More Than A Man, A True Inspiration

More Than A Man

My mentor and friend, Bob Richards, the great Olympic gold medal champion who graced the cover of the Wheaties Cereal box, said, “Ingenuity, plus courage, plus work, equals miracles.”

I will never forget meeting Bob Richards for the first time. He had become a motivational speaker years after the Olympic Games. He was a powerful motivator. It was Bob’s speech that convinced a 21-year old brand new agent that he could be a huge success.

Many years later I had contacted Bob and told him how he had influenced me to think differently from that day some 25 years earlier, and thanked him for my huge success in insurance sales. Bob was so touched by my letter that he invited me to the 50th anniversary dinner of the Olympic Games he was part of. It was at the Waldorf Astoria in 1998. I met all the Olympic champions of 1948 and had the great honor of sitting at Bob’ table, and then listening to his current day motivating speech from the main stage. It was a night I will never forget.

All the famous athletes were there. I was able to sit at Bob’s table, and more importantly, hear him give another motivational speech to the Olympic champions from 50 years earlier. It was a magical night I will never forget. Bob Richards was inspirational in my writing self-help books.

I want to give back to society. I want to help that one special person who needs motivation. I want to change one life the way Bob Richards changed my life. It is now over 37 years since that first day I met Bob, and heard his fabulously motivating speech. It reminds me daily that I must dig deep each day to help others.

He is more than a man, Who lifts another up, Who convinces us all that we can, And inspires greatness—through his giving.   Who plants a seed of hope, Deep in someone else, Then watches it blossom and grow. Someone who never lets you down. No, he is more than a man.   He is someone to lean on, Though he may not be near. And just the thought of his belief, Can help us master our fear.   He is, which inspires us to be. Our faith endures, With his enthusiasm as our memory. Yes, he is more than a man, He is the messenger of our inspiration.             --John Paul Carinci             (Written for Bob Richards by John)

 

  “How would your life be different if…You stopped worrying about things you can’t control and started focusing on the things you can? Let today be the day…You free yourself from fruitless worry, seize the day and take effective action on things you can change.” --Steve Maraboli

 

The Most Inspiring Achievers Who Changed Our World

Thomas Edison was born in 1847, he was an inventor that helped change our world. Edison filed over 1,000 patents in his lifetime.

            Thomas Edison is remembered most for his great invention of the electric light bulb. He also gave us the phonograph, the motion picture camera, an electric car and electric power station.

            Edison once said: “During all those years of experimentation and research, I never once made a discovery. All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention, pure and simple. I would construct a theory and work on its lines until I found it was untenable... I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed 3,000 different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesse Owens was an Olympic champion despite experiencing racial discrimination. Owens became a global icon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. By winning Olympic gold in the 100 meter, Owens helped demolish the myth of Hitler's Aryan superiority theory.

Marie Curie, lived from 1867-1934. In an age where few women were able to be educated, Marie Curie became one of the most important scientists of her generation. Her discoveries enabled the development of modern radiation and X-ray. She was one of the few people to receive a Nobel Prize for both medicine and physics.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany. He was the son of a court musician. Early on Beethoven received violin and piano lessons from his father, Johann.

Ludwig van Beethoven was once told by one of his teachers that he had no future career as a composer.

Beethoven would go on to be one of the greatest classical music composers of all time. But by 1816, Beethoven became almost 100% deaf. He soon completely lost his hearing but he managed to continue to compose music.

After he became deaf, he started to observe the vibrations of piano. Beethoven noticed that he could not hear high notes when playing piano.

To hear his own compositions, he sawed the legs off of his piano and placed the piano on the floor, and pressed his ear to the floor as well. He would then proceed to bang on the keys to hear what he had written.

Beethoven’s best known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets.