Bloganuary Day 6.
Hello World.
I used to have a list of people who inspired me. However, little by little, I noticed characteristics that I didn’t like. Little by little, I would’ve gotten into disagreements with them and based on how they handled the situations, my mindset towards them changed.
I also find that the “who inspires you and why” questions tend to lead to a “who do you idolise and why?” type of question. Again, no one is perfect, and to have someone so high up makes them seem almost untouchable and free from accountability or reproach. That’s my view, though.
This doesn’t mean that I despise them, it just reminded me that inspirational folks aren’t perfect. In fact, they are human just like I am. As such, they are flawed in more ways than one.
Based on that realisation, I reminded myself not to put people on a pedestal. Instead, admire specific traits about each and try to emulate those awesome traits for myself.
So, though aspects of people’s lives inspire me, not many are worthy of me saying they’re an overall inspiration.
That being said, there are many folks who have character traits that I admire or whose current life’s story has inspirational aspects that can teach others about the world, how to love and ideal ways of how to live.
Perhaps what we should do as onlookers is to learn to separate our expectations from the reality of who people are. That way, it’s easier to see them as inspirational – that way, it’d easier to not place them so high up that if they fall, it’s not a death-like experience. However, how many of us have the clarity to do that?
Yeah, that’s as much as you can get out of me where that is concerned.
Signed with love,
The Suburban Girl JA
The Suburban Girl JA 
A thoughtful answer!
I was looking at Will Smith’s memoir on Amazon, and I saw one of the comments was something to the effect of ~ I’ve always admired Will, but this memoir pulls back the curtain so you see his flaws and all, and I’m not sure if that’s what I wanted to know!
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Thank you, Lani! That comment echos my thoughts about admiring people and finding them inspirational. It’s like a hard pill to swallow, too – cause we almost fear that the people we admire and find inspirational are so perfect as if they aren’t human just like everyone else.
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So true. Reminds me of my mom ❤
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Great thoughts! Sometimes it’s better to look at oneself and not to idealize others. Not so easy, but it seams naturally to rather look at what others can do than to be strong in your own skills.
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Thank you, Karsten! I agree wholeheartedly. It’s part of how we are conditioned as humans. The trick is onlocking the skill of inspiring ourselves or even just to admire aspects of who people are as opposed to the entire being.
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