triumph

photo credit ny times

For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled.
Hunter S. Thompson

i deal with many types of people in the process of my daily life. i am finding it very interesting that i am able to give people with known disabilities or challenges in their backgrounds the respect of assuming the best in my dealings with them. i think i may even let go of many of my expectatons.

i wonder why i do not do this with others. on some level, i know that one can never tell by looking at someone what they have gone through or how many challenges they have already overcome. yet, i don't cease in holding expectations with some and not with others. it's a trait i need to bring into much more balance. triumphs are not simeply the ones that are visible to the eye. there could just as easily have been victories which have already taken place, albeit quietly and out of sight. accordingly, i also am not privy to all the challenges for some that permeate a personality without being visible.

kindness may not simply be opening my heart to those who noticably struggle. it may require the same generosity to be offered more widely. this is the new goal i will work to acheive.

hope

beijing: smoky city of hopes

Dale Carnegie:
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

marc sent me a link to an article that i thought i would share today. i am specifically interested in abzymes. is this a new word? is this a new concept? my friend Michael sits on ATAC says they just discussed it and its a hoax. wikipedia says this:

is there hope?

the second thing i am interested in is the new studies that have come out about prep. this category includes but is not limited to microbicides. these topical agents that are applied with lubricants seem to hold much possibility for the changing of very very many lives.

i write a little about hope in conjunction with hiv because that is something so close to my own life. i have been personally affected by it in my own life as well as my professional life. but also, because it is one of the major health issues across the globe. it's not just a big deal in the u.s, but a much bigger crisis in africa, india, asia, and elsewhere on our small planet. i honestly think after 25 years, we can use a little hope.(or maybe more)

the trick for me some days is to remember hope. i know it well, but i forget it or lose site of it so easily. life can be overwhelming sometimes and i cannot even begin to handle it all well. it makes me cringe to misstep and even more toxic is my ego when faced with failure. that's a dangerous spot for a guy like me. i need to keep hope close. hope is the breeze on my face in the sun. i need the olympics perhaps even more than the world does. even tho i don't compete, i can feel connected, and i can always hope that an underdog can win.