Hidden Inspiration

Inspiration comes from the sneakiest places and I’ve recently realized that there is a TON hiding in the children’s category. I think it’s great that we want to inspire our children to dream big, but somewhere along the line, we lose the message after we’ve “grown up.” Life happens. Our innocence is lost. The dream-big message gets squashed.

Dreams are placed within us as children because of the inspirational messages and hopefully, because of inspirational adults. Where did they go? Remember the one thing you wanted to play all the time as a kid? What could you stay up all night long and talk about in high school?

The reason why the 60 year old college grad is in the news is because it’s uncommon. The reason why the fit 80 year old marathon runner is talked about is because it’s uncommon. We hang on to the words of motivational speakers, because their message is an uncommon one for adults. The uncommon thread is actually living out dreams.

With my son at five years old, I can acceptably live in the inspirational children’s world without judgement. I’d like to share a few things that have inspired me lately – Hannah Montana, Curious George and Kung Fu Panda.

Lyrics from Miley Cyrus’s song Who Said: (condensed for readability)

Who said I can't be Superman, I say that I know I can
Who said I won't be President, I say you ain't seen nothin' yet

Who said I can't be worldwide, I say time is on my side
Who said I can't be ten feet tall, I say that I can have it all

Your limitation is your imagination

I have to say, in all honesty, that I love listening to her songs, whether my son is around or not. I mean, seriously. Who said?!

Another great song is from the Curious George movie. Jack Johnson sings Upside Down and my favorite piece of that song is (again, edited for readability):

Who's to say what's impossible?
Well they forgot, this world keeps spinning
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found

Finally, I have to pull out Kung Fu Panda. My son adores this movie. He is currently taking Karate and loves animals, so this one was a perfect fit. I have watched it about 1,000 times and don’t mind watching it again because I am inspired each time.

*****spoiler alert*****
No one thought the “flabby panda” could be the dragon warrior. There was a preconceived notion that the greatest warrior of the valley would be a fast, trim, fit and serious kung fu fighter. It was not so. The fate of the valley rested on the shoulders of the panda, who doubted his heritage, was uncomfortable in his own skin and ate when he was worried. Not one of the kung fu masters could fulfill his destiny to save the valley. It was only Po’s destiny. No one else could have lived it, even though they tried.
*****spoiler alert over*****

Through Kung Fu Panda, I learned that I am the only one who can live my life. No one can tell my story the way I can. No one can be the mom to my son that I can. No one can be April Rickard like I can. That is my destiny, no matter who I think looks better, speaks better or writes better. I can’t be intimidated out my dreams.

So, let’s get out our inspirational shovels and dig up our buried dreams! Let’s shake off the tragedies that convinced us that Hope is worthless. Let’s be proud to jam out to Hannah Montana in the car, or rate Kung Fu Panda as a five on our Netflix queue. Grab hold of the inspirational things in your life and use them – no matter how old we are! Let’s become Dorothy and force our feet down the yellow brick road. We will find friends and hope. We will get back home and, ultimately, we’ll find ourselves in the process.