Inspirations of the week

I have decided that we all need some inspiration. We get bogged down in our problems, our concerns, our fears, the darkness of our lives and we forget the light that surrounds us if we look around. Here are three stories I found inspirational this past week.

1. I subscribe to the Disney Park Blogs (are you really surprised?) and they reported on a gentleman, John Schmitz, who celebrated his 100th birthday at the Magic Kingdom. The blog reported that Mr. Schmitz wished to ride "it's a small world" for his birthday and that he did. That's what I want to do on my 100th birthday. Not ride "it's a small world" necessarily, but to be in Disney World. This is certainly a reason to live, well for me it is.

2. I was listening to NPR and heard the story of 70 year old woman, Eluid Haliday,when faced with someone carjacking her van, jumped in the sliding door and forthwith put a chock hold on the thief. She told the interviewer that she was attached to the van and it was hers. She said he had no right to take it. The thief wrecked the van and ran away. Ms. Haliday said that her husband, who had passed, gave her the van and she was attached to it. To have the conviction to protect what you love, person, object, beliefs, whatever it may be, is a great thing. I hope I can live up to this inspiration in what I do each day.

3. This story is a personal story. I have actually been in contact with this lady, Carol Graham. In trying to secure a speaking engagement for an upcoming conference, I came into contact with Mrs. Graham. Her husband, Major General Mark Graham, is a career military man. They had three children, two boys and one girl. When I say had, it is because one son was killed in Iraq and the other son took his own life after struggling with depression. Mrs. Graham and her husband have turned the loss of thier son to suicide into a crusade helping surviving families and those who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide. This is inspirational in itself, but not what is an inspiration to me at this moment. The fact was that during our conversation, Mrs. Graham took to the time to mention how I had inspired her. I have a tag line on my e-mail that says "Keep moving forward." She said that she thought this was wonderful and that she had found herself using the term in her daily life. Her words that I had inspired her had the same message to me. Part of our daily lives should be to tell people how they inspire us.

So many times we get lost in the darkness. I think it is important that we look for light to keep us going and then share that light in return.