Show me the ‘sunny’

My favorite movie of all time is probably Jerry Maguire, because it’s all about my favorite theme – inspiration. In just over two hours, director Cameron Crowe shows that you can take a leap of faith, follow your dreams, do the right thing, make a difference and build your career beyond your wildest dreams. O.k. sounds kind of Hollywood when I put it that way. But I know just about every line of that movie, and think about its lessons and messages almost every day. They had me at ‘inspiration.’

I recently gave a short ‘Word of the Day’ speech at my Toastmasters Club at work. I chose inspiration as my word. It’s really my word of every day. When I looked up the definition I was, well, even more inspired …

Verb

Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

Helping people is great and can make a difference, but inspiring someone to think, or act, a certain way can be a life changer, for you and them. So many people inspire me, but I want to share five right now …

Mom – My mom has the sunniest disposition of anyone I’ve ever known. She’s quite simply the most resilient person I’ve ever met. She doesn’t like to stay down and rarely is. She always has a cheery way of answering the phone or greeting you like you’re the most important person in the world and she’s just so happy to talk to you. And even when the world is crashing around her, or she’s sick or upset, she will end a conversation saying, “Let’s talk about something happier. How was your day at work?” (Well that might not be the best example – lol – but she will ask about me or the kids.) And the next day, she will do things to get moving and lift herself up. I see it as a gift that I so totally admire and try to role model, every day.

The Boss, the king of mandolin and cellist extraordinaire (Bruce Springsteen, Sam Bush and Yo-Yo Ma) – These three are my ‘ambassadors of [musical] kwan’ (Jerry Maguire reference). They exude mind-blowing energy in every note they play or sing, have the most positive messages, feel and share their joy with all of us. And I find it nearly impossible to feel anything but happy when I hear them – live, at home, in the car, anywhere.

Author, speaker, activist, attorney Bryan Stevenson – We read Bryan Stevenson’s memoir, Just Mercy, in my book club and it was a game changer for me. He’s a real-life, heroic, Atticus Finch-like advocate and attorney for poor, disenfranchised people on death row and children imprisoned for life. He left an Ivy League law school to go down to Alabama to found the Equal Justice Initiative and his devotion to his cause is 24/7 … period. His pure, singular dedication to helping people in need and his desire to change the world is inspiration in human form to me. If you haven’t already, hope you consider reading his book and/or watching his amazing Ted Talk, which speaks to his attributes much better than I ever could.

Watch for my next blog: Remembering Slothy