Rhea Coler [Rhea.Coler@idri.org]
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Coler, Clark

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 9:38 AM
You replied on 5/25/2011 10:00 AM.
I have gotten involved in a mentoring project for high school students in the south seattle area whose parents are drug and alcohol addicts etc. EtcToday at 3PM I have to give the keynote address to 100s of these students.Do you have any inspiring words/quotes to share in this context?Words on mentors or mentoring?



Coler, Clark
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Rhea Coler ‎[Rhea.Coler@idri.org]‎
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Wednesday, May 25, 2011 10:00 AM

Mmmm... You might tell them:
There is always a way out when you are stuck and you may not see it until things are at their worst. When things look the most hopeless there comes an opportunity to take the greatest risks, and embark on the most arduous journeys. It is the worst of times that forces you to go down a different path then you would have chosen if you had not been so desperate to change your own future.When I was a young student I met fell madly and passionately in love with an extremely charming and handsome man from another country. All I could think about was the happiness of spending my life with him. It was only after we were married that I realized that having pretty dreams is not enough. The decisions you make based on your dreams can lead you to places you never would have expected and would never want to go willingly if only you had really thought those dreams through. I woke up one day to find myself living in an ugly little western town, far from the land, the family, and friends that I love, and looking at the prospect of a life that would lead nowhere and end badly. If not for that unhappiness I might have put other dreams of getting more education on hold, waiting for the timing to be better, or more money or stability to be available. But the intolerable misery of my life with this schmuck in some flea-bitten, shithole town out behind God's back forced me to act on those dreams now. Misery can be the catalyst for making changes in your life that you never had the courage or energy for otherwise.The rest is history....