In my everyday travels I always find things that inspire me. I am optimistic.
A few days ago during a lunch with an old college friend I had an Oprah Show “AHA” moment. I was sitting at the table listening to my friend speak about his life.
This friend, Chad, I admire a lot. He’s a great guy. The kind of person that would be there for you in the middle of the night if you were broke down on the side of the road. Through space and time we never lose sight of our friendship. He’s intelligent, kind hearted, ambitious, and decisive. He knows what he wants out of life.
I sat and listened. I told him that I was feeling off focus. I have too many things I want to do. “I feel like I am all over the map.” I said with confusion in my heart and anxiety in my mind. He gave me the best answer anyone has in a while.
“Janine, that’s the thing that is great about you. You have all the qualities to succeed. You’re a dreamer, ambitious, and persistent; and all of these things are ingredients for success.” Chad poignantly stated as if he were my guidance counselor back in school.
And, you know what? Chad is right. I am all of those things. I do dream, I create, and I never quit. But, sometimes when you feel low, lost, and tired of trying you need to find inspiration somewhere other than your own dreams.
I left our lunch thinking a few things. I wondered why we only get together once a year, because, well, that’s just ridiculous. I thought about everything he said and I was back on track and I had even more focus than before. I needed a friend’s guidance to teach me that I can have many tracks. I have many interests and that’s what fulfills my life.
I left our lunch feeling INSPIRED.
I look at life and the chapters that have been lived thus far. I read the stories of the past and I laugh a little about what I know now that I didn’t know then.
I have always been that person that felt a little “Special.”
Possibly, a little “Different.”
I see things that a lot of people may not see. I’m spiritual and aware. I know that there’s so much more to this life.
Whenever I need some good old fashioned inspiration I look to my loved ones. But, it’s their job to inspire me and raise me up.
So, when I need more I think of people that have helped change my life or the ones who believe in me that are not blood related.
I think of a man that taught me while in college. This same man INSPIRED me.
The last week of classes before my college graduation I received the most beautiful gift from Mr. Howard Rice. He was my professor at Temple University for my intensive writing class. We had to write three papers a week. It was certainly intense but thought provoking and life changing. I loved it.
We also had to write a journal. This would be read only by Professor Rice. He just wanted us to get in the habit of writing how we feel and reading it.
Each class I knew I would be chosen to read aloud so I was always ready. Spilling your guts to your peers wasn’t easy at first but we all got used to it and by the end of the semester I think we even enjoyed it. It was therapeutic.
Each assignment seemed so simple. The topics were elementary, until you had to write about them. He gave us word or page limits and we had to put our thoughts on paper.
“What would you do with one day left to live?”
“My Best Friend”
“A Moment that Changed My Life”
“My Family”
These were just a few topics. And, there were so many more. I learned more in that class than my whole four years of college.
I learned how to be a better writer. I learned to let go and tell my stories. I learned to accept others. Most importantly, I learned who I was.
I was about to enter the “Real World” wide eyed and INSPIRED.
The last day of that class Professor Howard Rice had a message for me. He stopped me in the hall after class ended and told me what he thought.
“In all the years I’ve been teaching I have only told this to about three other people, but you are one of my best students ever and a pleasure to have in my classroom. If you ever need anything please ask. I know you are going places, and I want you to share your voice with the world. I enjoyed your journal entries and I want you to know that you will succeed. Promise me that you will always write and reflect on your life.”
He said a few more things, but this is all I heard. He was proud of me and that made me higher than anything in the world.
He believed in me.
His faith in me was just one of many inspirational moments in my life. It’s times like that when you realize you have an impact on people.
Clearly, my professor and I were both INSPIRED by each other.
Just as Chad and I are, almost fourteen years after meeting in a college classroom.
I never did keep in touch or ask Mr. Rice for anything. But, I never forgot him and never will.
I only hope he remembers me too.
And, that promise that he asked me to keep…I did.
It’s those moments in your life when just one person believes in you that doesn’t have to, but chooses to, that’s when you finally believe in yourself too.
I think I will look Mr. Rice up and thank him again. He did his duty as a teacher; he INSPIRED me and taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my adult life.
You can impact lives, you just have to try.
