Inspire

​Inspire
There was something else said by the amputees on Australian Story that got me thinking.  One guy got his leg bitten off by a Bull shark, another lost a limb to dogs (he was very graphic – he remembers hearing the dogs chewing his bones), one got a disease, one was self-inflicted and others were born without limbs).  One guy I have seen has nothing from the waist down and gets around on a skateboard.  He did have a great attitude.  When asked “How did you get this way?” he said “do you mean why am I so lucky.”
Sometimes a couple of people are interviewed together and sometimes it is individuals.  Interviews are not conducted as a group but each at a time.  There are episodes I do not watch.  There are lifestyles I am not as interested in studying, but I will always embrace ta person.  This just means there are episodes I forgo watching.
On this show there was something they all said, without collaboration that got me thinking.  They were asked something like “how do you feel when people call you an inspiration?”  None of them were comfortable with it.  They did not like it when people called them an inspiration when they went and got a drink of water or the like.
I could understand where they were coming from but by the same token, I do find overcoming adversity inspiring.  My brother had a stroke that was a lot worse than mine.  His balance was shot, and his right side would not respond well.  Fortunately, his brain was good.  In a sense though that is a mixed blessing.  A person is very aware of what is gone.  Sure beats the alternative though.
I did find a number of things he did inspiring though.  Working out new ways of doing things.  Setting yourself up to embrace the new reality.  Truth is there were things easily taken for granted that required ingenuity.  I do find that inspiring.  There is also a great sense of frustration too for those effected.  Thigs that were easy are now hard at best and impossible at worst.   Merril or I needed to drive my brother everywhere.  I did hear of one person who refused to accept the results of a stoke who ran their wife over (she was ok).
They felt things like mother Teresa leaving the comfort of home to live her life amongst the poor inspiring.  And it is.  To me they both are.
That whole thing caused me to consider the word inspire.  The Merriam-Webster has the definition closest to my understanding.  For me to inspire carries a sense of action.  “To spur on, impel, motivate.”
I do reckon inspiration can have a tipping point.  I can be inspired multiple times before I act.  But for me inspire is a doing word.  As they say the road to hell is paved with good intention.  If I just feel better but never do anything is that really inspiration?  Actions do really speak louder than words.  Sometimes I just need to do something.  Inspired or not.  It is just the thing to do.
They say that for anything worthwhile it is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.  I love to be inspired.  Whether action happens immediately or takes time, inspiration for a good thing is a good thing when acted on.