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Have you every been inspired and motivated
by someone, or something.
I have, thousands of times.
I remember when I was at university, Percy Cerutty, famous athletics coach came down and gave a lunchtime talk. He
must have been about 65, and weighing in at less than 50Kg and as well
as talking he's striding around showing us how to run like animals.
To Hafey, famous VFL football coach came
to stay with us and I watched him do 100 situps and 100 pressups. Not
bad for a 65 year old. I'm standing there like a fat, weak Mr Punyverse
watching as this bloke 10 years older than myself, blows me out of the
water.
Never fall for the philosophy that physical
performance has to drop off dramatically once you get to 40. It only
drops off if you don't train. In fact you should get better as you get
older, you've had longer to train!
I was at a seminar where I heard and
witnessed a performance by the Swami of Wellness, Donald Ardell a
dozen or so years ago in
Adelaide.
He sent me some newsletters, one of which
was about the meaning and purpose of life.
I wrote down some stuff, and every now and
then when I was cruising through my computer I'd come across it
and make a few additions and amendments.
This year I came across it again, dressed
it up and then searched for Ardell's address on the internet.
I sent him a note saying that I heard him
years ago, that he inspired and motivated me then and would he like an
offering.
He wrote back and his first words were 'Sheesh,
that was a while ago.' Then he sent me a note he'd posted on his Report
to the World. Here it is.
Don’s Report to the World, March
7-9, 2006 – A Big Ask But If You Ever Want To Amount to Anything, It
Might Be Worth A Go
“It's a big ask
expecting to stay healthy without keeping yourself fit. It's an even
bigger ask expecting to get better by having someone do something to
you; sooner or later you have to do something to yourself.” John
Miller
I love that
expression –It’s a big ask?” It’s Aussie talk, of course, for expecting
too much. John Miller, an Aussie who calls himself 'a mug punter from
Down Under,' wrote in early February. He wanted me to know I had
influenced his thinking – and for the good, I might add. My influence
on him occurred over a decade ago, when he attended my performance in
Adelaide, Australia.
I enjoy getting
such posts. Messages from strangers that assert the amazing news that I
somehow had a positive effect on another person’s life often seem to
arrive at fortuitous times, times when I’m thinking “Aunt Katie” (my
grandmother) was right. Aunt Katie, you see, was fond of saying, during
frequent occasions when I misbehaved, “Donny, you’ll never amount to
anything.”
Well, not so, if John Miller is to be believed. It seems I
amounted to a positive influence on John Miller! He wrote: “Don, you
wouldn't know me from a bar of soap, but I attended a seminar you
conducted many years ago in Adelaide. Your advice about meaning and
purpose in life stimulated me. I wrote some stuff at the time on what I
thought the meaning and purpose of my life was and have been fine-tuning
it ever since. I expect to continue to do so, but here’s where I am at
present.”
So, inspiration is a two way street.
You'll probably never know what impact
you'll have on other people, or that they're still thinking about you
years and years down the track.
You can turn over in bed and think just
how bad life is, how hopeless, worthless, useless, depressed and miserable you are;
you can feel so low you could parachute out of a snakes backside and
still free fall; and at the same
time someone else, who hasn't seen you for donkey's years, who you
probably wouldn't know from a bar of soap is thinking about just how much you inspired and
motivated them.
It's like little kids being inspired by
bigger kids and adults within their local community. You never know when
a word of encouragement, or a good example will stick and how long it will stick for.
Let your light shine, and keep it shining
brightly.
John Miller
March 2006 |
