"How to Awaken Your Spirit for Living a Life Without Limits"
On Wednesday 20 February, I'll be interviewing an award-winning author, motivational speaker and advocate who is both blind and disabled. Although, in her words she says she is "ultra-abled". Dr Joe Vitale often ends his emails with "author of way too many books to mention" and this young author is rapidly following suit.
On Wednesday 20 February, I'll be interviewing an award-winning author, motivational speaker and advocate who is both blind and disabled. Although, in her words she says she is "ultra-abled". Dr Joe Vitale often ends his emails with "author of way too many books to mention" and this young author is rapidly following suit.
My guest will be Shirley Cheng and this remarkable young woman, though still in her 20s, has authored or co-authored somewhere in the range of 17 books at present. But who's counting?
A crippling case of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which struck when she was just 11 months old, resulted in her spending years in hospitals in America and China thus preventing her from going to school. She was also almost separated from her mother, whom she loves dearly, and sent into care. Added to this she lost her eyesight when she was 17. Yet, Shirley has an indomitable spirit and an incurable optimism.
"Although I'm blind, I can see far and wide; even though I'm disabled, I can climb high mountains. Let the ropes of hope haul you high!"
Shirley's latest edition to her "Wake Up…Live the Life You Love Series" is called "Embrace Ultra-Ability: Wisdom, Insight and Motivation from the Blind Who Sees Far and Wide". It has been receiving rave reviews, for instance M Wayne Cunningham of ForeWord Magazine CLARION Reviews says:
A crippling case of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which struck when she was just 11 months old, resulted in her spending years in hospitals in America and China thus preventing her from going to school. She was also almost separated from her mother, whom she loves dearly, and sent into care. Added to this she lost her eyesight when she was 17. Yet, Shirley has an indomitable spirit and an incurable optimism.
"Although I'm blind, I can see far and wide; even though I'm disabled, I can climb high mountains. Let the ropes of hope haul you high!"
Shirley's latest edition to her "Wake Up…Live the Life You Love Series" is called "Embrace Ultra-Ability: Wisdom, Insight and Motivation from the Blind Who Sees Far and Wide". It has been receiving rave reviews, for instance M Wayne Cunningham of ForeWord Magazine CLARION Reviews says:
"If there is ever to be a poster person for people with ultra-abilities, it would have to be twenty-four-year-old Shirley Cheng. The author has turned her disabilities into an ultra-ability and written the awe-inspiring Embrace Ultra-Ability! Cheng's slim but power-packed motivational guide delivers what it promises with its wisdom, insights, and motivation. It is a volume to be read, re-read, and treasured for its originality, readability, and courageous approach to dealing with life's adversities, and from an individual who has had far more than her fair share of them."
You can listen to a brief excerpt (two minutes) from this book by clicking the link below which will open into an AudioPostcard. (You will also be able to forward this AudioPostcard to a friend.)
Excerpt from Embrace Ultra-Ability
Like her heroine, Helen Keller, Shirley has an insatiable appetite for learning and once the door to education was opened for Shirley new worlds revealed themselves that she was all too eager to explore.
"Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbor was. "Light! Give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour."
Helen Keller
You see another remarkable fact about Shirley is that she didn't learn how to read until she was ten years old and spent six months in Special Education. At the end of this time her Special Education teacher told her mother,
"She's ready to go to a regular sixth grade class, and she'll do very well in it."
Shirley had made up for 5 years of regular education in 180 days.
Then towards the end of her sophomore year in high school Shirley was struck another blow. She lost her eyesight and had to resort to being tutored at home. This meant that she was unable to accumulate sufficient credits to gain her High School Diploma. But Shirley was both diligent and determined and took an exam which is eligible to those without High School Diplomas.
She took her GED (General Education Development) Test using cassette tapes and a tape recorder.
"I did everything in my head without seeing anything, including math calculations and graphs. I also recorded my essay on the tape recorder, and I scored over 3200."
And what of the future? Among other things, Shirley has plans to gain multiple doctorates from Harvard University.
I do hope you will join me on Wednesday for what promises to be an inspiring, empowering and motivational interview.
Click the link below for details of the upcoming teleseminar with Shirley Cheng:
"How to Awaken Your Spirit for Living a Life Without Limits"
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