A 20 DAY PERSUASION

It is a strange irony that just when we need inspiration the most, we often close our ears to the inspirational quotes that could help us get through the rough times in life. Instead, we become cynical and depressed and want to give up. We feel like we were young and naive to believe in those words that used to inspire us so much.

If you google the words "inspiring quotes, " you will find tens of thousands of them. There will be quotes from famous world leaders like Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and many others. There will be quotes by famous authors, such as Tolstoy, Henry David Thoreau and countless others. Then there will be the quotations from the works of the well-known positive thinkers like Norman Vincent Peale and others like him.

It sometimes seems like famous people are the only ones who have ever had anything inspiring to say. Of course that's not true. There are millions of inspirational stories in the world and many of them are online. Some of them are just harder to find than others. One gem of inspiration is in the form of a blog written by a man who has struggled with Lou Gehrig's disease for 29 years.

One day this man, who otherwise felt in perfect health, went to see his doctor about a twitching sensation that was becoming a nuisance. The doctor suggested that he take some tests to determine the cause. When the tests came back, the news could not have been any worse - he had Lou Gehrig's Disease and was given about six months to live. Just while he and his wife and family were trying to cope with that news, his wife found out she was pregnant. Before his diagnosis, this news would have been the best news in the world for him - but that was before.

Nevertheless, the news of his wife's pregnancy only served to strengthen his resolve to go on living. He has not only continued to live in spite of overwhelming odds, he has thrived. He does things many people in perfect health do not attempt, just because he won't give up on life.

The blog written by this unknown man is an inspiring record of achievement against overwhelming odds. He acknowledges with gratitude all the encouragement and help his family and friends have given him over the years, but if you read closely, you can see that it has been his will to live that has kept him going.

Sir Winston Churchill wrote the following about failure: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." When you read the blog written by this man, it seems that he could have written them himself. As his health declined, and it declined rapidly, he picked himself up and tried again. When he lost mobility, he did whatever it took to restore as much mobility as he could. Believe it or not, he has gone on hiking expeditions that challenge even physically fit individuals.

How was this possible. Somewhere in one of his blogs he wrote the following: "The power of decision is life altering, life saving. Seize the potential." He made the decision to live.

If misfortune strikes and you see your hopes and dreams recede before your eyes, stop for a moment and read inspirational quotes from individuals who have faced and overcome life's greatest challenges. Pick up your dreams and move forward again. Do that and nothing can stop you.