Inspiring vs. Inspired

This question has long intrigued me, "Need someone be inspired in order to inspire?" It is interesting what inspires us sometimes. It can be something as simple as a photograph, or the passing words in a conversation we overheard between people we do not know. And yet, I believe that inspiration can be imparted very deliberately through our words and actions. I realized today that I set out on this journey not to prove anything to anyone, nor to fulfill some sort of route of passage in my life, nor even to "find myself" whatever that should be understood to mean. No I set out on this journey because this is something that I have always wanted to try, and yet therein always lay great fear for me as well. I remember a couple of days before we were set to leave on 15 September 2010, when I said that maybe we should wait and almost allowed the fear in my heart to stop me from fulfilling something I had long dreamt of doing. The fear stemmed from the inherent uncertainty that came with our approach to the journey. We had a few "safety nets" set into place, but one of the most challenging and yet most essential elements to the trip was that these had to be left behind for a time, and we had to see how we could stand up to the world in the most fundamental sense. I have my father to thank for pushing us out the door. Go! And so we went.

I remember those first couple of months, travelling across the United States and feeling like a lost vagabond with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. And yet, in every place we found people who were willing to help us, who even went out of their way to ensure that we were adequately provided for, even making sacrifices on their own account in order that we could continue chasing our dream. How can we repay such kindness? How can anyone be so kind in the first place? I believe this takes me back to the title. I think one of the most inspiring things in life is to discover for ourselves that anything is possible. It is one thing to talk about how a fear may be overcome, to logically address the steps that must be taken, but quite another to embrace the fear, without ever having conquered it, and to confront it in the happenings of daily life. This, I have learned, was the real challenge for me in what we did, and in having discovered that I can overcome it; that I can survive; that I need no longer be limited by fear; that is to be inspired.

Now, we are on our way home. As I have said to my brother often over the past several days, "There is no going back." We will never be the same after this journey that we have embarked upon together. My hope is that the inspiration wrought from this journey will translate into my becoming more and more the inspiring person that I hope to be. Life can be very dull unless we see the endless possibilities if we would just build up the courage to confront the fears and adversity in our lives. And sometimes all it takes is a little inspiration from someone else who has done just that in their own lives.

So run! Chase! Confront! Hope! Love! Live! We are the dreamers of dreams and the masters of our destiny. Let us not allow fear to keep us from becoming the people we have the potential to be. Live on, dream on, make your life extraordinary!