Review 7: Embrace Ultra-Ability by Shirley Cheng

Embrace Ultra-Ability!
by Shirley Cheng
Copyright: © 2008
168 pages
$14.97 Paperback

If you visit Shirley Cheng’s website, you’ll soon discover she is a very unique individual with an inspirational story that will definitely touch you in some way. Shirley was born in 1983 and diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis before she was even one year old. Due to years of hospitalization in both China and America, Shirley received no formal education until she was eleven years old. In public school, she suffered from abuse at the hands of public school aides. At the age of seventeen, she lost her eyesight. Today, Shirley is a motivational speaker, poet, and an author of a handful of books all available through Lulu.

Shirley’s book, Embrace Ultra-Ability, presents over 20 chapters of the author’s own personal advice on focusing in on the world around you in order to achieve personal success. From learning to appreciate nature to developing your own spirituality, Shirley teaches the reader to focus on the simple everyday parts of life that those of us who are not handicapped often take for granted.

My favorite chapter in the book is called “A Matter of Time.” Shirley begins the chapter by asking the reader if they would like the power to look into the future. Who wouldn’t? Psychic power is something many of us seek out as a novelty, astounded when predictions often do come true, a power many of us wish we had. However, Shirley embraces the opposite. “But after carefully considering it, I would like to keep the future a secret instead,” Shirley writes. Why spoil the surprise of life, she stresses. She continues:

While we hope for a bright tomorrow, we need to capture our time right now before it slips away between the cracks of everyday rushes. The best way to capture time is to cherish every minute of your existence.

Yep, it’s a broad realization, right? But so true. I often dread facing another work week when Monday gets here, anxious for the weekend, only to look back and wonder where the weeks went to because they flew by so fast. And so is life, passing me by quicker and quicker every year, which is why I found Shirley’s book to be a nice bit of encouragement to take time out everyday, slow down, and appreciate the simple things in life I am fortunate enough to have.

Embrace Ultra-Ability is not a sad book written by someone who is misfortunate and asking for your sympathy. Sure, her words and story are truly compassionate and will definitely touch you, but Ms. Cheng is a motivational and kindred spirit that we can all learn from. The title of her book says it all. We should ignore our inabilities in life, and turn them into ultra-abilities that will work in our favor and make us a better person. I have no doubt that reading this Lulu book is a great start to achieving just that!

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