No Man Is An Island
“No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.”
Hi folks, welcome to my thoughts during another lovely day in my life! Boy, I’m glad to be alive! Then I wonder, “What is life? The more you think about it, the harder it is to define.”
During the Worlds 70.3 Ironman Competition in London, two New Zealander triathletes inspire English kids to exercise. Click image for the story.
Often during races, or in response to blog posts on this site, people tell me that I am an inspiration. But I am just passing on what comes to me from others, who have inspired me in the past and who continue to do so today. When people tell you that you are an inspiration, you will find that it feels inspiring. So, thank you kind followers out there in the Blog-o-Sphere, for inspiring me to write.
The real question one needs to ask oneself is, “How come I receive my inspiration to do stuff, when the bell is tolling for me, too?” This is an interesting question, which was addressed by some guy on National Public Radio the other day, whose name I forget, I think he was a philosopher, who stated that humans need a future in order to do things today – no future, no inspiration. But it’s a future they personally won’t live to see!
Someone who inspires me, triathlete Sharon Roggenbuck. A couple of years my senior, and I see her at races all the time. Thanks Sharon, I needed that.
The radio guest suggested that if we knew the world would end in 10 years or so, cancer research would cease, and people would stop working on such endeavors, as they would have no apparent value. But then he commented that we work on these things for ‘the human race,’ (or a personal legacy, a concept that escapes me, as they’ll be dead – very odd idea) most of whom do not exist today, and all of which will pass away like the rest of us. Life is driven energy passed on like the flame of the olympic torch, burning in ephemeral creatures like ourselves (there’s one definition!).
Isn’t this an interesting conundrum.
Clearly, inspiration is built into our genes, souls, or whatever you want to call it, in order to run a massive layaway program for future generations, and the quality of that layaway very much depends upon the quality of our lives today, which in turn depends upon our being inspired by those around us, and those long gone.
Go out there and inspire others for a high quality today, for the coming generations of all species in the Biosphere (is this the only Biosphere in the Universe, I wonder? I very much doubt it!), and so as not to waste the hard work of our forebears (including all those brave bears that went before, of course).
Wishing you happy trails, laps or hours on the trainer!
-k @FitOldDog
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