it’s been a minute since i revisited kid president, so my aim is to check off at least one awesome thing a month between now and the end of the year. to kick that off, i began with number 91:

don’t get tired. get inspired.

i thought this was particularly poignant as i am slowly getting my life back together after summer conference, and it is very easy to get bogged down in all the other things i’ve neglected and forget to do things simply because i want to do them. for this challenge, kid president provided a lot of options, but ultimately the one that spoke to me was this:

write a letter to somebody that has inspired you.

as soon as i saw it, i thought of my brother.

it’s cheesy, i know, but my brother is one of my biggest inspirations. he has been there for me through everything. he taught me to climb up stairs, always following behind in case i stumbled. he taught me how to throw a spiral and how to shoot a free throw, making me practice for hours to perfect my form. when i was four he taught me to burp on command at the dinner table, a transgression which my father has still not forgiven.

he’s been there for the serious stuff, too. my brother is the one who suggested i go to boarding school. he was the first one to support my decision to move to india, and he was always the first to support my return ventures. he was there for me when i struggled to find my place and offered words of advice or humor when needed.

he taught me that my word is gold, and if i give it to someone i should not give them a reason to doubt me. he used our sports teams to teach me about loyalty and the importance of giving people and teams second chances. and throughout it all he has never given up on what he wants to do: he has shown me that it is never too late to follow your dreams.

i often tell my brother how important he is to me, how much he inspires me, how much i look up to him. i try to send him a card every 10 days or so to let him know how much i admire him and how i hope he is proud of me. this was a great reminder that i need to keep doing that, and that i need to write similar notes and letters to others who inspire me. the list is endless, and they deserve to know how much they mean to me.

have you told someone they inspired you recently?

xx