an inspiration...

I got to thinking today, who are people that inspire me in my life? Do they inspire me each time I see them or just on occasion? Do they raise my bar when it comes to my hopes and my dreams? I am not sure... I guess each person who I consider inspiring is inspirational in their own way. What about you? Who inspires you? How do they inspire you? When?

I think my inspiration comes from many places, not just people. My parents inspire me in more ways than I could ever put into words. Art, music, dance, & nature is all inspirational to me. My friends are each inspiring to me in different ways; their caring nature, their smarts, their optimism, their love, being trustworthy, all around good people. If I stop and think of my friends who do inspire me, those friends are the ones I hold closest to my heart. They each bring something different to the table, something I might need some help with or something I'm lacking.

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could be like your friend in one way or more? I do. I find myself wishing that I could be more like each of my friends in one way or another. Since we can't just steal away at our friends, we just become inspired by them. We try to make changes in our own life's to better reflect our friends. We take the inspiration and use it to grow. Our friends help mold us into the person we've become. They spark interest in things you'd never thought much about before. Where would we be without our friends, our inspirations?

I babysat today for three beautiful little ladies, Kendall (12 y/o), Kolbi (8 y/o), and Macie (19mos). It was a beautiful afternoon and Macie was napping. Kendall and Kolbi were making horse blankets for their plastic play horses. Kendall had cut them out and her and Kolbi were painting them. I grabbed a couple of blank sheets of paper and painted Kendall's name with a heart, then painted a sea monster next. Kolbi told me it was the cutest sea monster she's ever seen! It was a fun day with those two.

After Macie woke up, we all went down to the park. Kendall & Kolbie rode bikes and I pushed Macie in the stroller. We were getting ready to leave and Kolbi's mom had just gotten home. Kolbi told her mom that "Lindsay is sooo pretty" I smiled and said she's such a sweetheart! This isn't the first time Kolbi has told me how pretty I am... And it still makes me smile every time.

We made it to the park and had a good time there, Kendall and Kolbi always shouting my name to watch them do something out of the ordinary. It was pretty cute and flattering to be in such high demand.

As we were walking back from the park this afternoon I got to thinking. These kids all really like me. They look up to me as if I were their big sister they want to grow up and be like. I've never really had this connection or feeling with someone else's child. It's exciting that they get excited to see me, excited to share stories with me, ask me random questions... It's just really a great feeling to feel like I could be their inspiration.

Knowing that you're an inspiration to someone else is a wonderful feeling. Make sure to do something or say something to let your friends or family know that they inspire you. They will love to hear it!