Inspirational words for a hobby journalist.

Bad things happen all the time, right? Today, a deal went awry for the stupidest of reasons, but that's said and done and the ID10T that committed the act of stupidity and his attempt to scam me will get his dues through karma.

But, to every bad result, there is a silver lining. My brother wanted to sell his snowboard, but the person went nuts over a small chip saying it's worth $50, even though you can repair it for less than $1. In the end, the guy didn't get his snowboard, all the while trying to claim that he could buy it for new for $50 more. He's a terrible liar. Back on course though, the silver lining was that I ended up with a new snowboard and free lessons from my brother, the snowboarding instructor! A new skill to keep fit over the winter is great. It's your loss Mr. Binda, my gain!

Anyhow, when thinking of the bad, I think of the good and the inspirational. Not being a business-minded person, I really don't have any business heroes. I dream of having something big like an F1 team or, more recently, a Red Bull Air Race team, the latter of which would be a hell of a lot cheaper!

So, who is most inspirational to me? The doctor that guided me in losing ~60 Lbs last summer? No. Of course, that man inspired me to lose weight after he told me his story of being in the same position as me, and helping me diet appropriately, although the diet was a bit extreme. It's because of him that I'm a normal guy and no longer stand out as "that fat guy," even though I'm still a tad overweight.

The person I find most inspirational is not a Formula One driver, team boss or anyone in the league. I don't even find any of the Red Bull Air Race pilots whom I talked to a lot during my assignment in Detroit as inspirational. The person I find to be most inspirational is a man named Harold.

Harold is a publisher for the Detroit city website, and when I was on assignment at the Red Bull Air Race in Detroit almost three months ago, he said something at one of the Red Bull parties that really stuck with me: "you are here, covering something that's both historical and amazing. You are in a place where many who are successful and have made it want to be, and would give anything to be here. By that token, you are a successful person."

I was really flummoxed by what Harold told me. How many Red Bull Vodkas did he have? He was perfectly sober. He did have his fair share of grey hairs and wrinkles, he must be onto something here, but what? I am successful, but what can I show for it? I eventually asked him, "there is no money in this 'success' that you speak of" to which he replied, "you have made it, but now it is up to you to turn that success into money. That's what you have to work on from here on in."

I don't like to think of myself as having reached the top, but if someone with a lot more wisdom than me is going to say that, I cannot say he's wrong, am I correct there? Harold is by far one of the most inspirational people that I have met so far, not because of him saying that I am successful, but because he sees that I have the potential of reaching the pinnacle.

He was right when he said that I was in a place where those who have made it would want to be. I talked with my cousin, who is a doctor, and someone I see as a successful and productive member of society, and he said that he would give his MD up just to be there. Maybe it was a rather extreme thing for him to say, but that's what he sees, and I'm happy about it, I guess...