What Happened? The Bethany Storro case.

A beautiful 28-year-old was thrown acid in her face as she was celebrating her new job at night.  This is the woman that suffered partial hearing loss since her childhood and just days earlier had her sister being married.

The whole nation was shocked and community rallied to support.  And she showed great strength by appearing on Good Morning America, her head covered in gauze and her parents on her sides.  In her own words “I can’t let what she did to me…wreck my life”. 

As media and psychologists speculate the motivation behind the attack (substance abuse, gang activities, and the like) that occurred on September 30 and law enforcement working hard to find the black woman with a ponytail that committed the crime, news broke that it was a hoax and the acid attack was self-inflicted.  And I’m sure if you do a search on “Bethany Storro” today, that’s all you get.

I’d leave the decision of possible prosecution to the appropriate Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the condemnation to the outraged people around the world.  What keeps me thinking is WHAT REALLY HAPPED?

It’s as if one gets sick, physically, when he/she lets his/her body goes through physical abuse, such as not enough rest, too much work, not eating right, etc..  So, what has happened internally that has caused someone to commit such painful attack on herself?  I don’t know if you caught what the father was saying on the news conference: “we are a closely-knit” family.  It’s the same pair of parents that are in shock right now that their daughter are in such mental condition to hurt herself.

I’m by no means trying to be wise or smart or pretend to know the cause of this “self-attack”.  My gut tells me that something deep inside is ill.  I just keep asking myself: what really happened…

I’d love that you shed some light on this incident.

Happiness Is Made Up of Simple Things in Life

Who would have argued that one (if not the only one) of the goals of spending this lifetime on this earth is pursuit of happiness?

Speaking of “pursuit”, it involves action, cognizant action.  For me, it’s a “soul searching” process that made me realize that I’m happy when I’m surrounded by good-hearted, caring people and when I’m able to give in ways of helping others, be it financially, physically or spiritually (please also read here and here to see how others are saying about happiness). 

Until I got sick a few weeks ago, another light bulb went up.  You see, I’ve been blessed to have inherited good genes.  So, I rarely get sick.  But, unless one lives in a vacuum, there stands a chance of catching illness from (even) the good-hearted, caring people that surround you.

So I came down with a cold/flu and was patiently waiting for the full cycle of the virus to go by, the sore throat, the running nose, the stuffy nose…

That’s it, the stuffy nose was what got me philosophical. 

I don’t know how much of me qualifies as a gourmand.  But I do LOVE food, all kinds of interesting food.  My husband used to say that he enjoys watching me take my time with all my meals.  And I am not sure how much of my love for food contributes to my husband’s decision to marry me.

So anyway, when the time comes, I realized that my favorite food in front of me tasted nothing but salty or sweet.  I did not have the ability to sense the flavors, the richness of the liver, the aroma from the fruits…  If you are a gourmand, you’d understand my disappointment.  To me, life was all of sudden black and white. 

Since then, while I was even more patiently waiting out the cold/flu cycle, I started appreciating more of what I have had in life as the “basics”, including the things that most of us were born with – the ability to see, the ability to hear, the ability to smell…  This, coincidentally agrees with what’s call the “Modern Seven Wonders of the World” (for more, please read here, here, and here). 

So, friends, when there’s a lot going on that we can’t control (do I need to remind you of the recession/depression that we are still in the middle of), we have much control in how we feel about what we’ve already got. 

So let’s celebrate this wonderful life that we’ve got, my friends, right now!

We All Have the Power to Greatness

When perusing the June issue of The Costco Connection, something that best selling novelist Brad Meltzer said resonated with me.  This was when the 40-year old writer talked about his first non-fiction book “Heroes for My Son”, a booked that he meant to use to convey to his new-born son the importance of humility, sacrifice, perseverance, passion and integrity (click here to read the complete article).

While the famous, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Washington, are in the book, he was not just looking at the famous or the brave ones.  In fact, he included in the book people from his life, such as his grandfather, Ben Rubin and his mother, Teri Meltzer.  As he puts, “look around at any life and you’ll find examples of charity and honesty, leadership and humility, tenacity and dignity”.  I really liked it when he said “there is greatness in everyone and all you have to do is find what you love to do and share that”.

I am not certain whether it explains why a Columbia Law School graduate makes a living by writing, he sure is living his words by having developed a nonprofit organization called Ordinary People Change the World.  Like Meltzer said, “we can all be heroes if we persist in doing what we know is right” and “that’s the power we all have”. 

Now, the question to you is: what are the greatnesses that you saw around you today?  Let’s share.  We can all use some ideas.  “Together, we are stronger”, as I say. (smile)  

What Does it Take to Become a Hero? A Lot!

Ever since I started this blog site a few months ago, I was looking for that perfect subject for the first post.  Today, when I read the story of this individual, I need to look no further.

A Real Hero

This is an individual that was named one of the Heros in the 2010 Time 100.  It’s no surprise to see “celebrities” such as Bill Clinton, Ben Stiller and Jet Li on the same list.  What’s surprising is that she is a 59-year old vegetable vendor from Taiwan. 

Let’s forget, for a second, which part of the world she is from; her story has nonetheless touched many, including the managing editor of Time 100 list. 

As Richard Strengel, the 2007 Time 100 list managing editor, has explained that the Time 100 was not a list of the hottest, most popular or most powerful people, but rather the most influential.  He further stated “Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in. Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example”. (Source: Wikipedia, “Time 100”)

Shu-chu Chen (陳樹菊 in Chinese) did just that.  In her nearly 50 years of selling vegetables, she managed to donate close to $320,000 to various causes, all from sleeping only 3 hours daily, leading a frugal life and saving marginal profits (for example, she makes less than $0.30 of profit from 3 bundles of vegetable).  Her motto – “make small money, donate big money” (“賺小錢捐大錢” in Chinese). 

Poverty was no Stranger to Her

Because of poverty, Shu-chu Chen had to stop her education at age 13.  Soon after, she lost her mom for sickness and for poverty.  In later years, she lost her father and two younger brothers as well.  And yet, she was not defeated by her “fate” and started making differences to other people’s lives.

So far, she’s donated $32,000 for a children's fund, $144,000 to help build a library at a school that she attended and another $32,000 for the local orphanage, where she also gives financial support to three children (source: The 2010 Time 100). 

Her next goal 

Shu-chu Chen does not stop at the sudden fame.  She’s working on establishing a fund of NT$100 million (roughly US$334,000) to help the poor with education, food and health care.  As she told one of the newspapers, “Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it" (“錢，要給需要的人才有用” in Chinese).

We All Can Take a Little from Her Story

In the last two years, many of us have seen or been through great financial difficulties due to the global economic melt-down.  When our 401(k) became more like a 201(k), we panicked.  As the uncertainty in the future and the inability to spend as we are used to, the story of Shu-chu Chen comes as a refreshing reminder that there are still many others, somewhere in this world, that were not privileged as we were and yet against all odds, managed to achieve seemingly impossible goals to help others. 

As Ang Lee (the director of Brokeback Mountain) puts it, “of all she has given away, her greatest gift is her example” (source: The 2010 Time 100).

I’d be first to admit that I’m not ready to adopt the prudent life-style like that of Shu-chu Chen’s.  But I can at least start worrying less about myself and appreciating more of what I already have.  Further more, I’d be more gentle on people and give more.

Imagine, if we all start making tiny changes to ourselves, starting today, what a powerful impact will that be to the world?  Believe it or not, we all have the choice of being a hero to ourselves.   

What would you do differently from today?  I’d love to hear your thoughts and let’s start sharing.

Together, we are more powerful!