When a Wonderful Lady Told Me Why She Thinks I’m Inspiring

Someone told me I was inspiring. It blew my mind. I didn’t know what to do. I was so taken by the compliment. Me! Some days I get by fairly gracefully, or as gracefully as someone falling, tripping and fainting her way through all this illness can. Other days I am a bumbling, angry, screaming mess not capable of much of anything other than breathing.

But as this wonderful lady who told me I am inspiring said, sometimes just breathing through the tough times is enough. And the fact that I don’t always make it sound like nothing and just barely squeak by sometimes is what inspires her. So I’m writing this for all of you, who inspire me.

The medical definition of the word “inspire” means to draw in by breathing, or to breathe in. I don’t know all your struggles, but I know if you are reading this, you’ve faced them down and are still breathing. In my opinion, that alone is inspiring. You all motivate me to know I can get through my own struggles and come out a winner. In other words, you make my breathing easier, and isn’t that what inspiration means?

Please know when I say you are inspiring, I’m telling you that you motivate me to keep pushing through all of the pain and hard times, to keep breathing. So when someone tells you that you’re inspiring, perhaps you can smile, breathe it in and say thanks. Glow, so everyone wonders who you are. Smile. Breathe. Glow. Then inspire everyone you can to inspire someone else.

Get the whole world breathing along with you. Stay inspired, and tell me who inspires you.

The Mighty is asking the following: Write a letter to anyone you wish had a better understanding of your experience with disability, disease or mental illness. If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com. Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio. Check out our Submit a Story page for more about our submission guidelines.

Lead photo source: Thinkstock Images