You're The Inspiration

Sooo… Unfortunately the ‘inconveniences’ of going to work, job hunting, etc. appear to have taken over and my poor blog has suffered for it!  But I’m back now and hoping there will still be people who are interested in what I have to say.  Thanks for dropping by and I hope you find this an enjoyable read!

As those of you who know me well will already be aware, I’m into keeping fit and am a particularly keen cyclist.  I’m even hoping to get into racing this year, but I’ve had a bit of a setback in recent weeks with a dodgy knee.  I’m resting it and hoping it’s nothing too inhibiting in the long run, but it’s got me thinking about inspirational people who do amazing things in the face of adversity.  I’ll share two of my favourites here and would love to hear from you all about who and what inspires you.

The first person I want to talk about is Katie Piper.  To me, she is just about the most amazing and inspirational person around.  Katie was a happy-go-lucky twenty-something just starting out in a modelling and presenting career, when a crazed ex-boyfriend had an accomplice throw a cup of industrial strength sulphuric acid in her face.  At the time, her face was one of the most important things to her, and it was destroyed.  She experienced injuries to her throat, nose, eyes and arms, and was fortunate to survive.  If you watch the documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face, which follows Katie during her recovery, you’ll see heart-breaking images of her evidently confused and unable to do anything for herself in the days following the attack.  If you read her autobiography, Beautiful, you’ll find out that on one of those those days, when her only mode of communication was pen and paper, she wished not to be alive and wrote to her mum “Kill me”.

Things could not have been darker for Katie, yet she not only survived but has gone on to do truly amazing things.  She started a charity, the Katie Piper Foundation, which raises funds to help burns survivors through their recovery, both physically and mentally.  Not only is Katie helping other burns survivors (she’s intent on using the word survivors, not victims), but she has also written an incredible self-help style book, Things Get Better, which gives inspired  advice for anyone who’s having a hard time (I personally believe every living being should read and take direction from this book!).  She’s even written a book called Start Your Day With Katie, which gives a little nugget of inspiration for positive thinking for every single day of the year.

Last year, I was happy to see that Katie won a Pride of Britain Award for her efforts; extremely well-deserved in my opinion.  If you haven’t already, I urge you to find out more about Katie, watch her programmes and read her books.  You’ll come away feeling awed and inspired!

The second person I want to mention is a talented and charismatic American girl called Amy Purdy.  At the age of 19, she suffered from a bout of meningitis which resulted in both her legs being amputated from the knee down.  This left her depressed for months, unable to get out of bed.  Then one day, she began to realise the positive elements of her situation and banish the notion of limitations from her mind; she instead chose to look at how she could shape her new reality to her own advantage.  To cut a long story short, Amy is now a professional snowboarder with her sights set on the 2014 Winter Paralympics.  Amazing!  But don’t take my word for it; watch this video in which Amy’s charm, determination and sense of humour speak for themselves and, I hope, leave you feeling inspired…

 http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_purdy_living_beyond_limits.html

I’m hopeful that after a few weeks of rest all will be well with my knee and I’ll be able to get back into my cycle training.  But if things don’t turn out as I hope, I know that the stories of people like Katie and Amy will inspire and motivate me to do well despite my difficulties.  I hope that by reading this you’ll be feeling inspired too, and that you’ll find some hope in these stories if you find yourself in difficult times now or in the future.  Thanks for reading, and please do comment and share your favourite stories too: I doubt there is such a thing as too much inspiration!