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These Five People Inspire Me – Here’s Why!
There are many people who inspire me from varied walks of life. People who have faced adversity head on, and have shown both courage and bravery.
Not giving up, but giving back. Living the motto of arise, awake and stop not till you reach your goal.
I have listed my top five in no particular order.
1. Bethany Meilani Hamilton-Dirks
Bethany is a professional surfer who survived a 2003 shark attack at the age of 13, in which her left arm was severed.
Though she lost her arm, she returned to professional surfing and wrote her autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board.
You might also recognize her from The Amazing Race. I love the show and was so amazed by her when I saw her on it. The Amazing Race is a reality television show in which teams of two race around the world in competition with other teams. If you have ever seen the show you will recognize the difficulty in completing the challenges.
I love that she is now sharing her story of determination, faith and hope.
Often we discourage ourselves by thinking we cannot achieve our goals, and consequently success because obstacles have been put in our way. Let her story encourage and motivate you to go on. No matter what you are facing in life at this moment.
She is not only a fighter and a motivational speaker, but one of the top five people that really and truly inspire me!
'If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. - Frank A. Clark 'Click To Tweet
2. Joe Gebbia
He is the co-founder and CPO of Airbnb. What’s Airbnb? It is a website for people to list, find, and rent accommodation usually when on holiday, or out of town from their usual place of residence.
When this company was started, Joe and his roommate could not afford the rent on their loft in San Francisco. Hard to imagine that after all their success. Anyway, in order to make some money, they transformed their living room into a bed and breakfast, and allowed guests to spend the night on an air mattresses.
Why does he inspire me? Well, Airbnb currently has over 1,500,000 listings 190 countries. Oh and by the way, they own no property. Sometimes all you need is an small and simple idea, along with the drive to see it through.
This goes to show that you only need to follow your dreams, make your ideas become goals, then turn these into reality.
3. Christiane Amanpour
There is so much to say about why I have her in my top three of people who inspire me. I will try to keep it short.
I have always loved Christiane Amanpour. As far back as I can remember being a little girl, my dad would always watch the news, usually Sky News or CNN.
I remember seeing her on the TV screen and thinking, I would love to be a journalist. I was well aware that I was too shy to ever be in front of the camera.
Not pretty enough, too chubby. The camera does add on another 20 pounds you already wished you did not have doesn’t it?
Over the years, I followed her stories. Watched her cover the Bosnian crisis in the early 90’s at an age when I could actually understand what was going on in the world. Her dad was Iranian, so she spent time in Tehran, where my dad had lived and my sister was born. Was this a sign? Nope it wasn’t.
You see I never became a journalist, however I discovered my love for writing. I am learning by doing. It seems to be different for every post I write. if you are a writer and reading this, I must ask – Is that ever the same for you?
I look up to her because not only has she worked her way to the top, she has gone above and beyond in her endeavor and love for sharing the stories of the world. Nine Emmys for Christ sake! No other news correspondent can compare. IMO.
4. Blessing Platinum
She is the co-founder, Editor-in-Chief and Art Director of The Young Director (TYD).
When she founded and launched this company in August 2012, she had to do so with her and her husbands’ savings. A risk they took knowing full well that if it did not work out they would be back doing jobs they were not inspired by, or worse – on the streets.
Today their magazine has gained global recognition and is a fully interactive iPad-based business, fashion and lifestyle magazine.
Their tagline? THERE’S MORE TO LIFE THAN 9 TO 5. So if you are thinking of starting your own business, go ahead! You can do it! Blessing is evidence of this.
Leap and the net will appear #goals #motivation #risktakingClick To Tweet
5. Kevin Breel
Kevin is a writer, comedian and artist. He also suffers from depression.
I could not have this list of people who inspire me without adding him to it. One reason is that he has helped so many simply because he is so easy to relate to.
I came across Kevin’s story when his TED talk entitled “Confessions of a Depressed Comic” went viral. He is a mental health activist and has helped raise millions of dollars for suicide prevention.
In his TED talk he spoke about having to live two lives. The life people see on the outside, and the life he lives on the inside struggling with depression. As a social activist, Kevin has and continues to bring awareness to depression.
I believe we also live two lives. One as our fictional self, and the other as our authentic self. Do you know the difference?
Depression is not talked about enough. Millions of people deal with anxiety and depression everyday. Most will exhibit emotions such as happiness, joy, cheerfulness, and their love of life – whilst drowning in anguish.
When a celebrity takes their life as a result of depression, the world takes the time to share their condolences, talk about depression – the other 99.5% you will never hear about.
Our brains are organs just like our livers and kidneys that can get sick too. Lack of understanding is one of the main reasons depression remains a topic we avoid.
We need to open up, talk to each other, share our thoughts, feelings problem. Encourage one another. Show empathy. Be there for one another.
Love. Each. Other.
Is there anyone in your life, on TV, or in the news that inspires you?
I would be very interested in hearing stories of who inspires you and why.
Share below in the comments section. Let’s grow this list!
45 comments
Thank you for sending me a link to this post, Sheri. I really enjoyed reading the stories of the inspirational people you’ve written about. The person who inspired me to write a blog, was Lisa Lynch. Her blog was a chronicle of her battle with Breast Cancer, at the age of just 28. Her blog is funny and brutally honest. She was such a larger than life character, that a one-off TV drama was made about her. Here’s a link to her blog: http://alrighttit.blogspot.co.uk/ xx
Thanks for your kind words and sharing this with me Caroline. From your comments I am assuming Lisa lost her battle with cancer? So young. I am sad to hear that. I will have a look at the link you sent. 🙂
Ha! I was not expecting any of those so really interesting and great to read! Simi X
These are off the beat and great picks! Wonderfully written. I had to share your tweets as they go hand in hand with my current life situation. I remember watching Bethany on the race. Her determination and dedication just astounded and humbled me. Great share!
Bidy
What an eclectic group of people! So different yet they all share one thing in common, they are truly inspirational.
Really great article! I loved number two, it’s amazing to me the innovative things that people think up. Some of these people I didn’t know about so thanks for sharing.
Hi Heidi, I am glad you were able to learn about the people in this post. Thanks for reading and for the feedback 🙂
I love Bethany! Wasn’t very familiar with the others, but they sound like amazing people too!
These are great. I knew the most about Christiane but I now have some more people to look into. Blessing Platinum’s fro is everything!
This is awesome! I especially love the AIR BNB story. so creative. It’s so true..When there’s a need for something, create it.
Thanks for sharing this! #BLMGIRL
Khloe,
http://www.touchedmagazine.com
Thanks for the feedback Khloe. I think all too often we have great ideas but are hesitant to take the steps to implement them or brush them off as a silly idea although it could actually turn into something big. Thanks for reading, for the feedback and the BLMGirl love. 🙂
When I saw this, I actually expected to see “mother” listed too. Or maybe some friend of yours. In my case, people I know in person are more likely to reach such a list, hehe. Or fictional characters. I rarely put famous people on such lists because I fell behind with all the talks about them, if this makes any sense.
Mei I know what you are saying by adding mother to this list. My mum is a true inspiration to me. When I was 18 she passed away from breast cancer. It is a very sensitive topic for me so when I wrote posts about her, I prefer to write posts where I can go into a lot of detail in order to express my emotions and feelings better. I do not think writing three paragraphs about my mother would do her justice which is why I did not include Mother on this list. I also don”t feel that the only person I would classify as “famous” on this list is Christiane Amanpour. The others are not well known for other things but not necessarily for being inspirations to others. Thanks for reading and for your feedback. 🙂
Ah! I’m sorry for that—your mother’s passing away. ;-; Hope she reached a better place. *Hugs*
Yes, that makes more sense, and yes, you are right. It wouldn’t quite do her justice.
Thanks for clarifying that for me, though! ;u;
Thank you Mei xoxoxo
I really loved the story of #4!
That’s truly what you call a power couple in every sense of the meaning. Allowing complete trust to someone is a hard task. I love it!
Chardline.
They are a great couple! Some people say you should never work with your spouse – in some cases they would be right. However, it seems to have been the best decision for these two.
Well an inspiring list, but I will add someone like my mother also
wow, ispirational article !!! we must have inspirational people to reach our succes way
it’s good to have someone motivates you .
nice post . keep going sweet heart ^_^
Hi Emy, yes it is great to have motivators as it is a constant reminder never to give up 🙂
we should inspire from others ..all in all good one post
Very insightful! Can’t say I have a lot of people who inspire me…I think Beyonce’s work ethic has always inspired me….I also love Jennifer Lopez, Sophie Kinsella and Oprah to name a few.
Kenia – I think it is great to be inspired by work ethic as it shows drive, motivation and discipline which all the stars you named above have. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Great post Sheri i remember the surfer story
Thanks Kerona 🙂
Excellent! Love all of these.
These are some pretty inspiring people. I learned about a few people I hadn’t heard of, and now am interested in learning more about. Great post!
Wonderful! That means I achieved my goal in writing this post. Thank you for reading 🙂
I absolutely love this post. I’m especially in awe of the surfer story. I’m constantly inspired by the entrepreneurs on Shark Tank. Some them have trumped in such crazy ways. You just can’t help but feel inspired and motivated when watching it.
Thank you Terri! Bethany is really amazing. I am going to take osme time this weekend to see the movie. I LOVE Shark Tank and so many times I have wished I could come up with a great idea and really be motivated enough to go after it. There are many amazing people out there who are not getting the recognition they deserve for being able to inspire and motivate. 🙂
#1. I remember watching her movie a long time ago. Very inspirational.
Such an inspirational article. Liked the idea. And you definitely have good role models !
Thank you for the positive feedback Monika. Hopefully this post will encourage others to.
Have you seen the movie made about the surfer? So powerful! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Noel. I have not seen it yet, but it is on my list for this weekend. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Wow, such an inspirational post! You selected a handful of awesome human beings that I am sure inspire many people. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback 🙂 I am so inspired by the strength and motivation of the people listed. I am glad you enjoyed the post.
I love me some Christianne, too!!! Thanks so much for sharing this list, I always enjoy learning about inspiriational people who may not be on my radar!!
Hi Audrey! Don’t you just love her? She is so real and sincere in her reporting. Some of these people are not well known which is why I enjoyed writing this post to get their stories out there for more people to be inspired. Thanks for reading 🙂
Wow! The surfer one was really unique! That is some serious determination to continue to perfect her craft. Amazing. Great post you have! The Young Director is quite inspiring as well. I will definitely look more into that one.
Yes, please read more about them. I only gave a short overview about their stories, but there is so much more to them and what they are doing for their communities and societies. Thank you for your kind feedback Denishia. 🙂
AirBnB is one of my loves when it comes to accommodations when traveling, I’m using them when I go to NY next month so I am definitely glad you were able to share his story!
Thanks AK! I love AirBnB too. Used it in Miami and in Barcelona, had a good experience with the service both times. Enjoy NY 🙂
Wow!nice and great people well i have a few dou Oprah winfery inspire and Ellen they are great people and they are absolutely amazing and their generosity and inspiration as Great women really get me loving them and they keep inspiring me every day.