Author: GMH

Author Laura Hillenbrand’s Inspiration

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Who knew? Author Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote the book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which generated a 2003 movie of the same name, has been a shut-in for years due to the debilitating nature of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) she is suffering.

Author Laura Hillenbrand's book, UnbrokenShe’s coming out with her second non-fiction book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, about Louis Zamperini, who was an Olympic runner, World War II bombardier and a POW. After his plane was shot down, he spent 47 days on a raft in the Pacific Ocean before being captured by the Japanese. He was beaten routinely and starved by his captors. But he survived, and now at the age of 93 continues to work as a motivational speaker.

A story posted a couple days ago on USA Today’s website about the remarkable resolve of this author of inspiring true stories is a must-read. This author of inspiring books is herself an inspiration in her ongoing battle in dealing with the debilitating nature of CFS.

UPDATE, Nov. 14, 2010: Former Washington Times colleague Rick Snider, who now writes for The Examiner in Washington, D.C., filed this column for the newspaper following his interview with author Hillenbrand — Rick Snider: Survivor of the Unthinkable.

Joe Beene’s Inspiration: A Quadriplegic’s Story

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Joe Beene (Photo courtesy Joe Beene)

It was 10 years ago, exactly, that Joe Beene’s world changed instantaneously. On Nov. 8, 2000, Joe was a 17-year-old, playing linebacker for his Permian High School football team in Odessa, Texas.

It was their final practice of the year before they were to meet their arch-rivals from across town, Odessa High School. Joe, a senior, made what seemed like a routine tackle. But the tackle was anything but routine. “I was tackling somebody, and my neck went back,” said Joe in a sort of matter-of-fact manner.

He remembers the time immediately after the tackle very well. “I stopped breathing. I was awake. I was wondering what was going on — you know, you can’t breathe.”

He knew something was wrong, but all he could do was lie there. “I couldn’t speak, but with my eyes I was saying, ‘Do something! Do something!’ I went without air for seven minutes. I should be dead or brain dead. But God kept me alive.”

Joe says he didn’t realize right away the seriousness of what had happened, “not until about three days later, after surgery. They fused C1 and C2 [vertebrae] together. I woke up after surgery and my dad told me what happened; I started crying — because I was thankful that God kept me alive and I wasn’t brain dead.”

What happened to Joe 10 years ago on that tackle left him paralyzed from the neck down. But what happened to Joe 10 years ago also turned his life on a path that led him closer to God and into a powerful relationship with Jesus. In the decade that’s gone by since his injury, he’s become an ordained minister, and he just got his degree this summer from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, where he majored in history and minored in business.

“It was amazing,” said Joe about the injury. “I should have died; I should have been brain dead.”

But he wasn’t. What overwhelmed Joe wasn’t the devastating injury, “it was that God had kept me alive for that long; maybe he had given me another chance at life. I started crying because I was thankful for that.”

Joe takes a larger view of the accident that left him a quadriplegic: “Everyone goes through hard things. It’s not like I’m an exception to the rule.”

We wanted to know — did he have strong faith before the injury? His answer was Continue reading “Joe Beene’s Inspiration: A Quadriplegic’s Story” →

InspiredON by Wisconsin … and a Young Boy

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Wonderful piece that ESPN did on a young boy, 6-year-old Jaxson Hinkens, who had cancer, neuroblastoma, and who idolized the Wisconsin Badgers football team.

When diagnosed 14 months ago, Jaxson was given a 50-50 chance of living. Devastating news for any family. His parents reached out to Wisconsin for their son and requested a helmet for Jaxson from the team. What they all got in return was so much more. Watch the video: Jaxson & Wisconsin.

‘Secretariat’ and American Optimism

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Great column by Cal Thomas that I read online in the Examiner — Cal Thomas: ‘Secretariat’ triumphs in American optimism.

I’m definitely putting the movie on my “to-do” list, and taking the whole family. I was commenting back and forth on Facebook with former colleague Rick Snider, also of the Examiner, who told me when he saw the movie at an advance screening that he thought it was definitely worth seeing. He said, “Saw advance screening of Secretariat movie out Oct. 8. Very good. If you liked Seabiscuit, you’ll like Secretariat.” Rick should know. He has been covering horse racing for decades — all the Triple Crown races and others, particularly in his home state of Maryland. Here’s his brief review of it on his blog: Go see Secretariat the movie (and please be sure to follow the link on his blog to go to his full review in the Examiner).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftFMenGAd2A&feature=player_profilepage]

We’ll be starting some lists shortly here at InspiredON — for most inspirational movies, books, songs, etc. — and it sounds like this one will go right to the top of that list.

If you see it, come back and post your opinions on it, and also feel free to post some names of movies you would nominate to be on InspiredON’s most inspirational movies list. I’ll bet you could come up with a handful right off the top of your head: ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ ‘Field of Dreams,’ ‘SeaBiscuit,’ ‘Rocky,’ ‘Pay it Forward,’ ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’ ‘Remember the Titans,’ and so on. Let’s see what kind of a list we can build.

Faith, Focus and Follow-Through

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Faith and fear. What’s the difference between the two? Faith is the polar opposite of fear. That’s easy.

Faith = Finding Answers In The Heart.
Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real.

What’s knocked you down in life? Have you been able to get back up, and continue on? Or have you struggled as a result? Have you gotten back up, shrugged off the blows and carried on with perseverance, stronger faith and determination? Or has fear gripped you and held you back? Made you tenuous in your walk through life?

Which has a hold of you right now?

The three “F”s of success are:

  • Faith
  • Focus
  • Follow-through

Let’s have Faith in those three “F”s. Let’s focus on that and follow through on setting and accomplishing goals. Great quote by Henry Ford: “If you think you can do a thing, or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”

It’s all about you and your approach. Keep going, don’t falter, have faith.

The Path to Walk

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Proverbs 2 (New International Version):

6 – For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 – He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

8 – for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

9 – Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

Maximum Fitness

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Talk about inspiring … check out Dr. Wayne ‘The Mango Man’ Pickering, who at age 63 looks like this, and can do what you see him doing on the beach in the video below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRG6bmoSW60]
Simply amazing, isn’t it? Dr. Wayne has been in the profession of helping people achieve their maximum potential in life through fitness, nutrition and more for three decades. He’s a life coach, doctor of Naturopathy with a Master’s degree in nutrition and his stated goal is to teach you to be the “healthiest person on the planet and not the wealthiest person in the grave.” To learn more about him and his programs, go to MangoManBlog.com.

A Tale of Three Brothers

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Great piece by Rich Cimini, of ESPNNewYork.com: The Source of Matt Slauson’s Strength. It’s a story about current New York Jets left guard Matt Slauson, and the inspiration he draws from his brothers. One is an Air Force captain who has a degree in astronautical engineering and flies jets; the other brother was born after suffering a prenatal brain injury. Nick and Chris are identical twins. To read all the details of this great story, go to: The Source of Matt Slauson’s Strength and find out about the surprising stories of all three brothers.