I’ve been thinking a lot about what can get people out of a rut they may be in and I feel as though being inspired by someone else may be the thing that some people need. I’ve found that feelings are contagious, both bad and good. When you’re around someone who is upbeat and full of energy you can’t help but feel the same way, and when you are around despair and hopelessness you can’t help but feel that too. I lot of the people that I interact with here at St. Vincent’s have had to grow up in or are currently in a situation where other people’s helplessness, hopelessness, and despair rub off on them every minute of everyday. I’m proud to say though that the people who volunteer in the men’s center take it all in stride, but even the best of us need people to look up to. So I want to know where does motivation and inspiration lie in the people that I work with. I will hopefully answer that question on Friday when we have our special topics meeting in the men’s center.
I’ve recently started a men’s special topics group where I come up with a topic and try and stimulate some discussion about it. The idea is that we will all be able to learn from each others experiences, and gain knowledge that we didn’t have before. Last week I had someone come in and talk about their experiences with drugs and alcohol, and how they were able to change their life around for the better. It was really an amazing thing because this person had come from the streets to St. Vincent’s and totally changed his life around in the course of about three years. He was then able to give back to where he came from and maybe be able to help someone else. It was an inspirational thing to see.
So what inspirers people? Is it the men and women who try to break boundaries, like going to the moon or fighting for civil rights? Is it the person who walks an old lady across the street, and reminds you that there is some decency in the world? Could it be the child at daycare that goes over and hugs another child because they are crying? Or maybe it’s yourself when you realize that you are an inspiration to others and have to live rightly and justly to make the world a better place. For everyone I could ask that to I would get a different answer. I’m hoping to find that answer for the homeless men of the men’s center so I can better understand what might bring someone out of that hopeless place that so many people find themselves in.
~Mike
1 comment:
What a great topic.
I'm not sure I can offer a general answer, but these are some people who inspire me right now:
1) a woman who, though apparently cancer-free for five years, has had almost nothing but trouble since her surgery. She doesn't deny the difficulties, but she also continues to be present to her friends by being a caring listener and a sensitive companion over other people's rocky patches. She hasn't let pain and apprehension about the future dictate the kind of person she is. Hers is one example that sets a standard for me.
2) I know a number of young people who are struggling to start out. Their resilience and their support for each other elicit my admiration.
3) Several people I know work flat out at jobs that test them in various ways. Yet, at the end of work days I see them slip out of their jobs and into family life and community life. They don't let the tensions and uncertainties and, yes, some unpleasantness they face between 8 am and 5 or 6 pm overshadow other opportunities for service and sharing.
There are more examples, of course, but I guess that in looking at these maybe I do have an answer: I am inspired by people who do not let the inevitable knocks, disappointments, and pains of life call the tune for the dance of life. Rather, they seem to have a source of music within themselves: an awareness of what they value and a determination to let those values call the tunes.
That's something I find tremendously inspiring.
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