I'm now in Adelaide at Tasting Australia as an invited speaker and I've been unable to train for two days (and I'm going mad). I took part in a panel session this afternoon with Stephanie Alexander (for the foodies among us) and I'm rubbing shoulders with other celebrity chefs from all around the world. Its a bit surreal really, but kinda cool nonetheless. These people inspire me and thousands of others to cook and learn about food and it starts me thinking about the nature of inspiration. Well actually, inspiration is something I think about a lot when I am running and when I am writing. What inspires me to train? Who do I find inspirational? Do I actually feel inspired or is it something else?
(On a slight tangent: I watched the sunset this evening from the 18th floor lift lobby of my hotel. It was spectacular. My eye was drawn across the city by the River Torrens that weaved its way threw the city to the ocean. In the distance I could make out the coastline and then a thin strip of ocean that formed a knife-edge horizon. Waifs of cloud and criss-crossing contrails gathered in the distance as the sun slowly sank; turning the cloud first a bright yellow-gold, then a brilliant tangerine orange. I was transfixed, watchng it for a full 10 minutes and I was inspired to write.)
While I am in awe of elite atheletes, I am sure I am not inspired by them. In part, I think this arises from the fact that I am far from elite and will never be at the pointy end of any field like them (although I have won a novice short distance duathlon). They are just too far away from me in so many ways and I cannot aspire to their heights.
I am inspired by battlers though. Those who have fought adversity and won. I can achieve like them and I can aspire to be like them. One that comes to mind is a 16 year old girl that I met in the rehabilitation hospital in Melbourne. Her car had been hit by a drunk driver and her neck was broken. This left her in a full torso brace that stabilised her spine while she recovered. As soon as the physio gym opened every day, she was there and she worked as hard as she could to get strong again. She amazed the staff with her dedication and ultimately she left hospital weeks ahead of her estimated recovery date. She was a true inspiration to me as I learned to walk again and as I undertook my often painful physio to regain my leg strength. I still think about her when I run and wish she knew that she continues to be an inspiration.
Inspiration is not that simple though. In fact, there is an interesting dynamic between myself and those who say that I inspire them. You see, I don't consider myself to be inspirational. Call me egotistical, but what I am doing is completely selfish and is about what the achievement does for me and not for others. However, when people say that I am an inspiration I am somehow inspired to continue what I am doing. The other day Jas Wadsworth sent a blog post to a list of his cycling mates and asked them to read it as he found it to be inspirational. When I read Jas's email, I was truly moved that Jas would have felt strongly enough to pass it on, so much so that I shed a tear or two. So, when others feel inspired by me this lifts me and spurs me on to achieve even more. Those inspired by me are an inspiration to me. This is an emotional response that is neither pride nor conceit, but an emotion of its own. Is their such an emotion as inspiration? I wonder if others that have been described as inspirational feel the same way.
Jas is not the only one to say to me that I have inspired them and each time I am embarrassed and humbled but at the same time it lifts me and gives me the inspiration to keep going, to keep achieving in my own little way.
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