Blog #580: How to Get Rich

Last Sunday… I was phenomenally lucky to hang out with thousands of inspiring people. 22,000 of them were running. More than that were clapping. ______ I was at the Los Angeles Marathon. And I was clapping. A friend of mine was running the race, and I was hoping to see her be awesome. And although there were so many runners running past me that I missed her, I ended up clapping loudly for thousands of others I didn’t know. The people around me…up and down the 26.2-mile route…did the same. It was the kind of inspiring atmosphere I wish life always offered. ______ I was standing at the 26-mile mark sign. The runners moving past me had only .2 more miles to the finish line. As many of them passed, I could see intense physical pain; more than that, I could see willing hearts that kept broken bodies, beat-up feet and exhausted legs moving. Inspiring stuff. I shouted out specific bib numbers and pointed to individual runners as I clapped furiously. Runners…seeing that I was specifically clapping for them… gave grateful smiles. One hundred times, I received a thumbs up. I was with them in the moment. And I sensed they felt it. Standing there and cheering was so positively electrifying… my eyes filled multiple times. It was a couple hours of awesome feels. I came home from the day… Rich. ______ I have zero doubt it’s TRUE. We grow more inspired when we hang out with people who ARE inspiring. The opposite is rudely true, too. BUT… We can’t blame the people around us for how more or less inspired WE live. That’s entirely on you and me. We choose the people we hang out with. We choose the positive ones. We choose the negative ones. AND… We choose how much headspace and time we give each. ______ Yes, last Sunday… I felt the magical power of hanging around tens of thousands of inspiring souls. They were… 1. People giving it their best to go after a big goal. 2. People moving forward despite painful challenges. 3. People inspiring others to keep moving forward. 4. People demonstrating the best of human existence. I’m pretty sure… You would’ve liked being there with me. They were extra inspiring people. Just like you. ______ A runner. A clapper. Every day… May we remember to BE one of the two. May we remember to BE who we ARE. Because… Our hearts grow richer when we DO. S. PS: I found my friend at the finish line! She did it! And…my heart got to clap one last time that day.