What or who inspires you to be all that you can be?

Joanne's favorite answer:
My mom. She's a fantastic woman who taught me to fight and overcome hardships and forgive others. She's the most amazing woman I know.

Joanne's answer:
When I see other people accomplishing goals that I would like to accomplish, I become inspired - such as when my (now ex-)roommate started going to the gym almost every day, I became motivated to go more often. Also, having an un-moveable deadline definitely inspires me, like having to write my dissertation in 5 weeks in order to defend by the time my sister & mom came out for graduation last year. And finally, people believing in my ability to do something a bit more than I believe in myself - and will not let me give up too easily - tends to inspire me to do things I would never normally do....like jumping a fence to go see an 'at capacity' latin rock concert!!

And the other answers!

1. My height. Since I a spent 60+ years vertically challenged I realized early I had to do more to be equal. Kind of got used to that and it's second nature now. I just want all vertically challenged folks to know you can 'be all that you can be' - Gee you would think I had been in the Army and not the Air Force. Now that I think about it it could have been being a woman making it in a man's world. That to has made me be all that I can be but I guess the bottom line of it is my Mother and Father - through whatever means and I guarantee I don't know what they were - inspired me to do and be my best - not perfect - just my best.

2. A lot of things inspire me. My parents were very smart, educated people and I am inspired by them even though they are no longer with me. My need to live above the poverty line inspires me to get up and go to work every day. My need not to live in a dump inspires me to clean on the weekends. My faith in The Lord inspires me to be a good Christian. I lived the first almost 30 years leaving it up to other people to take care of me and that made me weak of character. Once I learned to stand on my own two feet and earn a good living working hard I got proud of me, something I hadn't been. So now I stand straight and like who I am and I have my parents, siblings and The Lord to thank for that.

3. The Army...

4. I'm not.

5. G.I. J.O.E. Think about it, that cartoon covered all of the military branches and almost every little boy, and some girls, played with GI JOE. The military is always daring you to be all that you can be, and GI JOE started working on people while they were kids.

6. Great question! I get inspired by passionate people. God inspires me as well to be the best i can be, and to be content with my life. My family is also always an inspiration to me... i would feel lost without them. And my doggie always inspires me to smile and be thankful for all that i am and all that i have. :)

7. As far as people go, there are really only two people in my adult life who have ever caused me to reach for something more - you and [my ex-boyfriend]. When you graduated from college, it inspired me to go back and get my degree. But, on an on going basis, [my ex-boyfriend] has the ability to stir the right mix of confidence, insecurity, ambition, fear, enthusiasm, and that je ne sais quoi to get my ass back in front of the blank page. He is truly a fan of my writing and seems to feel not just disappointed, but totally ripped off, if I'm not working. He actually gets upset. Not to mention that he knows how to push all of my buttons, and no doubt takes great pleasure in doing so. In a sense, [my daughter] inspires me as well. I would never want her to be any less than everything she could be, and I don't want her to grow up and be disappointed in me. I want her, as a woman, to look at me and feel that I am a vibrant, intelligent, fun, caring and generous person. I want her, above all others, to be proud of me. So, that is motivation. Of course, for all of this, you need support. And, although [my husband] is not always big on the cheerleading, he would never tell me that I couldn't do something and would always work to find a way to support anything that he knew was important to me. Like - he stays home with [my daughter] while I dance or meet with [my ex-boyfriend]. And, when I volunteered to read/record a book for the blind, it is/was [my husband] who sets me up every night with his computer and mic set up.