzhen, ChinaSo far this year, 10 people have committed suicide, while three others have tried, according to Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm. The company has started offering counseling to the employees which has prevented more than 30 suicides in the past month. "Most cases are caused by emotional affairs, personal reasons or poverty of the family.SOUTH AFRICAN HEROES - NELSON MANDELAPresident of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) political party. In 1962 he was arrested for political reasons, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. After his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994. Struggles in life: Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school. When Mandela was nine, his father died of illness. Mandela was arranged to be married to someone but ran away.NATALIE DU TOIT - South African swimmer.Natalie began competing internationally in swimming at the age of 14. In 2001 her left leg was amputated at the knee after she was hit by a car while riding her motobike back to school after swimming practice.Three months later, she was back in the pool training.She won a few gold medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games. She was one of two Paralympians to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Du Toit also becamethe first amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics, where she placed 16th in the 10km swim. She also took part in the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning 5 Gold Medals.She also made sporting history by qualifying for the 800 m able-bodied freestyle final - the first time that an athlete with a disability had qualified for the final of an able-bodied event.She narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics in Athens in 2004, but during the Paralympics that were held in the same city, she won one silver and five gold medals.OSCAR PISTORIUSWhen he was 11 months old, his legs were amputated halfway between his knees andankles due to a disease he was born with.South African Paralympic runner. Known as the "Blade Runner". Pistorius is the world recordholder in the 100, 200 and 400 metres events. In 2007 Pistorius took part in his first international competitions for able-bodied athletes. However, his artificial lower legs, whileenabling him to compete, generated claims that he has an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners.For Olympics 2008, he was at first not allowed to compete, but was later allowed to enter. Although able to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Pistorius did not qualify for the South African team. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, he took the gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres sprints.ARMSTRONGT old his mom “I want to go to the moon one day to see what is on it.” His mother said “good idea honey, but don’t forget to come back to have dinner.” Follow your dreams THOMAS EDISON – FAILED MANY TIMES"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."Struggles – his first wife died after 13yrs of marriageCNN HERO – Efren PeñafloridaWas bullied by gangs in high school. Today, he offers Filipino youth an alternative to gang membership through education. "Gang members are groomed in the slums as early as 9 years old," says Peñaflorida. "They are all victims of poverty."For the past 12 years, Efren and his team of volunteers have taught basic reading and writing to children living on the streets, in cemeteries and municipal trash dumps.Efren knows about the struggles faced by these children. Born to a poor family, he lived near the city dump site but he refused to allow his circumstances to define his future.He created his company to offer his classmates an outlet to lift up themselves and their community. For Efren, that meant returning to the slums of his childhood to give kids the education he felt they deserved.Stephen Curtis Chapman & his adopted daughterChapman lives in America and has 3 biological children and 3 adopted girls from China.Chapman's five-year-old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman, was killed in an accident on May 2008. Maria was accidentally hit by her older brother Will while he was pulling into thedriveway of their home.After the accident, the Chapman family began to speak publicly about their loss and therole that faith played in it all. Maria was buried in her Flower Girl Dress as she was going to be a Flower girl in her older sister’s wedding in October. Steven Curtis Chapman almost quit his singing career due to Maria's death, but then he realized that Maria would have wanted him to continue singing.Dick & Rick Hoyt – Team HoytRick was born brain damaged so doctors encouraged his parents to put him in a hospital for life saying that he would be like a “vegetable” forever. His parents saw that Rick’s eyes would follow them around the room, so it gave them hope that he would be able to communicate someday. His parents then began to teach him.At the age of 11, Rick was fitted with a computer that enabled him to communicate andit became clear that Rick was intelligent. With this communication device, Rick was alsoable to attend public school for the first time.Rick later graduated from University in 1993 with a degree in special education and later worked at Boston College in a computer lab helping to develop systems to aid in communication and other tasks for disabled people.Team Hoyt began in 1977 when Rick became inspired by an article on racing he saw in amagazine. Dick Hoyt was not a runner and was nearly 37 years old. After t heir first raceRick said, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”During races, Dick pulls Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushes him in a special chair as they run. The Hoyts have competed in 958 races.[SHOW VIDEO]Derek RedmondA retired British athlete. During his career, he held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4x400 metres relay at various World Championships. However his career was interrupted by a series of injuries. He was forced to withdraw from the 400 at the 1988 Games in Seoul, only 10 minutes before the race, because of an injury. He then underwent five surgeries over the next year. This was the same runner who had shattered the British 400-meter record at age 19. So when the 1992 Games arrived, this was his time to show the world how good he was and who he was.Derek and his father agree that if anything bad happens, no matter what it is, Derek has to finish the race, period. He begins the race and is doing well, but only 175 meters away from finishing, he suddenly feels pain in his leg and falls. As he lies on the track, holding his leg, a doctor runs toward him. Redmond tells them, "No, there's no way I'm getting on that stretcher. I'm going to finish my race."Then, in a moment that will live forever in the minds of millions, Redmond lifts himself to his feet, ever so slowly, and starts hobbling down the track. The other runners have finished the race. One painful step at a time, each one a little slower and more painful than the one before, his face twisted with pain and tears, Redmond limps onward, and the crowd, many in tears, cheer him on.Suddenly his father runs onto the sport’s track, pushing past the security guards. "I'm here, son," Jim says softly, hugging his boy. "We'll finish together." Derek puts his arms around his father's shoulders and cries. Together, arm in arm, father and son, with 65,000 people cheering, clapping and crying, finish the race, just as they promised they would. [SHOW VIDEO]Nick VujicicWas born without arms or legs and given no medical reason for this condition. Faced with countless challenges and obstacles, God has given him the strength to do what others would feel is impossible. He’s now a motivational speaker and has travelled t o more than 19 countries.Imagine being born without arms. No arms to wrap around someone, no hands to experience touch, or to hold another hand with. Or what about being born without legs? Having no ability to dance, walk, run, or even stand on two feet. Now put both of those scenarios together: no arms and no legs. What would you do? How would that effect your everyday life?Throughout his childhood Nick dealt not only with the typical challenges of school and adolescence such as bullying and self-esteem issues; he also struggled with depression and loneliness as he questioned why he was different to all the other kids surrounding him; why he was the one born without arms and legs. He wondered what was the purpose behind his life, or if he even had a purpose.After a lot of frustration and feeling like the odd one out in school, at seven years of age Nick tried out some specially designed electronic arms and hands, in hope that he would be more like the other kids. During the short trial period of the electronic arms, Nick realized that even with them, he was still unlike his peers at school, and they turned out to be much too heavy for Nick to operate, effecting his general mobility quite significantly. As Nick grew up he learnt to deal with his disability and started to be able to do more and more things on his own. He adapted to his situation and found ways to accomplish tasks that most people could only do by using their limbs, such as cleaning teeth, brushing hair, typing on a computer, swimming, playing sports, and much more. As time went by Nick began to embrace his situation and achieve greater things.After school Nick went on with further study and obtained a double bachelor degree majoring in accounting and financial planning. By the age of 19 Nick started to fulfil his dream of being able to encourage other people and bring them hope, through motivational speaking and telling his story. I found the purpose of my existence, and also the purpose of my circumstance. There's a purpose for why you're in the fire. Nick wholeheartedly believes that there is a purpose in each of the struggles we encounter in our lives and that our attitude towards those struggles that can be the single most effective factor in overcoming them.At age 8 I got angry at God. I said, "I don't understand this,". I said, "God, what kind of hope and future do I have?" I never thought I'd ever get a job. I went to school and a lot of kids teased me. I wanted to end my life. I didn't see a future or a hope. I never thought I'd get married. I said, " even if I ever did get married, I can't even hold my wife's hand. I won't be able to dance with my bride on our wedding night. When we have children, how am I going to put my arms around my kids when they're crying?"These things were important to me and no one could tell me that everything was going to be okay. And even if they did, I can't believe them. There are two things in life that we want to hear as human beings. First of all, that we're loved; and second of all, that everything is going to be okay.Nick shows through his own life that the major keys in fulfilling our biggest dreams are persistence and choosing to embrace failure as a learning experience, rather than allowing the guilt and fear of failure to paralyze us.[SHOW VIDEO]ENDINGNick gets his hope from this statement taken from the Bible: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”“Live to be a blessing”: Nick reminds us that in order to be truly successful in life, one must give & share! God has great plans for each one of us. When we look at ourselves, we start to complain. We start to compare ourselves to others and think we’ll never be as good as others.What’s really important?Maybe you worry you’ll never earn enough money to buy a house or get married. Maybe you’re worried about not getting a good job in the future. This is not the most important thing in life. The fact that you are here today means you are healthy and in a better position than thousands of others who couldn’t even come here today.How can we live a great life? Thanksgiving Day: take some time to think about all that you are thankful for. You can write down some things you are grateful for every day. Stop looking at yourself and what you DON’T have, but rather look at what you DO have. Help those in need! Don’t wait! JUST DO IT!。