Make someone's day: Aspire to inspire

Inspiration

By Don Lindsey

One morning a couple of months back, I was driving home from dropping off my daughter at school when I saw a sign outside a church which read “aspire to inspire before you expire.” I immediately thought of my church.

Not only is it named Inspire, but our overall mission as a church is to love, serve and bless the community in the best way possible. As the day went on, I could not get the phrase I had read that morning out of my mind and realized that there was a much deeper message than I had originally understood. This wasn’t just a catchy tagline that I had saw on a sign; it was a solid piece of advice.

It is very easy to get caught up in the fast paced ride that is life. It is also very easy to only see yourself while on that ride. We each face struggles, insecurities, and different day to day turmoil that makes it hard to look around and understand that you’re a part of something much bigger. However, once you can see outside of yourself, the beauty of the rest of the world can be very awe-inspiring.

Sure, there is tragedy all around us. Sure, we live in a time where the “I’ve got to get mine before someone else does” mentality seems to be the only way to get ahead. As a matter of fact, we in this country alone are so hung up on political differences and other ideals/philosophies that we miss opportunities to make our lives better just by helping those around us.

Have you ever stopped to do something kind for someone and felt that deep soul happiness that comes with knowing that you just made their day a little bit better? Or, have you ever had someone give you words of encouragement that turned your day around and then felt an overwhelming sense of love and appreciation for that person? In my opinion, those feelings are not just a coincidence. When I think back on the times where I felt the happiest, I see that most of those instances involved helping people or being shown love by someone. Honestly, for me, that’s all it takes to be inspired. Just seeing our species working with each other, as opposed to tearing through anyone in our path just to get ahead.

Inspiration, whether we acknowledge it or not is a huge aspect of life. Think about it. Where does success start? An inspiration or desire to do something meaningful to the person looking to achieve that success. A lot of times inspiration is found in other people. You may have a member of your family that you look up to or a co-worker whose work ethic makes you want to work harder. There are many examples of this, but the point is that we have more ability to inspire other people than we give ourselves credit for. It could just be a hello to someone who’s having a rough day, or a word of encouragement to let a person know that they’re capable of doing anything that they put their mind to. In fact, the reason I am writing these columns at all is because of a conversation I had with a man at our church who I look up to. He encouraged me to write for this publication because he felt that I had something to offer it. I was very nervous about it. I have only written blogs before and certainly never anything that I would have considered to be serious writing, but something about his belief in my writing style made me want to try, and I’ll be honest, it’s been a great experience for me over these last few days.

I felt energized when I was writing my first piece for The Apopka Voice like I actually was tapping into something I should be doing because of how much I enjoy it. And then, halfway through that article, I realized that maybe someone would read it and find something useful or relatable in my words. Well, that just spurred on the urge to write even more. I found myself aspiring to be an inspiration or at least provide some to those who may read these pieces. That all came from a conversation with someone who wanted me to write and folks, that’s all it takes to help someone. Just let them know that you believe in them, and give them some encouragement. They’ll do the rest on their own.

So, aspire to inspire before you expire. If you can do that, you’ll make someone’s day and yourself happier in the process.

Don Lindsey is a follower of Christ, son, husband, father, and a survivor. Originally from Dayton Ohio, and resident of Apopka for six years, Don sees his life as a dedication to his wife, parents, children, community and most importantly to God.