A to Z- Authentic Inspiration: Kids #atozchallenge

Every single day I walk into my classroom and teach kids.  Probably as long as I can remember I have known that I would be working in a setting with kids.  They make me laugh, they frustrate me, but most of all they inspire me.  They are so resilient.  They have so much fun with everything.  They forgive so easily.  They dream impossible dreams!  They live life to its fullest.  Kids inspire me to be the best person that I can be.  They forgive me when I fail, (trust me I fail).  They don't give up on people when they make mistakes.  Kids move to the beat of their own drum. Kids are the greatest form of honesty.  Kids never give up! 

When I think about all the kids I have met along the way, I am overwhelmed by how they have impacted my life.  I don't think that I would be able to be the awesome person I am without them.  They have taught me most importantly how to love.  Kids love with no expectations.  They give and keep giving despite how often grownups hurt them.  They are the best example of sacrifice!  I am so thankful for the inspiration that I get everyday from the kids that are in my life!  What a blessing! 

What kids are in your life?  How do they inspire you to be a better person? 

 “The soul is healed by being with children.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 “I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms, allow them to take the subway... let them be better people, let them believe more in themselves.”
― C. JoyBell C.

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Speeches

A to Z- Authentic Inspiration: Journeys #atozchallenge

Journeys come in every shape and size.  There are so many different kinds of journeys.  So many different types.  Every single person that we come across is walking a journey that is very different from the person walking next to them.  Some journeys take us over multiple different terrains.  They make us better as we journey along the path that has been laid out before us.  They define us, refine us, move us to something greater.  Every single journey is important.  I love to hear the journeys that others have taken.  The journeys that have gotten them to the place they are today.  

Sometimes the journey takes us to a place of flying fast, going beyond what we have ever accomplished before in our lives.  Some journeys take us slowly down a path.  Slowly leading us to the end goal.  I am so thankful for inspirational journeys that I hear on a daily basis.  Stories that inspire me, and lead me.  Stories that show me what it means to love others, that give me hope for humanity.  Give me hope for a future.  

What is your journey?  How has it been different from those around you?  Do you ever stop and think about the different events that have led you to exactly the point you are today?  What has inspired you to keep going along the way?  

 

A to Z- Authentic Inspiration: Idols #atozchallenge

Idols, inspire.  I'm not necessarily writing about these idols....

Although for some these idols do inspire. 

My inspiration of idols is more inspired by authors.  I truly idolize authors of books that I read.  They touch my soul and move me to think in such a deeper way then I could even imagine when I begin reading them. 

One of those authors is Cheryl Strayed....

I first picked up Wild, when  a friend suggested I read it.  I was blown away.  I connected with her in this real, raw way, and she truly inspired me to be a better person.  I was then introduced to her podcast.  I love how real she is.  I love that she doesn't hide behind false information.  She tells me exactly what she is thinking, and she is so authentic it amazes me every single time. 

I am so thankful for people like her.  I am thankful because I think it is healthy to have people in our lives that we idolize.  I'm not talking about worshiping.  I am talking about people that we aspire to be more like. 

People that are quotable in our lives.  People that we have never met, but genuinely guide us to be more of who we were meant to be. 

Are there people like that in your life?  Do you have authors that have truly stretched your view of the world?  What are some great quotes from your favorite authors? 

A to Z- Authentic Inspiration: Heights #atozchallenge

I typically love heights.  Sometimes I find them scary, but most times I find them simply inspiring.  First of all you have the trek that it takes to get up to wherever you are going.  Maybe it is a long winding path, a set of stairs, riding on a camel up a mountain.  Whatever it is there is a journey that you must take in order to reach the top.  Sometimes the journey is fast, but most of the time the journey is slow.  Most of the time the journey takes days, weeks and months of preparation.  You have to be ready to endure whatever is going to happen along the way.  You have to be ready to journey through the pain, to stop along the way and gaze out at what awaits you.  You have to be ready to break through the doubts and insecurities in order to reach the top. 

The journey alone inspires me.  Making it through each difficulty...trying to find a place to rest and ponder.  Each major stopping point creates an opportunity to look back and see just what has been accomplished!  What amazing inspiration to look back and be able to understand that the hard parts in the journey were not moments of defeat, but of triumph! 

Then, I make it to the top.  Whatever journey I have been on, sometimes short...sometimes very long.  I finally am able to stand at the top of the mountain and look over everything.  To see the big picture, to understand all that is out there...makes the journey totally worth it.  It also inspires me to keep going and try again.  That no matter what obstacle I face, the height of the triumph is far greater then the troubles of the boulders in my path. 

Standing at the top of where I have been.  Looking out at the different paths I could have taken, and realizing that the one I took...it was exactly the path for me.  Feeling myself breathe in fresh air.  Bringing me hope for what is to come, and understanding that no matter what this little path that I just journeyed is only one of many in the grand landscape of my life.



“Leaders get to tall heights by taking short steps. Being faithful, diligent and consistent with little steps is the secret to mounting greater heights.”
― Israelmore Ayivor, Leaders' Ladder 

A to Z- Authentic Inspiration: Grandparents

My Grandparents are a great inspiration to me.  Although both sets are no longer living I am so very thankful for the influence they had on my life while they were living, and what continues even now to inspire me to be the best person I can be.  

My Grandparents, especially my Dad's parents were able to breathe light into my life.  They were my safety net a lot of times, when I wasn't sure what was going on in my family.  My Grandma especially listened to me, gave me advice (even if I didn't follow it), but more then that she loved me.  She loved me despite me acting "just like my Father."  She loved me even when I put glitter all over the upstairs carpeted floor and then tried to clean it up with tape. She loved me despite all the trouble my cousins and I got into.  She continued to love me.

What inspires me most about my Grandparents is that they were doers.  They didn't seem to sit around comparing their lives to those around them.  They didn't give up when things got tough.  They kept going even when their kids didn't always visit.  They were generous with their time and energy.  Even if it was a different kind of generosity then what I know today.  

They were faithful, honest, and hard-working.  They loved God, and taught me how to love Him.  They were traditional in every sense of the word.  They held to their values no matter what that meant.  

My Grandparents inspired me to live my life.  They may not have always been 100% behind my decisions, but they tried to love and support me in every way they could.  They inspired me to grow things from the ground, hunt, fish, and take adventures into the woods.  They inspired me to love what has been created for us, and to not take advantage of any time.  

They inspired me to trust others, and lean on family.  They inspired me by their marriages, and their faithfulness to each other.  

 What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudy Giuliani

A to Z- Authentic Inspiration: Friends #atozchallenge

My friends inspire me!  Sometimes they inspire me in ways that I find so crazy!  When I think about those that have crossed my path I am completely thankful.  I have had so many different kinds of friends over the years.  Those that are in my life for moments, those that are in my life for years...and those that are in my life for all time.  Each friend impacts me, inspires me in a different way. 

Some friends inspire me to truly be exactly who I was created to be.  They allow me to be myself.  They accept my mess, they accept my bad moods, and worst ideas.  They help me to believe in myself beyond anything I can believe on my own.  They allow me to see the good, the value, the worth in my role in this world.  They continue to push me even when I am kicking and screaming. 

Sometimes I think that we get caught up in competing and trying to be the best, and we forget to just stop and breathe in the differences that make us unique, that open us up to connection in a way that we can only imagine.  We don't have to compete, my friends they inspire me to just be me.  They inspire me to accept myself for who I am, all my flaws....all my insecurities.  They give me strength, and bring out the truth in my authentic self. 



 “Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

 “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves 

“I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”
― Jon Katz



 How do your friends inspire you?  Do you have any friendship quotes that you love? 

A to Z: Authentic Inspiration: Elisabeth Elliot #atozchallenge

My inspiration that starts with E is the amazing Elisabeth Elliot.  I first heard of her right before I was heading out to Egypt for my first overseas teaching experience.  Her story blew me away.  To go back and talk to the same tribesmen that had killed her husband.  To have that kind of faith, that kind of love.  It inspires me because she could have just given up.  She had every reason to run away from her faith, to run away from life. 

Sometimes life is like that.  It gets to be so hard, and all we want to do is just give up.  We come face to face with something so big that we feel like we can't make it through.  We want to walk away from everything that we have ever known, or thought to be true.  Then we look up, and we realize that in the end we have to do what we know is true in our lives.  We have to find the strength, and be authentic to the calling that has been given to us.  To do what is going to fulfill our role in this world. 

People's stories inspire me.  They show me strength, faith, and love.  They give me hope, and they call me to live my life in the most authentic way I can. 

“The will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. It may seem to be much worse, but in the end it’s going to be a lot better and a lot bigger.”  -Elisabeth Elliot

“It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while he is the end of our journey, he is also at every stopping place.” -Elisabeth Elliot

“…the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by his letting us have our way in the end, but by his making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly pray what he taught his disciples to pray: Thy will be done.”  -Elisabeth Elliot

“We are not meant to die merely in order to be dead. God could not want that for the creatures to whom he has given the breath of life. We die in order to live.” -Elisabeth Elliot

“Cruelty and wrong are not the greatest forces in the world. There is nothing eternal in them. Only love is eternal.”