Who/what is/has been your biggest inspiration in life?

After being really let down by significant people there are four men who I really look up to. Never would have thunk it but there it is.

Although it has been a relatively recent influence, I would have to say Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I wasn’t in a good place when I started reading it, but since I have become much more calmly rational and it takes a lot more to frustrate or anger me.

It’s hard to narrow it down, but I would definitely say it’s been books. If forced to name just one, then I’d say The Iliad by Homer.

[Edit: Or is it The Republic by Plato? No, wait. It’s Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot. Ack! Such a hard question.]

Willie Mays was one of my first inspirations. Then Haile Selassie.

@FireMadeFlesh @hawaii_jake I’ll be sure to look into both of those books sometimes this week when I get time off work. adds to to-do-list

Bob the Builder. ‘Can we fix it? Yes we can!’ man i love that show.
No, mostly just knowing how good iv got it compared to so many other poor bastards, and how much opportunity i really have. That makes me happy when i wake up each morning, Inspiration for every new day.

My high school English teacher, who was probably the first adult in my life who treated me as an adult.

My dad. He showed me how to live in the moment and how each moment can count even if you do nothing large, and how not to take health and blessings for granted. He also taught me that you should never lower your head in shame unless you did something to be ashamed of.
He taught me that real love is unsellfish and doesn’t need a reason to exist. But most of all he taught me that life isn’t worth living if you forget how to laugh. He fought a long battle with illness for most of my life and I can’t say there were ever too many days where he didn’t find something to laugh about. His inner joy was always contagious.

It was my 4th grade teacher. I can’t recall her name. She accepted none of my nonsense of laziness. I had flunked 2nd grade and they let me slide through 3rd grade. But my 4th grade teacher made me realize the importance of doing well in school. She made me arrive 30 minutes early for class each day so she could teach me how to read. I’m no great success story but I did earn a BA in Zoology and have had a successful career as a Medical Technologist. If my 4th grade teacher had not of cracked the whip on me I might now be sitting in a jail someplace.

My uncle Fred. Many years ago he pulled me aside and said….“kid…don’t make the same mistakes I made and don’t think this will all go on forever! You are young, but it may not last another day! Live each each day like there is no tomorrow!”

My Grandmother. She was not only like a second mother in many regards, she taught me many things that I still carry with me. Some of them are skills, but the big ones are those that are part of my value system.

I know that feeling that @noelleptc comments on. My grandmother lived in our house from me being age 4 until about age 12. She was a safe haven and springboard for so many things. I too gave my daughter, my grandmothers name.

I’m surprised you used the term Mother Dearest especially with that term being tied to Joan Crawford.

However I would say my biggest inspiration has been the fictional character Demian from Herman Hesse’s novel of the same name.

Steve Jobs, current C.E.O of Apple Inc and my instructor who is taking my CCNP classes.

Writer, philosopher, and activist Derrick Jensen.

Some of the people who have inspired me:

1. A professor at SUNY Downstate that took me into his lab and became like a father to me for many years – somebody whose breadth of knowledge and skills always inspired me – he always believed in me, was always proud of me and spoke of my intelligence rather of anything else I possessed.

2. A friend I met in college who was the first transgender person I ever talked to – she changed my life and inspired pretty much every trajectory I’m on right now.

3. A college professor that took me into his evo bio lab and has remained a huge support since – another professor, this time in graduate school, who taught me about advocay and has remained an inspiration – both of these professors wrote recommendations for my applications to PhD programs.

4. My best friend and my husband inspire me daily.

Who comes to mind for me would have to be my Dad. He has always been there to offer his words of wisdom. He is a wise man and tells things like they are. ex) when you are arguing with someone learn to eat crow. Basically that means to just give in and stop fighting. Most arguments are not worth fighting about. He has also showed me how to love people unconditionally and to treat people the way I want to be treated. He believes in spirituality and homeopathy. When I have been worried about the future he would always say to me…How do you eat an elephant? Answer is one bite at a time.
I love my Dad and gave one of my son’s his middle name.