inspiration

On our college visit tour, we stayed with my friends, Amy and Ed for two nights. I went to school with Amy until high school, and we rode the bus together for all that time. Her husband, Ed, I met last spring when I ran the Race for the Cure as close to our hometown as it gets. Ed joined me in the race--a return to running for him after a long break. He decided shortly after to blog about his return to running, and told me that I had, in a small way, inspired him to do so. I've followed his blog, and I have to say, that he has become quite an inspiration to me. This weekend, we ran together one morning; a run that I found to be energizing both physically and psychologically.

I don't remember why, exactly, I started running. There was a little bit of the fact that if I caught Jonathan unawares, I could beat him in a race from here to there. There was also the slow realization that in dance class from January until June there was little to no aerobic cardio work. A group of teachers that I liked had a "running club" after school--as much for the social aspect as the physical. Dad had heart surgery, and I learned what recovery from that involved. And I needed a change, a challenge to work toward. I had never been a fan of running, but I decided to give it a go. I have become more fit, but the reasons I stick with it have more to do with the inspiration I get from others.

Ed, for instance. His return to running began with running poles with his son. Fartleks on a small scale. Now he's running 4 miles or so at a go. When I read his blog posts, I think, "Wow, I don't know if I could be as dedicated as that!" and I determine to go out again. My husband, Guy, inspires me, too. He started running secretly at the gym so he could surprise me and run with me. Like me, he was no runner; never a fan, never any desire to run, and certainly never felt built for it--yet he stuck it out, and now we run together almost every day. He amazes me! Beth, my wonderful dance friend and partner in crime, has asthma, and always believed there was no way she could run. After I started running, and started to enjoy it, she decided to conquer her asthma and try running. There is no way I could match her dedication! She could now run circles around me! Sometimes that is discouraging, but then she'll say something about me inspiring her to start, and I, in turn, am inspired by her example of what can happen when you put your mind to something.

My running inspiration doesn't just come from others who run. My friends and family inspire me in so many ways, keeping me on my feet. In thinking about inspiration last night, I realized that most of the time, it's related to something small. Something that isn't even meant to be inspirational. And sometimes the inspiration I get from someone came from something I did to inspire them in some small way. I don't mean that to sound self-important, because the small inspirations snowball in a really cool way; a chain of events that leads to seeing opportunities in our lives and then taking advantage of them. My friend Connie has gone back to school, in small part because I did, along with other reasons, but I don't know if she realizes how much she inspires me by being a student, mom, wife, and friend, all while working full-time and maintaining a cheerful, quintessentially sunny, Southern disposition! I love that I can call her "friend."

I have friends like Kim, Maria and Shawna, who inspire me in their courage facing cancer and other illnesses; serving in the Armed Forces, or being married to one who serves. Friends like Joe, who take up hobbies, and then share the joy they find with the world. Others have reinvented themselves--some by choice, like Betty Ann, who took her students to volunteer at an animal shelter year after year, then realized she'd rather be working at the shelter, so she went back to school to become a vet; and others who had little choice in the matter, like Janet, who was "re-tooled" from engineer to math teacher. Still others are living the dream in their hearts, knowing that it could be temporary, so it might as well be wonderful, like Evan, who dances and travels the world.

Inspiration is a funny thing. Sitting here, thinking about the people who inspire me, I realize that inspiration comes with balance. If I am content within, I can see these people as an example of what I desire; if there is darkness within, the success of others can easily become a barrier to my own aspirations. My family and friends truly do change my world. There is a saying that "To the world you may be one person, but to One Person, you may be the world." I find it to be true of those I associate with the most. What's interesting is that most of the people who inspire me, who change and shape my world for the better, probably don't even realize it. But you do; you are the world to me.......