Who Inspires You?

I love watching inspirational stuff.  We watched a movie the other day about the two professional rock climbers who scaled El Capitan (in Yosemite.)  I was amazed by their ability to cling to the sheer rock face with their fingers and toes.  The determination of one of the climbers to persevere in the face of failure was a good reminder not to give up.  His friend, obviously a man of character, refused to continue on until his friend overcame the obstacle so they could both reach the top together. 

Then I watched a movie called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind which was about a young boy who used pure ingenuity to create a windmill in order to produce electricity so his community could draw water from their water pump, allowing his family to grow crops.  The boy had hardly any education, but what he did have he used to save his community.  He needed to take apart his Dad’s only transportation—a bike—in order to make the windmill, and his Dad didn’t want to give it up.  When he finally did, he discovered his son’s brilliance.

When I watch things like this, it makes me feel like I can do anything.  Seriously, the tenacity of some of these people is amazing.  It reminds me of a quote I heard by Dave Ramsey.  He said, “Success is a pile of failure that you are standing on.”  People look at him and think he is standing on a pile of success, but the opposite is true.

Isn’t that interesting?  Think about it.  The more I listen to successful people, the more I discover their story is usually grown out of tremendous rejection and failure.  The key is determination and belief in whatever it is you are doing, and in yourself.  You know when it feels right.

Another popular inspirational person I like to listen to is Dr. John Maxwell.  During his podcast one day, he said over and over that if you want to do something, you have to start small.  He asked, “What are you doing today that will move you forward to where you want to be tomorrow?”  What one, little, tiny step are you taking?  In other words, don’t worry about the possibility that it won’t work, just start.

None of us grows into our full potential overnight, but if we do not take that first step when the obstacles seem overwhelming, or if we allow fear to hold us back, then we will get stuck.  Working within God’s plan, with our natural gifts and sheer determination, we will go places we cannot even imagine.

I like to put quotes on my Twitter account, just so I don’t forget them (@livingwaterjn7).  Here’s one by Maxwell:  “The cycle of success is simple:  test, fail, learn, improve, repeat.  But it’s the one in the middle that makes all the difference.”

The popular business guy, Stephen Covey once said:  “Live out of your imagination, not your history.”  

That’s really a good one.

Success isn’t about money, position or power.  It is about becoming all that God created you to be.  It is about loving sacrificially and living in gratitude.  If we are looking for happiness, we will find it right in front of us, if we move forward without fear on a foundation of faith.

One last thing to think about; not sure who it came from:

“If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends.  If broken by an inside force, life begins.  Great things always begin from the inside.”

Let God transform you this Lent, from the inside, and you will indeed find new life.

Janet Cassidy

Janetcassidy.com