Inspiring stories- feel free to share yours

In times like this when there is a lot of sadness and gloom all around, it’s good to be reminded there are good human beings giving us reasons for hope.
Here are two stories I found on Instagram, both quite moving.

The first is a BBC video- needs to be seen on Instagram- about a man in the UK who never met his father, a US GI who met his mother during WWII, but he never came back after the war.
With DNA analysis he makes extraordinary discoveries.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMUrPzQMmKj/?igshid=3i4p34kpemtc


The second story is reposted below -https://www.instagram.com/p/CMUAc5Ts8Xd/?igshid=1jqq35nlxmmrg
Posted @withregram • @the_female_lead “What would my Mom think of that?"
A few years ago the Kenyan Bronze Medalist Abel Mutai was running a cross-country race in Burlada, and just before crossing the finishing line he became confused with the signage and stopped running, thinking he had already won.The athlete behind him, Iván Fernández Anaya realised what had happened and began to shout at Mutai to continue running but Mutai didn’t know spanish. Catching up to him, Fernández Anaya helped to guide Mutai to the finish line, letting him cross first.

Fernández Anaya came second and when he was asked by a journalist “why did you let him win?” he replied, “I didn’t let him win, he was going to win”. The journalist replied “but you could have won!” and his response was “But what would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honour of that medal?”

“What would my Mom think of that?”

We recently caught up with Ivan and asked him what his mom's response was and he told us:

"My mother was very happy with the decision I made. My parents always told me, before making a decision, put yourself in the place of the other party".

"My advice to the next generations is to try to help and be great people. Remember to be remembered for the kind of person we were ... not just for our titles or professional achievements."

Photo and quotes courtesy of @ivanfernandezan, check out his Instagram to follow his journey!

Really glad if it could help.
And as far as optimism and moms are concerned, I was struck by the following column by a famous New York Times columnist. I often disagree with the tone or substance of his columns, but this one carries a moving and powerful point about optimism.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/opinion/11friedman.html?referringSource=articleShare


And finally, a book recommendation for anyone who’s really down — it gave me loads of positive energy and I know several people who told me the exact same.
Contrary to what the title might suggest, it’s not one of those self help book, it’s a luminous, exotic and intelligent novel by one of Turkey’s most talented young novelist — a book about friendship, tolerance, beliefs, important life choices and indeed love- and it’s called « The 40 rules of love » by Elif Shafak.

From my home town.

(text from a site on the internet)

You may know the name John Landy. John Landy became Victoria’s 25th Governor in 2001, and in his younger years he was a remarkable sportsman for Australia, a former Olympic track athlete.

He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, and he held the world records for the 1500-metre run and the mile race. But he will be remembered for something remarkable that happened at the 1956 Australian National Championships.

At that time, John Landy was a champion mile runner and thousands of people had come to the championships to watch him win. In their hearts, they also held the hope that he’d set a new world record. His race started well and by the third lap, the young Ron Clarke and he were in the lead. Clarke was running just in front of Landy, when another runner tried to squeeze between them. Clarke tripped and fell, so all the runners had to jump over him.

When Landy jumped, he accidentally cut Clarke’s shoulder with his spikes. At that moment, Landy did the most amazing thing. He stopped, ran back to Clarke and helped him to his feet. He brushed the cinders from Clarke’s knees, checked his bleeding shoulder and apologised. Clarke wasn’t badly hurt and urged Landy to keep going. Straightaway, they both took off, but they were now at least 50 metres behind the rest of the field.

The Last Sprint of the Race
In that last half mile, Landy sprinted. The crowd was on its feet and cheering when he finally caught up to the front two runners, stormed past them and won the race. As Landy did a victory lap, the applause didn’t die down. Nobody cared that he hadn’t broken the world record. They’d witnessed the greatest mile race in history. Landy went on to set new world records and become a hero at the 1956 Olympics. But nothing ever compared to that summer night in Melbourne, when he forgot himself and stopped to help young Ron Clarke. This was the act of a fine sportsman.

In the crowd that day was Gordon Moyes who later wrote, “He did the most stupid, beautiful, foolish, gentlemanly act I have ever seen.” Many agreed with Gordon saying it was one of the finest actions in the history of sport. In fact, what John Landy did was to sacrifice his own chance of a world record to go to the aid of a fallen rival. Roger Bannister’s coach said, “That’s the most gallant action I have seen in a lifetime”.

What an amazing unselfish act. In 1955 he was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to sport. Later in life he served the community with distinction. His life and deeds should inspire us all, running our own race in life. The lesson of life that Landy taught us is that we shouldn’t be so concerned with the position in which we finish, nor how we compare with others, but in how we run our race—how well we serve others in our community, our country and, especially, how we help those who fall.

“Listening” a video about a deaf music lover and his journey of discovering how he can enjoy music again.
For audiophiles there is another layer of heartbreak in there.


https://na01.safelinks.protection.o...cDaQlTBSlafKx8/Wy0Css1GuK59og=&reserved=0

Not my story, but a good story. In the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, champion speed skater, Jeremy Wotherspoon, fell during a race. Another skater, Gilmore Junio, gave Morrison his place in the finals. Morrison went on to win the silver medal. Story here:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/...ore-junio-more-than-sochi-sacrifice-1.4403175