Aspire to Inspire before you Expire

Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people.
Lee Iacocca

I knew that he had been working very hard to lose weight so as I stood there waiting for him I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect

Throughout your life you are inspired by people, events and sometimes yourself. I am inspired daily by those I meet, their stories and their outcomes push me to be more and do more within my family and community.

My husband has always inspired me through his dedication to the military and our country through his service and his willingness to volunteer to serve. His level of inspiration in my eyes grew exponentially in 2011 when he stepped off the plane at John Wayne International Airport in uniform after 9 months in Iraq - had it not been for the name tape on his ACU's I wouldn't have recognized the man that stole my heart.

In 2006 when he came home from Iraq he was a brooding 6'3, 230lbs and bald - he appeared the quintessential bodyguard and MP. No question about it - he looked almost menacing with his size... luckily I knew the teddy bear that was behind the big blue eyes! The man that spun his daughter around endlessly when they danced, would dress up silly and be silly just to make her smile.
Then he re-ruptured a disk in his lower back (already had surgery in 2004) and his workout lifestyle had to change. Gone were the days of SUPER heavy lifting because his back could no longer handle it. We slept on the floor for months because the bed was just too much for him.

When it came time to deploy in 2010 he had a goal to lose some weight and become more fit. He wanted to run around with our children and be around for years to come. He knew that with a little less weight on his frame his back would not be in pain as much. So off to Iraq he went.... as the deployment wore on he sent no photos as to surprise me with his outcome. I knew he was working hard but I also knew that he was running missions and very busy being a soldier so I had no idea what to expect.
When he stepped off that plane... OMG! I threw my arms around him and just wanted to stare at him. He had hair, and cheekbones... and holy moly he looked different. It was in that moment I knew that ANYTHING was possible. This man inspired me to a level of epic proportions. I could accomplish ANY goal if my husband could lose 100lbs in 9 months - hard work and determination could get me ANYWHERE I wanted to go!  When we got home Krystina stared at him for almost a minute before she recognized him, “You’re my daddy?!” was all she got out before he had her wrapped up in his arms.  It had been almost a year since we had hugged him or spoke without delayed satellite phones. 

For the next 2 weeks I watched him in awe as he had changed his lifestyle – this wasn’t a diet or a phase it was a real life change.  He has always been a great father, a dedicated husband and an amazing soldier which has always inspired me to be a better mother and wife but now I was inspired to look at life in a way that screamed ‘I CAN’ instead of simply ‘I want to’.  I am grateful to be married to a man that can and always will illicit such responses in our lives and in the lives of our child(ren). 

Thank you my love for being my one of my biggest inspirations and motivators in following my dreams.