Inspiration

I've always been a big fan of leaders you can look up to. I guess everyone has their own goals and ambitions, so who one looks up to differs, but lately, though there are many famous people worth admiring, I've taken to admiring certain everyday people whose lives really exemplify what it means to be a hero. This sounds like an eighth grade essay but what's funny is that now I mean it. These everyday heros are not perfect, nobody is, but they do things that are not glorified yet are necessary to the fabric of our society. Take the gakkuen I go to. There are people there that run the place. They are not invited to the town festivals to make speeches, nor do the people of Agematsu know their name, but without them the gakkuen wouldn't exist. Who is invited to the make town speeches? Of course, the leaders of the town, the mayor, the head of the board of education - I'm not at all saying that they aren't worthy, I'm just saying it's a bit more inspirational for me to look up to other people, maybe just because they do what they do without any credit. The teachers that I work with that don't go home until 9 o'clock. The kids at the gakkuen who clearly know that they're lives aren't normal - I remember being a kid and sometime feeling depressed and winding myself down into the viscious cycle of self-pity and depression. Maybe I compare things that are radically different too much, such as my life and a Japanese kid's life but I would feel so unmotivated sometimes - like I would want to give up. I look at these kids at the gakkuen and though I barely know them or their exact situation, the simple fact that they don't look like they've given up on life is inspiring. I'm comparing to myself, I know I've given up at times when I shouldn't have.

Back home in the U.S. it's the same thing. I always used to look outside for role models, or to people who were successful by society's standards. But people like my mother, my 8th grade social studies and english teachers, my teacher at Kung Fu, these are the people that I've known the best, and now that I look back, are the most inspiring. They work hard with no credit, they do what is right b/c that is what makes them who they are, and they have a strength for life that does not come from vanity, fame, greed, pride, or recognition. I'm trying to decide right now what I want to do with my life, and though sometimes I think about making huge changes and being a powerful leader, I think, do I have the character to handle great power? Why do I want power, is it for the right reasons? Do I have what it takes to be a good role model for other people?

So what inspires you?