Lately, I find myself driven by inspiration.  As I realize more and more what we as people are capable of and the many opportunities that are available to us, I find myself wondering why we are not doing more, experiencing more, and being more.

My inspiration started a few moths ago when I purchased a tee-shirt that reads, "Protect the forest".  I have to admit that I bought the shirt because it was cute and it was on sale for $5, and that I almost threw the shirt away when I saw it on someone else who's body did not do the shirt justice (OK, rude I know, but this is an honest blog).  However, my deep love for the bargain shirt kept it in my closet, and on my back, and it has since been a surprising source of inspiration and change.

While wearing this shirt I get many comments.  Most of which are people asking me if I am "green" now.  Guilt set in, and well, let's just say that it inspired me to buy some energy efficient light bulbs. OK, so it may not seem like much, but it was HUGE for me.  Let me explain.  I H-A-T-E these bulbs.  I am pretty picky about light (weird I know) and these bulbs let off that nasty florescent light.  I don't like how it makes things look, and I certainly do not like how they make me look.

Do you know that my couches totally clash with my paint when you use a florescent light bulb, but they look great with regular light bulbs... are you seeing the problem yet?  But, back to the subject, inspiration.  Since this green movement at my house I have also been careful to put more in the usually empty recycle bin, and I am proud to say that it is full this week.  Yes, we have forgotten to take it out for a few weeks, but still it is full, and I am proud.  It is a start.

The Olympics has been a huge source of inspiration for me these last few weeks, and yes, like the rest of the world I am addicted.  It is amazing to me to watch what these young people have been able to do with hard work and complete dedication.

Friday night I stayed up glued to the T.V watching Gymnastics.  I knew that I had to get up early to run and that I needed rest, but I couldn't quit watching.  I ended up getting less than 5 hours of sleep when my alarm went off.  I drug myself out of bed and began my run.  I felt slow.  I had it in me to push myself harder, but I didn't.  I was thinking as I ran that if I was an Olympic Athlete, and I trained like I was training right then, that I would not win a medal.  It made me realize that in order to be the best you have to push yourself and give your all each and every time you train.  I ran harder.

My next run was on the treadmill while watching the Track and Field competition.  I was watching these runners, and I noticed that their legs were moving way faster than mine.  I started to run harder, and even try to move my body like they did, hoping that I would suddenly be running a 5 minute mile.  It didn't work out because I was on a treadmill and I had forgotten to move to a faster speed, so I just crashed into the top of the treadmill, but for a moment I was fast, and it inspired me to run harder and faster.

Tragedy and trails in life though unavoidable can inspire us to live a better life.  Every day we hear of illness, death, abuse, war, and hunger in our world.  The life that we live today could be gone tomorrow.  We need to enjoy each day like it is our last.  I have tried to do this lately.  We all should do this.

Lastly, is stupidity.  Yes, stupid people inspire me.  I am not sure if I am just really smart, or if there are just a lot of stupid people out there.  I keep hearing of and seeing all of these dumb people and the crazy choices and moves they make.  I wonder how they could be so senseless or so careless and mostly I wonder what happened to their common sense.  Some things just seem so obvious!

It is nice to know that as dumb as I may be at times, there are a lot of people dumber than me, and that I can learn from their mistakes. Maybe it is true what they say about getting wiser as we get older.

Be inspired.  Inspire. 

         That is what I will try to do.