Recently while watching the Olympics and especially the Paralympics, I have been consistently struck by the dedication and commitment shown by people from all over the world in all kinds of events and circumstances.

During a recent discussion about what should qualify as an Olympic event, I said something that requires skill, commitment and practice should qualify and I do believe this. I also understand that all hardship, problems and even pain are relative and contextual to our circumstances, but I take great inspiration from those who have had a great deal of this to endure and come out the other side with a passion for life and their sport or event.

It does make me think about the little things that can sometimes get us down and make us think we’ve had a bad day when on reflection it hasn’t been so bad really. Sometimes we can take inspiration from people we meet in everyday life as well as those we see on TV. I have worked with people who have come up against many obstacles to living a fulfilled life and still they carry on with a passion that is inspirational.

It seems that many of us do have a “driver” that pushes us on and sometimes even keeps us going at times. In my work this driver is usually children. Children can be especially inspirational because very often they have no hidden agenda, as can be the case with some of the parents.

Whatever the case, I wonder how many people we ourselves inspire in our lives – if any.

And more important, how often do we inspire ourselves?  That certainly is a nice thought.

Posted in Blog, Children & Parenting, Self-development and tagged ,

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