Involuntary inspiration, me???

Someone recently told me that I was an inspiration to them.  I have been told that before, but I do not feel like an inspiration.  This person explained to me that I have a great attitude.  They told me that my jovial disposition  despite the numerous adversities that have been in my path is excellent.  Apparently, they did not read my untold MS story blog post.  Life has not always been rainbows and butterflies for me especially when dealing with my MS. 

To be clear, I do not feel like an inspirational person.  These compliments tell me that the definition of inspiration might be nebulous.  Maybe the meaning of an inspirational person is not what I think that it is.  The following stories tell the tales of those who I believe are inspirational individuals indeed.

There is a soldier named Travis Mills.  He came back from the Iraq war after an IED explosion incident.  He was the fourth quadruple amputee that came back from this war.  Everyone would have understood if he played the “sympathy card” upon his return.  However, that is far from the case. 

With his wife and family by his side, he now does more in a day than most of us do in several days.  He talks with all of the returning veterans mostly focusing on the severely wounded.  He has a fitness training regiment rivaled only by die-hard weightlifters.  He also wrote a book sharing his life story and does book signings as well.

There is another man on the X-Factor named Immanuel who is physically debilitated.  Immanuel was born in a war-torn country.  Later as an infant, he was adopted by an American family.  Even though he is ambulatory, his legs and arms are in bad shape physically.  He stood on the X-Factor stage with a slight tilt and sang “Imagine” by John Lennon beautifully.  Faced with all of life’s difficulties he stood up and stood out.

There is a woman Kanya Sesser who was born in Thailand.  When she was born with no legs, her parents abandoned her at the hospital.  An American couple later adopted her.  She grew up and became a model, skateboarder, surfer, and a snowboarder.  She did not let the challenge of no legs slow her down in the least.

If you saw a gentleman with no arms, you would not think of him as a guitar player.  However, you would be wrong in the case of Mark Goffeney who lives in California.  Even though he was born with no arms, he became a professional guitar player.  He has also released an album called “Big Toe.”

There is another fellow named Nick Vujicic.  He was born with no legs or arms and became a powerful motivational speaker.  He speaks all over the world reminding people never to give up.  When confronted with his physically challenging life he did much more than anyone would have imagined.  

These are just five of the inspirational stories that help to encourage me on the road of my life.  There are a plethora of stories in this world of people showing true fortitude against personal hardships.  I heard it said like this: “Before you give up, think about why you held on for so long.”

If someone has been inspired by something that I have done, I am humbled by that.  I suppose that I too have been inspired by people that I have met along the way.  These people were also merely doing the things that they had to do to make it.  Life threw a monkey wrench into their lives and they regrouped and reengaged their target.  They then accomplished their goals.

If you can’t find the inspiration be an inspiration.