Inspiration

There is a long list of people that inspire me; from family, to friends, to people I’ve met once, to people I’ve never met. And the truth is that the most of the people that have changed my life, probably don’t even know they have.

Now obviously J.K. Rowling will never know that she inspired me to want to write, and Baz Luhrman will never know that he inspired my love of film. This, of course, is obvious as these people have no idea I exist. But there are people out there who I have met, some of whom are close friends, or friends that I knew from a long time ago; these people have inspired me.

To inadvertently have such an effect on someone’s life and not even know it is such a strange idea to process.

Case in point: I have a friend (whose name I shall not mention), who is currently travelling. This girl has travelled all over the world so many times, but by herself. She is fearless! Now, I haven’t seen this friend in years, and before that time it had been ever longer. So she probably doesn’t know, but she is one of my biggest inspirations in life! I see her living her life as she wants to and being so brave that it inspires me to do the things I want, and to aim for things I didn’t think I could achieve. And because we live in an age where it is inappropriate to speak of such things, she won’t know how much she inspires people. (Although, surely she will now...)

Another example of this bravery (a trait which you can probably tell I admire) comes from my best friend. She had a baby at a young age and faced so much scepticism for it. I won’t lie and say I was completely behind her from the beginning, but seeing her mature during her pregnancy squashed any doubt I had in her. But it isn’t the choice to become a mother that inspired me; it was the choice to not let it define her. Shortly after having her child, she re-enrolled at college and carried on her education (getting bloody good grades, I might add), and is now preparing to go to Huddersfield University to study Nursing in October 2012. She knows that having an education and a young child will be hard work, but she does not and will not let either get in the way of her role of student or mother. She is honestly one of the bravest, smartest and kindest people I know and, though she may try to play down her achievements; the girl will go far.

And now for something which seems far less interesting: When I was on my placement in January, I was talking to an old teacher who told me that by doing something I did in school (which I won’t go into), I had inspired a number of students to follow suit. But she specified that these students had mentioned me specifically. And the truth is it that I hadn’t heard of 80% of these people, but by living my life the way I did, it had changed theirs for the better. Now, I know that sounds like some kid on the internet who has just had an ego boost (and really, who needs another one of those…), but this truly has made me question other areas of my life.

Now my Thought of the Day or Advice of the Day or whatever cliché you choose to adhere to is this: Tell them. Tell that person how much they have changed your life. Tell them that without them, you might not be living how you are.