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Inspiration, Success & Greatness (Part 2)

11/2/2015

Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night has the famous quote "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them." But don't we all have the potential to be great? For some it is easier to attain greatness because of being born into better circumstances. For others it is harder but not impossible. But what does being "great" mean? Well in the bard's play it was about being in a position of honour and respect. However some of the greatest people are actually the ones who do not seek the limelight but would rather be very involved behind the scenes in making others great. They may not have many who respect or honour them because they are rather unknown. But if one who was taught or coached by them reached what most consider "great," then maybe others would finally recognise and acknowledge their greatness. And this brings me on to my thoughts about tennis! At the moment the stand out player in the world is Mr Djokovich. But how many know of Jelena Gencic? Well she was his first coach and he considered her like a second mother. Yet she only coached him tennis from 6 to 11.
Djokovich said:
"We were very close throughout my whole life and she taught me a lot of things that are part of me, part of my character today. I have the nicest memories of her and these will stay with me forever."

So following on from my thoughts about success from yesterday I am left with a similar thought about greatness:

Jelena Gencic achieved something great by inspiring another to be great.

So perhaps you might agree that:
"Many truly great people have been those who are committed to encouraging others to become great."
I wonder who the great coaches and teachers are and who they are inspiring to be future greats?

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Inspiration, Success & Greatness (Part 1)

10/2/2015

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In the book of Genesis we find the first occasion when a person was inspired by another. The person being inspired was Adam, the other person was God! God breathed into ("inspired") Adam and he came alive. This helps me understand what real inspiration can do:
"to breathe life into another so that they have the chance to live & do great things."

Now far be it for me to claim divinity, but I am convinced that part of being human is to be like our creator and so to inspire life in others. For me this means using my gifting to help others to rise to new heights. It is my hope that many more people involved in education can be encouraged to inspire children into being a success.

But what does it mean to be a success? And what might we see in a successful person?
Being a success is varied, and it is not necessarily having a good set of exam results. How sad if we accept a label of success or failure only by looking at a person or school's written exam results.

I would argue that being a successful young person is more closely related to the person having a strong moral character. This is about a person thinking and behaving with good principles. Surely a person who is kind, compassionate and trustworthy in their dealings with others; is living very successfully.

But how often do we view success this way? To help us have a better perspective perhaps we need a little time to reflect on two types of people:

Person 1. You've seen their type, they are driven committed and determined to being a personal success. They will do almost anything to achieve. They are aiming high and they are absolutely focused on the target: being a success.
Person 2. A people person, a listener, rather plain and usually doesn't stand out in a crowd. But they have a concern for helping others. They habitually give their time to helping those in need.

Which of the two will be the greatest success?
I think it boils down to how you measure success. I'm sure you can guess which one I would pick.

And my final thought today:

"A person who looks to inspire others to success is living a successful life."

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Some Sporting Inspirations: Parents, a blue ball and a deputy head

26/1/2015

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Have you ever thought about what inspired you as a child and contributed to who you are and what you now do?
For me being a sports coach and PE teacher, a few things stand out, Here are three:-

I was brought up in Mid Wales, surrounded by mountains and sea. Both my parents were PE teachers in the local secondary school. Sport was very important to us all, whether it was watching or playing.
Apparently before I could walk my favourite toy was a small blue ball. I would take it everywhere with me. Even back then my hand eye co-ordination skills were being uniquely nurtured!
At six I moved and started at a new Primary School, we had a deputy head teacher who was PE trained. He was responsible for teaching sport throughout the school. His name was Mr Lloyd he was a bit of a show off as a fantastic gymnast. But he was kind, dedicated and passionate about teaching sport. I still remember so many great lessons, funny how I can't remember many from my other school subjects!

Many years later my passion for physical education remains strong, as does my love of all ball sports especially table tennis, tennis, football, basketball, rugby and even dodgeball! Regarding Mr Lloyd the deputy head, he remains an inspiration because he made PE fun. I aim to be a similar inspiration by delivering enjoyable sport to many more children. My hope is that my work will inspire them to Rise Above, and to encourage others to also Rise Above.

I wonder what inspired others, and how that has affected their future lives.

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