So inspiring - NFL Characters Unite

7:54pm. Home.

I'm watching a show on the USA channel right now about NFL players surprising young people to inspire them. I am inspired watching this. I saw three of the four stories. The first one was of an eleven year old student who was bullied in school. I don't remember the ball player's name but he introduced the student to his favorite author who helped him write an essay to read in front of his school. Student beautifully read his essay on bullying and was so happy.

The second story was of two high school girls who were also bullied. What's the football player's name with the long, black, curly hair? Yes...him. He and his wife surprised them by taking them to a community center where a local band rehearsed. They were invited to perform with the band. Singing was an outlet for the girls but they had never performed with a group outside of their school glee club. You guessed it. They sang wonderfully and had a great time.

I missed the first story so the last of the four stories was of a seventeen year old student who has cancer. She told her stories about feeling down because people pointed, stared and made comments about her. The ball player who surprised her had to deal with the death of his mother from cancer when he was only thirteen. He shared experiences and feelings about how others discriminated against her because of her illness. He introduced the student to his passion of photography. He gifted her with a camera and she took pictures of some of the other cancer patients in the center where she was. One young girl looked at her picture and said, "When I look at that picture, I look like I don't have cancer." What a gift. What a blessing to give someone. Smile and inspiration.

The key in all of these stories is that each student put energy into being creative and used that creativity as an outlet to express themselves. That's why I paint, write, take pictures, recite poems and tell stories. To empty. To breathe. To be. To be inspired and inspire.