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Who/what do you find brave/inspirational?

Ariadne

I'm curious about what other people think is a brave or inspirational person. Someone recently called me inspirational (looking at you mamof4

) and I was very surprised. I consider myself to be someone who has pretty much failed at being a human in almost every possible way (I'm waiting for them to beam me back up to the mothership any day now :pac:)

So who or what do you find brave/inspirational?

For me, I suppose it's people who manage to raise children and have full time jobs and who fit time in for hobbies and friends and elderly parents. It's people who care for relatives with disabilities. Also people dealing with disabilities. I have CF myself but there are plenty of diseases/conditions that I think ''oh that must be awful to have'', like being paralysed or having a condition where you slowly lose control of your body, being blind etc. I also admire people who have survived trauma and gone on to be happy functioning people. I read Fred and Rose West's daughter's book recently, her name is Mae and her childhood was just horrific but she survived and she has struggled but she has a family of her own now and she functions. I think that people who put their lives in danger or save other peoples lives (such as doctors, firefighters etc) are inspirational too, people who make sacrifices for others, people they don't even know.

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[Deleted User]

gifted wrote: »

Anyone of the front line services . eg garda ..fireman...ambulance driver...a & e staff....these men and women come across all sorts of horrific situations .....I don't know how they do it..I know I couldn’t

neither do I, after having to call an ambulance for THAT accident.

Ariadne

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

This is worth a watch if you have a spare 47 minutes.

Thanks for posting this. I'd heard of what happened to Alex but I hadn't watched the documentary before. It's both heartbreaking and uplifting, especially since he wasn't on a great path before he got ill and so many people would just give up in his position, and I think I'd include myself in that but he perseveres through it all. I'll be looking for the Alex Lewis Trust to donate

orourkeda1977

Agricola wrote: »

Ryan Turbridy, because he goes on the national airwaves every week with his imperceptible bit total lack of talent and ability and he keeps the gig and gets paid a fortune. An inspiration A bollocks.

fyp

[Deleted User]

those child parents. you know the ones who feed their sick parents, do the dishes, iron the clothes, get their siblings fed and off to school and then, themselves with it. then come home and whilst their friends are on facebook or play station, they're cooking for the family and going to get prescriptions for the single mother who has MS or something.

What I find UNinspirational , is someone who wins 130 million and forgets about the likes of such kids and anyone with hardship and then blows the money on shyte!! The power you have even with 80 million and keeping 50 million... you could literally fill three days a week secret millionairing the fook out of people.

Your Face

Normal people doing extraordinary things.

Dick phelan

People who adopt children, takes a special person to take someone who isn't blood into your home and raise them as such.

People who donate organs to non family members

Bigbagofcans

People who come from poor or disadvantaged families and make something of themselves. Ones that break the cycle of being on the dole are to be commended. They're probably seen as the black sheep.

[Deleted User]

I have a few in my family that I consider inspirational, but there's something about the unrecognized everyday heroes that humbles me. My grandmother is one of those quiet heroes, who in her own quiet and unassuming way has dealt with so many heartbreaking challenges with a stoic smile, a positive outlook and compassion, without complaint and with grace. She is my ultimate role model for how to conduct oneself in adversity.

Anyone caring for an ill relative is a hero, anyone making the world a better place in any big or small way is a hero. Anyone dealing with life when all they want to do is quit it, is a hero.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

This article, about a woman, Louise Medus, who was affected by thalidomide, has stayed with me. I just remember being in awe of her resilience, positivity and lack of bitterness about her circumstances:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/01/thalidomide-louise-medus-a-stranger-when-i-went-home

Christopher Reeve so impressed me during the last decade of his life. He did so much to try and advance medical science for paralysed people. Sure, there was a personal reason there but tetraplegia is so hard to deal with day-to-day that he could just not have bothered. But he did bother, using his social standing for good. He and his wife both were inspirational. Sadly she developed lung cancer not long after he died and succumbed to it six months later. What an unlucky couple.

Atoms for Peace

Katie Taylor

[Deleted User]

Beware of objectifying people with disabilities by setting them up as your inspiration, when it may well be the last thing they want or need. Stella Young provides a great explanation of Inspiration Porn;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxrS7-I_sMQ

Ariadne

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Beware of objectifying people with disabilities by setting them up as your inspiration, when it may well be the last thing they want or need. Stella Young provides a great explanation of Inspiration Porn;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxrS7-I_sMQ

I watched the video last night and had a think about this. Stella Young certainly has a point, people do look at people who have disabilities and think ''well at least my life isn't that bad'' but I also think a lot of people look at people struggling with disabilities and getting on with their lives and managing to achieve things with admiration, I know I do anyway. Having a disability is a disadvantage that you have to overcome, so often even doing ordinary things becomes an extraordinary task. I don't think it's wrong to admire someone else for that.

super_furry

Nurses.

Ush1

Floyd Mayweather.

iamwhoiam

Succubus_ wrote: »

I watched the video last night and had a think about this. Stella Young certainly has a point, people do look at people who have disabilities and think ''well at least my life isn't that bad'' but I also think a lot of people look at people struggling with disabilities and getting on with their lives and managing to achieve things with admiration, I know I do anyway. Having a disability is a disadvantage that you have to overcome, so often even doing ordinary things becomes an extraordinary task. I don't think it's wrong to admire someone else for that.

I agree and I also dont think she speaks for anyone else except herself to be honest .,Kids in wheelchair of course struggle to do things that other kids can .If they achieve something they struggle with then I admire them whether she in the video agrees with me or not !
I see a little kid in a wheelchair in the school yard every morning , she has the most amazing smile .Last week she arrived with her beaming Mam on a little walking aid and I wanted to cheer and whoop for her .Inside i did as she is one amazing little hero .

Lorelli!

ginandtonicsky wrote: »

There's a homeless guy that I meet every morning on my way into work. He stands outside my work building handing out papers and smiling and greeting strangers and belting out songs all day long. Sometimes he has one of those old school ghetto blasters with him too.

This morning he was singing an old Sinatra number and yelled "morning!" with a big cheesy grin as I walked passed. He's honestly the happiest, chirpiest, most carefree face I see amid a sea of sulky suited-and-booted commuters every single morning and he bloody makes my day.

Imagine being so down on your luck and finding a way to radiate pure joy to the people you encounter day after day after day. That inspires me.

There use to be a homeless man at one of the train stations in town in Dublin. Not sure, could have been Tara station. He didn't want to accept money from people for nothing and instead he'd sell you one of his own poems. I don't know about inspirational. I never saw him myself, just a family member use to see him at the station sometimes. I thought that was nice though.

s4uv3

Single mothers.
Jesus this parenting lark is hard going, and I have a husband coming in the door at five thirty every evening. I don't know how they do it and remain sane.

eviltwin

Succubus_ wrote: »

I watched the video last night and had a think about this. Stella Young certainly has a point, people do look at people who have disabilities and think ''well at least my life isn't that bad'' but I also think a lot of people look at people struggling with disabilities and getting on with their lives and managing to achieve things with admiration, I know I do anyway. Having a disability is a disadvantage that you have to overcome, so often even doing ordinary things becomes an extraordinary task. I don't think it's wrong to admire someone else for that.

A friend of ours is in a wheelchair, has been all his life. He hates people saying these things about him. He finds it patronising although he knows the intention is good. He doesn't know any different, he's always been disabled and as for getting on with it... As he'd say himself, he doesn't have any other choice.

Boom_Bap

I have to put myself forward for this. I stood on a lego once and I've lived to tell the tale.

Ariadne

eviltwin wrote: »

A friend of ours is in a wheelchair, has been all his life. He hates people saying these things about him. He finds it patronising although he knows the intention is good. He doesn't know any different, he's always been disabled and as for getting on with it... As he'd say himself, he doesn't have any other choice.

I understand the feeling of being patronised, even if you know the other person has good intentions. I have Cystic Fibrosis which is an invisible illness and I find it tough at times that people can't see that I'm ill, they have the same expectations of me as another able bodied person and it can be a struggle. I am glad that I can choose whether or not someone knows that I have CF as I do see that it can change someone's view of you and I have no desire to be pitied and I understand someone not wanting to feel like that. However, life is difficult for me in ways that it isn't for other people, now it is all relative and we all have our own stuff to be dealing with but I don't see the harm in someone else acknowledging that.

Bigbagofcans

s4uv3 wrote: »

Single mothers.
Jesus this parenting lark is hard going, and I have a husband coming in the door at five thirty every evening. I don't know how they do it and remain sane.

Single mothers with the feckless "father of their child/ren" - I have the biggest respect for them.

eviltwin

Succubus_ wrote: »

I understand the feeling of being patronised, even if you know the other person has good intentions. I have Cystic Fibrosis which is an invisible illness and I find it tough at times that people can't see that I'm ill, they have the same expectations of me as another able bodied person and it can be a struggle. I am glad that I can choose whether or not someone knows that I have CF as I do see that it can change someone's view of you and I have no desire to be pitied and I understand someone not wanting to feel like that. However, life is difficult for me in ways that it isn't for other people, now it is all relative and we all have our own stuff to be dealing with but I don't see the harm in someone else acknowledging that.

Neither do I but I'm sure it must get annoying when you hear it constantly

Ariadne

eviltwin wrote: »

Neither do I but I'm sure it must get annoying when you hear it constantly

I'm sure it does, I can definitely see that, the desire to be seen like everyone else. However, there are times that I wish people could see that I'm ill, like a time I was abroad and the road was blocked off so the taxi driver dumped us out and said we were fine young healthy girls. I should be able to tell someone that actually I have an illness but sometimes I struggle to do that, no one is helping me with my bags when I'm out, no one is giving up their seat for me. I often get shouted at if we're parked in a disabled space because I walk away from the car.

Trump Is Right

That dude who sawed his own arm off, when he got stuck down a giant hole out in the desert in the US... talk about will to live... I'm not sure I could cut my own arm off. I like life and all... I really do... but holy sh*t that takes some big stones!

[Deleted User]

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Succubus_ wrote: »

I watched the video last night and had a think about this. Stella Young certainly has a point, people do look at people who have disabilities and think ''well at least my life isn't that bad'' but I also think a lot of people look at people struggling with disabilities and getting on with their lives and managing to achieve things with admiration, I know I do anyway. Having a disability is a disadvantage that you have to overcome, so often even doing ordinary things becomes an extraordinary task. I don't think it's wrong to admire someone else for that.

I agree and I also dont think she speaks for anyone else except herself to be honest .,Kids in wheelchair of course struggle to do things that other kids can .If they achieve something they struggle with then I admire them whether she in the video agrees with me or not !
I see a little kid in a wheelchair in the school yard every morning , she has the most amazing smile .Last week she arrived with her beaming Mam on a little walking aid and I wanted to cheer and whoop for her .Inside i did as she is one amazing little hero .

She spoke for a growing movement of people with disabilities trying to move on from decades of "ah sure aren't you great" to actual rights and equal access.

Most people with disabilities don't want to be your inspiration. They do want you to take whatever direct action you to ensure that they can access the same transport, employment, technology, services, buildings etc as everyone else.

So this would be a great time to protect the future of the wheelchair user at your school by reviewing your building, your website, your recruitment policies, your parking practices and ensure that they get the same opportunities as everyone else.

RFOLEY1990

anyone who's job it is to run towards danger when the natural instinct is to run away, genuinely.

mr_edge_to_you

Nigel Owens

His life story is worth a read.

razorblunt

Henry Fraser.

A lad, who had a catastrophic, life changing injury on a lads holiday. He dived headfirst into the sea without knowing the water was shallow and went head first into a sand bank. He was paralyzed from the neck down.

His positivity and outlook on life is incredible. He was clearly a driven individual (he was in the youth academy for Saracens rugby club) and he channelled that into gaining as much independence as possible. He's trained tiny muscles in his shoulders to increase his range of motion and does incredible mouth paintings.
Every now and then you'd have a shít day and then see a tweet of his and it puts things in perspective.

http://www.henryfraser.org/

[Deleted User]

A local view on the dangers of Inspiration Porn, which seems to have gone over the heads of the average Journal reader

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/opinion-stop-sharing-videos-of-disabled-people-attempting-to-walk-up-the-aisle-or-stand-for-their-first-dance-that-is-far-from-inspirational-4489295-Feb2019/

iamwhoiam

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

She spoke for a growing movement of people with disabilities trying to move on from decades of "ah sure aren't you great" to actual rights and equal access.

Most people with disabilities don't want to be your inspiration. They do want you to take whatever direct action you to ensure that they can access the same transport, employment, technology, services, buildings etc as everyone else.

So this would be a great time to protect the future of the wheelchair user at your school by reviewing your building, your website, your recruitment policies, your parking practices and ensure that they get the same opportunities as everyone else.

No need to preach at me . Its not my school to do anything about
Anyway I am not sure if its up to anyone else to tell me who not to be inspired by