Many times you and I will stumble upon an article, video clip, news article, or just hear about an inspiring person. Someone who defied the odds, overcame great obstacles, or accomplished a feat that went far and beyond their perceived physical, psychological, or mental expectations. They charge us with vigor and enthusiasm to reach a new frontier with ourselves. Soon after we forget them and the charge is lost.
Not again! This page is for me and you to find them when we need that jolt of inspiration and motivation and to awaken that marvelous being within us. Below you will find links to either an internal post in this site about them or to their website or another place to read or watch why they are true heroes. Enjoy!
Names and links listed alphabetically:
- Alexandra Scott: 8 years old. Raised $1 million while battling cancer.
- Ben Underwood: Using Eco-location, lived an extraordinary life. Blind.
- Brenden Foster: 11 years old with cancer. Last wish was to feed the homeless.
- Christy Brown: Author, painter and poet who had severe cerebral palsy.
- Daniel Kish: Teaches Eco-location to blind teenagers. Blind.
- David Helfgott: Accomplished pianist. Schizoaffective Disorder.
- Erik Weihenmayer: Climbed all seven summits including Everest. Blind.
- Helen Keller: Author, activist, and lecturer. Deaf-blind.
- Jason McElwain: Scored 20 points within 4 minutes in a basketball game. Autistic.
- Jessica Cox: Drive, fly, motivational speaker, and more. No arms.
- John Bramblitt: An accomplished painter. Blind.
- John Foppe: Professional Speaker and lecturer. No arms.
- John F. Nash: Nobel Laureate in Economics and mathematician. Schizophrenic.
- Laurence Peek: Photographic memory. Congenital brain abnormalities.
- Nick Vujicic: An amazing motivational speaker. No arms or legs
- Patrick Hughes: Musician. Blind with multiple physical abnormalities.
- Randy Pausch: Professor who delivered “the last lecture” before dying.
- Sabriye Tenberken: Social-worker & co-founder of “Braille Without Border“. Blind.
- Sean Swarner: Climbed 7 summits, author, and speaker. Multiple cancers’ survivor.
- Stephen Wiltshire: Architectural artist drawing landscape from memory. Autistic.
Page 2 – Coming soon
I’ll add more once I recall or find more. This post was meant to inspire you to find your voice and start or join a productive and related discussion. Make a comment to tell us about your own hero and why.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this idea! Thank you, Joy.
It is my great honor to introduce you to Lizzie Velasquez.
Lizzie is a college student, author, & motivational speaker. She tweets, posts videos, has a website.
This girl does it all. :)
Lizzie also has a rare condition which requires her to strictly follow a seemingly impossible diet.
Incredibly, even as she juggles all the above, she takes the time to feed our souls…
Intro to Lizzie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoVuziEy5qI
Lizzie speaking out against bullying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIr3mlNINmg&fe…
Book and her website: http://www.aboutlizzie.com/
“To get over bullying, I set the bar higher and higher for myself” – Lizzie Velasquez.
What an incredible and sane approach to madness. If you can’t change your world, change yourself and your approach to it. Raise the standards that you expect from yourself and you are better than gold. Lizzie is one of my heroes. Go liz!
Thanks Sue for the beautiful suggestion. She is going to start page 2 very soon. :)
Going to be checking some of those out Joy!
A really great idea for an article, writing about your heroes, or people you consider heroes :-)
My recent post AboutMe
Out of all of them, I know of only two! David Helfgott and Helen Keller.
I discovered David Helfgott through the movie made about him, Shine. Firstly, I absolutely love hearing someone play the piano…and not just tinkering, but the classics. Chopin, Rachmaninoff and all the others. Chopin is my favorite though.
Inspiration comes in many forms for me. Looking at what others like these fine people could accomplish is just inspiring!
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