What inspires you?

I was thinking about what inspires me to do my very best, and to be a good person. I would say, firstly, God, inspires me to be and do good things.

The second motivation is my past and childhood. I grew up in a very poor family. My dad was a hard worker who worked for a lumber company. I've seen my dad literally go to work with broken fingers and toes, because he needed to support a family of 8. I am the oldest of 6 kids, so I had to grow up early. I watched my mom and dad struggle daily. I watched them grow old quicker than other people. I watched the life, literally be sucked right out of them.
I decided when I was younger, I wanted more. I wanted to be able to give more too. The things of my past truly motivate me to do better. Not that I'm not proud of my parents, because I am. I am so proud to call them mom and dad, but I wish they had not had to struggle the way they did. I wish my dad could have stayed home when he had a broken toe, and rested. I wish, he could have had an easier life, but he and mom put us before them.

There are so many things that motivate me. My family motivates me so much. I want to be an inspiration and role-model to my children. That's why I started back to school when I was 30. It took me 7 years, but I graduated with honors with my BS in Criminal Justice just last year. I did this to fulfill something that I had long dreamed of doing. It ended up inspiring my children in many ways. They are very proud of what I have accomplished, and I think this has affected them in positive ways, where their education is concerned.

I think overall, God, family, and myself inspires me and motivates me to be the person I am working on becoming. I say working on becoming, simply because we learn as we get older. We learn from our mistakes, we aren't a natural at being and doing good. We learn all those lessons one day at a time. Those lessons that either inspire, motivate, or break us in some cases.