Inner strength Archives | jeremyrolleston.com

Pure inspiration V – Arthur Boorman

Here’s something to start your new year off with a new mindset and inspiration.

This video shows the remarkable transformation Arthur Boorman made in his life in less than a year. Authur was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years, and was told by his doctors that he would never be able to walk on his own – never, ever !

He stumbled upon an article about Diamond Dallas Page doing Yoga and decided to give it a try — he couldn’t do traditional, higher impact exercise, so he tried DDP YOGA and sent an email to Dallas telling him his story. Dallas was so moved by his story, he began emailing and speaking on the phone with Arthur throughout his journey – he encouraged Arthur to keep going and to believe that anything was possible. Even though doctors told him walking would never happen, Arthur was persistent. He fell many times, but kept going. As he did he not only lost a lot of weight, he gained tremendous balance and flexibility. But more than that – he gained the hope that maybe someday he’d walk again. And he did !

His story is proof, that we cannot place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. Niether Arthur, nor Dallas knew what he would go on to accomplish, but this video speaks for itself. In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier !

Do not waste any time thinking you are stuck – you can take control over your life, and change it faster than you might think.

So may this video give you that injection of inspiration you need for 2013. Believe in yourself and go after your dreams – whatever they are – they might just come true !

Feeling down ? Feeling sorry for yourself ? Read this !

Some days you just need to be reminded how lucky and fortunate you are. It just gives you a good dose of perspective. A kick in the butt in a good way … so be inspired …stop feeling sorry for yourself. Realise how lucky you are with all the things you have and all the things you’ve done and all the things you’ve wanted that you’ve got. Pick yourself up, smile and take this image with you as you head on into today or tomorrow.

Character – who you are when noone's looking

I’ve been thinking about character a bit lately and just pondering how it is easy to put on a facade and a show and give the impression you want. We all do it. But yet I wonder what we are like behind closed doors, when there’s no one around to show off to, or to prove something to. When our pride and ego isn’t involved. When noone will know (except God who sees all). And I’ve been thinking about how it is so true that …

“character is who you are when noone is looking”

And then I read some interesting information the other day. Did you know that the English word “character” comes from the Greek word for an engraving tool? The engraver or artist makes a mark or groove on a metal plate by repeatedly etching in the same place with a sharp tool – the engraving tool.

Our characters are created in a similar way. Any behaviour or attitude repeated over and over forms part of our character. Behaviour and character are linked. They say that if you do something for 30 days in a row it will become a habit – that is, part of your character. And habits can be the best of friends or the worst of enemies.

If you’d like some tips on how to develop habits I talk about this in Chapter 6 of my book A Life That Counts. Of course I struggle like anybody else but I do know some ways to help develop them … so hopefully my book will be helpful here – to give you actual tools and strategies to develop good habits and hence good character. (After all, character is easier kept than recovered !)

Challenge: Character is who you are when noone’s looking and in this regard habits can help you or hinder your behaviour. What part of your character will you be working on going forward ?

Pure Inspiration III – Pass the Bucket with Amy Purdy

It is funny isn’t it how someone’s raw and real-life story smacks you in the face and makes you realise how lucky you are. Whether it be the beggars you pass in the street in India, the smiling face of an African child playing in the dust, or … Amy Purdy !

Stop and be thankful for how blessed you are to even be watching this. And determine that these little shots of inspiration will move you to live a significant, meaningful purposeful life – a life that counts !

The Innocent Project – it’s not where you start but where you finish ! (II)

You watched the first part of Dewey Bozella’s story last week. Now see the second part – him accepting his 2011 Arthur Ashe award for courage. What an amazing man !

“… never let fear determine who you are
never let where you come from determine where you’re going”

Remember what I wrote last week – CHOICES & IT’S NOT WHERE YOU START BUT HOW YOU FINISH.

Now add the quote above and see and hear Dewey is his acceptance speech. Carry him and his attitude with you when life doesn’t make sense and when things aren’t going your way !

Pure Inspiration II

Kurt Fearley

Well what more do I need to say ?

Overcoming disappointment – stages of grief

If there is one thing I know a bit about it is overcoming disappointment. And if sport is a microcosm of life then I’ve had it in spades.

First there was snapping my posterior Cruciate Ligament whilst playing for the Australian legends (Australia B) rugby sevens side in Fiji. This was two weeks before the Hong Kong World Cup sevens tournament. It was my dream to play for Australia in the World Cup. So to get the call a few days after my return saying I had been picked, only to have to pull out with injury, was devastating. IMy dream was shattered. I never got my Wallaby jersey and I never got a look in again.

Then there was the Vancouver Olympics – my 2nd Winter Olympic Games. I was in the best shape of my life, driving the notorious and controversial track well, and ready to have the race of my life. And then I crashed in bizarre circumstances in front of the world. If only the ground could have swallowed me up. And then to have to pull out of the 4m and forgo the chance of redemption (sport i made for overcoming stories like that) was devastating. Was I really going to retire after that ?

So in light of that, one of the useful things to understand is the actual and natural stages of grief that you will go through. Here’s a video to help you smile at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spa_ASeHc0

So to recap, here’s the stages with some explanation:

Comprehension – when what you thought was going to happen and what actually happens don’t line up, your brain tries to cope with this by reacting in a number of ways. These include shock, going into your shell, denial or a sense of numbness like you are in an unreal dream. There is little you can do at this point whilst your brain adjusts.
Emotion – the powerful emotions of sadness, anger, loss and grief will then take over. You can’t ignore these emotions. Just ride them out and look for comfort and support.
Reason / Bargaining – to move on you need to break the endless repetitive cycle of thoughts and bargaining and emotions that will drag you down and keep your initial emotional response going long after it should have stopped. You need to resolve and come to a conclusion on what happened. Perhaps the conclusion is that ‘you just don’t know, crap happens, and you will never know the reason why’. Or perhaps there will be a more constructive conclusion that you can reach around your disappointment. Either way, this will allow you to move on.
Progression (depression and acceptance) – At this point you need to realise and accept that life isn’t always fair and refuse to be the victim. I know this was the case for me. You have to stop concentrating on the setback and disappointment (which will continue to make you depressed) and choose to get on with the next goal or with living your life. (Acceptance is easier said than done I know !)

There are some other tips I have for helping you overcome disappointment as best you can, but let’s leave this post with an understanding of the natural stages of grief you will go through regardless. For more information buy my book A Life That Counts.

Pure Inspiration

Ahhhhh – life ebbs and flows and some days we feel good about ourselves and other days we feel bad about ourselves.

Today for me is one of those days. I woke up feeling sorry for myself, without much motivation, without much inspiration for anything. And then I saw this ! …

How can I ever feel sorry for myself. How can I not be inspired. Sure it is a 12 minute video, but those 12 minutes may change your life forever and these images may stay with you for a long time to come (in a good way). Amazing. Encouraging. Challenging.

You’re welcome.

Never give up

There is nothing more to say.

Never give up. Keep on going. There is more in you than you know. It doesn’t matter how you you started – it matters how you finish. You never lose until you quit trying. Don’t give up. Keep going. More and more and more and more. Again and again and again. You CAN do it. Despite what it looks like, persevere and never give up.