INSPIRED To Be A Person to be Remembered

I am INSPIRED by my neighbor who passed away  this month of June.  I had not know him long and I did not know him well but what I do know is that he has left a lasting impression on me and my family.  I cannot forget the image of him in his front yard either washing his car or mowing his lawn waving to anyone that passed by.  I would not be surprised if most every neighbor on our block knew him as the nice guy that took the time, interest and energy to wave and say hello to them and talk to them if they took the time to talk to him. I don’t know if my neighbor knew what a positive lasting impression he left but I guess it doesn’t matter because I don’t think he did it to get acclaim.

I am so saddened at the loss of this man for his family and for myself and all our neighbors. Our block will not be the same.  He made walking or driving down the street and passing his house special. Who knew that such a small gesture that doesn’t cost a penny could make such a difference.  I still look at his house as I pass and imagine him waving hello.

Despite this sadness it made me hope that when I pass on that I would leave a lasting and good impression for the people in my world – for not only those that know me well but also for those that do not know me well.  I hope this because if I can do for others what this nice man has done for me – INSPIRE me to be more giving of even a few seconds of my time to say hello to someone then I believe I can INSPIRE others to do the same and then the chain of giving and kindness will get longer and the ability to make a difference in people’s lives lives on.

I knew an older gentleman close to thirty years ago that passed on some words of wisdom that I will never forget.  I remember him telling me that in our lives we will meet people that will be good examples and bad examples.  He said that the reason we are allowed to meet “bad examples” is because it give us an example of how not to be and the same goes for good examples – they provide us with living examples of what we can aspire to be. That’s what my neighbor did – he left me a living example of how I want to live my life.  Who’s your example of both good and bad and most important of all whose example of good and bad are you?  That’s a good question to ask yourself don’t you think?  I’d love to hear a good example somebody left you that inspired you.

Sinceramente,

Susana

Wishing you an INSPIRED life!

The definition of “inspired” is to be:

1.aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something, by or as if by supernatural or divine influence.

It seems that there is rarely a day that I am not inspired by something or someone. Inspiration is all around me and when I am inspired I often do things that make me want to step out of my ordinary and do something extra-ordinary.  Is that the way it is with you?

What is it that inspires you?  I’ll bet you a glass of wine that you can think of something right now that really inspired you to do something that you did not plan to do when you woke up that morning. Do you remember how you felt?  Good huh.  It made you fearless and selfless.

That’s the way inspiration is.  It comes at you from out of no where.  Bam!  All of a sudden you are inspired to help someone, give to a cause, go out of your way to help, volunteer, visit someone, go the extra mile, take a class, start a business, create something, etc., etc.  The list goes on and on.

Inspiration is a beautiful thing when you experience it.  It makes you happy and excited because you go into a state of anticipation – anticipation of some great outcome.

That’s what this blog is about. I will write about things that inspire me and that I hope will inspire you. Let’s be inspired together. Tell me about things that inspire you.  I would love to hear about them and so would others that read this blog and your comments. I look forward to your comments and inspirational stories.

Sinceramente,

Susana