A long silence over the summer months but I’m back now! Sunshine, as all you blog readers will know, is a cause of many smiles and, although we’ve only had a handful of days when the sun has shone fully, you can rest assured that there have been more than a handful of smiles!
One of the major events of the summer, not just for me or the country but for the whole world, was the Olympics. It was one of those occasions when you are sure that you’re not going to be interested in something and yet you become wrapped up and involved in. Those people who know me will know that my highlight was doubtlessly Andy Murray’s gold medal… I’ve waited a long time for that one! Clemency was ecstatically excited about Sir Chris Hoy’s gold medals and even bought a chocolate medal to inspire him to his own, slightly more lasting, ones. The chocolate is still hanging up in the kitchen, you see it wasn’t really bought to be eaten so much as a token of willing faith in her favourite athlete. And to all those other athletes who performed so well for Team GB, you got plenty of cheers here!
And the notion of “Inspire A Generation” - well, it certainly inspired Clemency to look into taking her hobby of archery a little more seriously. Shame that Caithness is about as well equipped to train in Olympic sports as Woodstock for a World War! In the meantime we shall have to trundle off to the deserted beach and set up there, it’s such a nuisance that the arrows are so affected by Caithness wind! But archery aside, it was not even a British athlete who best embodied the mission statement of “Inspire A Generation” to me. It wasn’t even Usain Bolt, whose overwhelming confidence I find both endearing and annoying.
David Rudisha was apparently described by Lord Coe as being “Magnificent” and giving “the performance of the Games”. I have to say I agree with that. He literally inspired generations, not just the up and coming children of tomorrow’s Olympics, but each and every other athlete of his own generation [and here I must admit to feeling old that he, and many of the other Olympians, are so much younger than me!] to run their best times either of the season or of their lives.
And as a teacher and a musician, just as with sports, inspiration is paramount to success. Every sportsman, every musician, every person throughout history has been inspired by someone or something, shaping who they become as individuals. There are plenty of people who have inspired me, musicians, poets, sportsmen, philanthropists, but above all; my family (hence the picture [although 2 are missing!]).
But the really telling thing about us is not who we are inspired by so much as who we inspire. When I trained as a teacher I learned that educating people was not enough, it is necessary to inspire them to want to learn. This is what separates a teacher from a great teacher. I’m not sure that I have always managed to inspire my students, but it remains my goal to do so. And it’s not just for teachers… I hope that as I walk (very occasionally, as I tend more often to take the car places!) past people, my smile inspires a smile back. I might not manage to inspire generations of athletes, but I hope that I can inspire a few smiles!
