2012 is a new year but today is January 21 already so I obviously haven’t rushed to provide any insights or thoughts to boldly inspire anyone.  Frankly, inspiration is tough work, and often short lived. I have a done a few speeches for Toastmasters in which my goal was to be inspiring.  I was successful, or at least I was told that I was; but except for the general gist of those speeches; I can’t remember those speeches at all. The motto is not that I can’t be inspiring, or that you can’t either; more likely that words get forgotten. People and inspiring actions are more powerful and provoking.

I suspect that there is a little bit of “Calvin” in all of us. That is the genius of this comic strip. Calvin is boisterous, outspoken, and has a best friend who is a tiger. How cool is that?

Back to being “inspiring” ~ what is most inspiring is actions, not words. I suspect only a fraction know who Gandhi was, or where Mother Teresa lived (Calcutta); but most would identify them as “ inspiring”.

I am inspired regularly, and I admit it. Regular people inspire me. Hard working moms who balance home, marriage, meals, and a career while trying to hug and guide “budding adults”; the paper deliverer who delivers my paper into my mailbox every day ~ it is cold and dark out there! He is doing a great job, and it isn’t easy. Nurses inspire me; especially those who care for the aged with such patience. The patients I meet in hospitals are invariably inspiring to me also.

I don’t think it is just that I am inspired easily; I think it is that around me I see actions, and behaviors that are admirable and worth noting; worth appreciating; worth valuing.

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.
– Charles Schulz

So here is the new year of 2012. I hope it will be a kind one to you; and me. I trust that I improve myself a little bit from last year; I hope I can inspire myself by my actions, by saying “yes” to opportunities; and by being positive.

I hope I can make some blog posts that I enjoy, and others do too. Some funny, some cute; and some thoughtful.  What the heck, I can always delete them, right !

To my family, and friends. Thanks for encouraging me to keep on.