Universal Life Lessons Gift of Your Greatness
Let your greatness be a gift to the world.
This book is dedicated to Dr Martha Farrell, who was killed (along with thirteen other colleagues) on 13 May 2015 by the Taliban. She was leading adult education on women's rights and gender equality with the Aga Khan Foundation in Kabul, Afghanistan. Martha was a passionate civil society leader, renowned and respected in India and around the world for her work. She was also a good friend of the author, Susan Ball.
Universal Life Lessons: Gift of Your Greatness is rich in stories of everyday people's lives within the framework of current world events. This book shows human greatness through tales such as those of the brave young amputee from South Vietnam; two young men with muscular dystrophy and their quest for independence and equality; and the asylum seeker who travelled via boat from Iran to Australia, among others.
'Transforming Our World-The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' was unanimously adopted by the United Nations at an historic summit in September 2015. Gift of Your Greatness weaves the Agenda's Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals throughout the book and shares how we can all be agents for change through awareness, understanding, and by serving others.
'The story is wonderful. The author uses words as a painter does a brush – creating images. The stories seem to create a collection of images. I simply loved reading them. A typical oration; authentic, engaging, heartfelt and cheeky. I wonder from whom Anna learnt these skills'.
Glenn Lawless, Melbourne
'Great read – honest, heart-felt, informative and inspiring'.
MK, Buderim
'Universal Life Lessons From my Brilliant Blue Bohemian Butterfly by Susan Ball is a wonderful story and inspiration to other people faced with challenges, or those of us who just need a better understanding. Author Susan Ball presents 85 universal life lessons that she has learned from raising a child with developmental challenges, and how society has created some of those limitations. The lessons are woven throughout the touching story of Anna and how she could amuse people in a way that only Anna could. Lesson 25: A stimulating environment increases learning and developmental potential is a practical lesson for all of us. Universal Life Lessons From my Brilliant Blue Bohemian Butterfly is a reminder that we are all the same — but different. Anna’s story will awaken and enlighten you.'
Barbara Fanson, Reader Review, United States
'In these pages one finds an inspirational account of a LIFE that takes one’s breath away. The charm, the resilience, the determination of Anna, despite the ever-present difficult moment, will give hope to any reader. Above all, we are reminded that every life, no matter what, is a reason to sing Alleluia. The book is truly and magnificently a celebration of a mother’s love.'
Mr Noel D’Silva – Social Activist and Educationist,
President of an International NGO
'Susan has authored a moving and inspiring account of the amazing life of her recently passed daughter, Anna Rose Paas. I count myself as very fortunate to be able to come to know Anna while she was here. Susan’s account shines a revealing light on Anna’s life and is imbued with the deep love and commitment which Susan devoted to Anna for all of her 30 short years. If you want some inspiration and some insights into the rich life which someone with quite profound disability can experience, you must read it.'
David Thompson AM
CEO, Jobs Australia Ltd
‘Anna had a true spirited form and never ceased to amaze everyone with her resilience, determination, and love of life. The universal life lessons are Anna’s gift and legacy to the world.’
Dr Rajesh Tandon, President UNESCO Chair
in community based research and
social responsibility in higher education.
‘Susan is able to draw rich, generic, and general conclusions from her specific experiences. This marvellous narrative is meaningful, moving, and beautifully written.’
Peter Ellyard, Author and Futurist
'This was a truly inspiring read. The story of one woman who overcame the odds and survived much longer than she should have done is a real lesson to us all, a lesson that you can achieve what you want to. Anna’s determination, grit, and her mother’s moving account of her short life is a real inspiration. Susan brings Anna back to life once more for everyone to experience in the way that she writes her account. Every word is filled with love and pride and it comes across so clearly. I enjoyed this book very much and I thank Susan Ball for taking the time to share her daughter’s lessons with us.'
Anne-Marie Reynolds, Reader Review, United States
Universal Life Lessons From My Brilliant Bohemian
How to bring love, hope, joy and meaning into your life
This book brings to life the remarkable legacy of a woman, Anna Rose Paas, who through her determination, courage, and joy of life, touched people’s hearts and enabled them to find inner peace and love. Her purpose was to make a difference to this world and she did. Anna was born in 1985 with a very rare condition, Ring 22 Chromosome Abnormality. She defied the odds and lived far beyond her life expectancy with her condition.
The stories woven into Universal Life Lessons from My Brilliant Blue Bohemian Butterfly give an insight to how she overcame her challenges and give hope to everyone that, from birth through to death, their wishes for a good quality of life can be honoured, regardless of their circumstances.
I trust the eighty-five universal life lessons from My Brilliant Blue Bohemian Butterfly will provide you with clarity on your journey by stepping into our world and seeing through Anna’s specific lessons and others that are more general such as engaging in community, focusing on your qualities and gifts, taking control of your own decisions, and embracing difference.
If the universal life lessons change one person’s life—then this book has served its higher purpose.
"Susan's book is a wonderful collage of people and events with compassion as the common thread. The tragedies of Batley and Orlando are indicative of the atmosphere of hate that has somehow crept into the behaviour of human beings in many parts of the world. The only way of overcoming this evil that distorts the face of humanity is to share the milk of human kindness with all our sisters and brothers: rich and poor, weak and strong, white and black, especially those who have been discarded, rejected ... I feel that Universal Life Lessons: Gift of Your Greatness brings out all of these things."
Noel D'Silva, Mumbai, India
Social Adivist and Educationist, President of an International NGO
We can achieve these ambitious goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Together we can make a difference to the world ... that is the 'gift of your greatness.
A percentage of the sales from the book will be donated to the Martha Farrell Foundation.
$25.00 + postage
