Finding Inspiration in People

By Steve Gwisdalla

Do you know or have you ever known a person who simply makes your soul smile? Someone who just makes the room brighter when they enter. Someone who is changing the world? Someone who inspires you to be better? Our world seems ever closer to spinning out of control. Bombs falling in the middle east, protests turning riotous in our city streets, political rhetoric reaching perceptible boiling points? When our world seems to be at its darkest and evil, I spend a great deal of time having a think on those individuals who are lights in my world. When the darkness closes in, we need lights to push it away. This article is as much a thank you to those people who are very bright lights in my world, as it is for all of you to have a think on the people who help brighten your days and spirit when you need it most. As you read my very incomplete list, take some time to think about who those people are. Say their name aloud. Call them up. Shoot them a text. Let them know what they mean to you. Before you know it, you may just cast a small light for them. With the state of things these days, we need all the light we can get.

The first person that came to mind when I was pondering this article is a woman named Ellen Baron. I have known Ellen since college. In a previous article I mentioned the golf caddy scholarship I received. Ellen was awarded the same scholarship, and we met at Michigan State. She received her degree in Horticulture. Over the last two decades, Ellen has run a vocational horticulture program at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Her students learn about seasonal garden planting, how to grow more with less space, (i.e. vertical gardening) and have even started a farmers’ market. She annually donates thousands of pounds of produce to local food banks in the area. By teaching her students about how to plant, nurture and care for living things that will ultimately help feed not only themselves, but others through the farmers market and thousands more through their donations, Ellen is inspiring her students to help find parts of themselves lost, due to violence, drugs, and previous circumstances. My family considers Ellen, her husband, and their two boys as family. Ellen is a hero of mine and a very bright light in my life.

I could talk for hours about my friends Brian and Chuck. I could talk about my oldest friend Eric. I could tell some delightful stories about my college friends Marc, Rob, and David. I could expound on the greatest lights in my life, my wife, son, and my parents. But what really gave me hope and inspired me very recently were my son and his friends. Some may call it luck or circumstance, but my son has some wonderful friends. His friends Keegan, Bennett, Wade, Riker, Eli, and Rodney are but a few of the great young men I have met at sporting events, or when dropping off at various homes over the years. Kudos to the parents of these and every young person in our community. If these young people are the future, then I have hope for our future.

I am inspired by my faith. I could speak at length about my love of God, but I would encourage you to find that which inspires you and really focus on it. A single light in a dark room may not seem very bright…at first. Stare at it. Study it. Notice its movements and flickers. That light will become brighter the more you stare at it. Allowing yourself to take just the briefest of moments to really focus on those people that light up your life is an oasis in a world that wants us to focus on the despair, pain, death, and anger seemingly all around us. The bad news is, when you leave that oasis bubble of light, all that negative will be there, waiting for you. But at least you can escape it for a little while by giving thanks for those lights in your life.

Finally, ask yourself this. Who are you a light for? Those of us that have chosen our “Tribe of Up” have a responsibility to be lights for those needing respite from the darkness. For my money, it is imperative to say thank you to those people who help light up our world. It is more important to be a light for others. To advocate for more joy. If we seek more joy in our lives, it must begin by being more joyful. That is not always easy. Perhaps a great way to start is to think about those people who bring you joy and acknowledge them. Give it a try. Together we can light up a few more dark corners and chase the darkness away!

Steve is a Dexter Resident and the Owner, Chief Candlemaker, Vice President of Darkness Removal and Awe Inspired Dad to a Really Great Kid at Better Place Consulting, a life, success, and personal coaching organization. If you or someone you know needs some coaching, reach out at [email protected].