My Memoir: A LIFE JOURNEY

By Victor G. Stanley

The Good Lord gave us 10 commandments, with wisdom to find the 11th, and that one is gratitude, the 11th commandment, and gratitude is the bedrock for success. Take this example, we often sit down and pray before we eat but we do not pray to say thanks for the good meal. Success in life is based on gratitude. Other ward we must give and take. In

• Language: English
• Publisher: Go To Publish
• Release date: Nov 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647490812

Victor G. Stanley

The author, Dr. Victor G. Stanley, is a retired professor who spent the last 35 years helping poor students to achieve their goals in life. Dr. Stanley was raised by a single mother in rural Jamaica, and the first in the family and the community to go to high school. High school was for the privileged, not for someone like him. A trade of some sort if you were lucky, was good enough for most poor kids. To go to high school and on to college was a dream come true. With the help of some great people he was successful. The university where he worked as a professor was very good to him. He had no money to give back to the university, so he gave back by teaching and mentoring poor students to also realize their dreams. Many are now doctors and lawyers. Dr. Stanley or "V.G." as a family with two successful children. His daughter, Dr. Christine Stanley, holds a PhD, and is a Regents Professor of Higher Education at Texas A&M University, and son, Dr. Robin -Charles Stanley, is a Chiropractor In Dallas, Texas. His wonderful wife Mavis, helped and supported the family to find their way. Thanks to God, and with no money, he had a successful career. Dr. Stanley received his PhD from Texas A&M University, MSc. from Iowa State University, and BSc. from Tuskegee University.

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MY MEMOIR

A LIFE JOURNEY

Copyright © 2020 by Victor G. Stanley

ISBN-13: 978-1-64749-081-2

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions.No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

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Contents

The Purpose

Introduction

First Step in the Journey

Lessons in Gratitude

Gratitude and the Beginning of a Career

Giving Back, Although Small

A Society on the Edge

Gratitude Comes From Within, The Inner Quality

Ingratitude and the Receiver

Reward and Punishment

Bitter Taste of Ingratitude and the Price We Pay

Ingratitude to the Extreme

George’s Arrived at the University

Close Calls, Near Misses

George’s Tenure at the University

A Society without Neighbors

Sizing the Opportunity

Helping Others to Fulfill Their Dreams

Extending Gratitude

The Joy of Motivating Others

A Big Surprise

Life Great Phenomena

Acknowledging the Gift from the 11th Commandment

List of Firsts

George’s Philosophy in Life

The Purpose

The purpose of this memoir is to acknowledge and to express George’s gratitude for the blessing of the good Lord and the guidance that He bestowed on him throughout his entire life, and also the value of being grateful to everyone who helped him through many difficulties. First, one has to be grateful to your neighbor before one can be grateful to the Lord. By being helpful to your neighbor, the Lord will always find ways to reward you. Many people are born with very limited resources and, with the help of the neighbor, they are able to succeed. Your neighbor is not necessarily the person who lives next door, but anyone who needs help and support, and also those who offer a hand to you in time of needs. Help and support appear in many forms, from comforting the loneliness, feeding the hungry, giving some water to ease a person’s thirst, or a simple word of encouragement. Gratitude can be expressed in many different ways and can be very rewarding. On the contrary, ingratitude is a painful sin, which often resulted in many unpleasant outcomes, from total disappointment to disaster. It is like building a castle in mid-air, only to see it falls to the ground, because of a weak and none existent foundation. The 11th commandment is the bed rock, for lasting success in life.

Introduction

The good Lord gave people, in print the Ten Commandments, with the hope that with intelligence and wisdom they would be able to find the eleventh. The commitment to obey the ten depends on the observance and practice of the eleventh. The 11th commandment is simple gratitude, for when someone with nothing to gain opens the door for you, or gives you a seat to sit, a bite to eat, or some water to ease your thirst, the least you can say is, thank you. When someone gives you shelter from the cold, rain, or heat, do not rob him or her. When someone gives you something to eat to satisfy your hunger, don’t steal or break the plate. The Ten Commandments that are written mean nothing, if the 11th commandment is ignored.

The good Lord in His preaching emphasized the 11th commandment clearly many times and in many different ways, for example, when he healed the ten lepers. After healing them they all went away happily, but only one came back to say thank you Lord, who said to him, where are the others; why have they not come back to say thanks like you. Another example was when Peter, one of His beloved disciples, later who became Saint Peter and the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, was hungry and in his need for food, fell asleep on the roof top of the building. While sleeping he heard a voice from above that said, rise Peter, kill and eat. A hungry man would rise up immediately and start to eat, but instead, he said, not so Lord, for I have not eaten anything so common and unclean. The moral of this story is that, you must be grateful for the things given to you, especially when you are the one in need. Peter had shown a sense of ingratitude for he should have known that the good Lord would have never given him anything that would harm him. Another interpretation of the story is that the animals that Peter saw in his dream were people of different cultures, colors, races, nationalities, and genders.

Another example of ingratitude was when the good Lord gave the talents to three different people. He gave to one five, to another two talents and to the other one. He told them to go and make the best use of them. They all came back with different results including the one who received five talents had ten, and the one who got two talents had four. The third person who had received one talent came back with the same one, with no change. The Lord took his one talent away from him and He gave it to the one then had ten. The lesson learned is that we must be grateful for what we have received, regardless of how small it is, and there is no time for discrimination, if you are in need..

First Step in the Journey

George’s journey through life was paved by the many acts of kindness that people bestowed on him, how gratitude helped him to survive, and the chances to see how ingratitude destroyed the hope and dreams of others. Regardless of how small is the gift, we must say thanks, and you may not have many talents to help others, nevertheless give whatever you have, the gift even though small, can go a long way. George’s philosophy is to give regardless of how small it may be. It doesn’t have to be money, house or land, but whatever you have, and where possible, if you can, and if you do not have anything to give or help someone in need, just walk away. Please do not do anything to worsen the situation. If you do it, you might make it hard for someone who wants to help. If you are in a conversation, listen carefully for the whole story, to both the good and bad points of others. No one is perfect and there is no one who is totally bad. If you listen keenly with an open mind, you might find good points and if you do, you might change the situation by actualizing the good points of others. It may well save someone’s life. Do not walk away and say nothing if you know the truth. Remaining silent is the same as being in agreement with the person, who wanted to destroy the person who