To have never found a person inspiring

[BigFishLittleFish10]

Chatting to DH today about growing up and people that have inspired me, professionally, creatively and generally. DH said that he honestly cannot think of a time in his entire life that he has been inspired by anyone. At all! He said that if someone was to inspire him that they would almost have to be not quite human etc.

Is this weird?

I find people fascinating and interesting, I’m inspired by late bloomers and general underdogs who achieve against the odds or achieve late in life/those from working class backgrounds who achieve success through tenacity and sheer determination/hard work.

Is it odd that he’s never been inspired in his entire life by ANYONE?

If someone asked me "Who inpires you" I'd say noone, as in that scenario I see it as a big question someone you look up to and emulated so would need a big answer like Greta, Malala, Mother Theresa, Audrey Hepburn etc.

Whereas in my day to day life I am inspired by those around me and the lives they lead, setting goals and achieving them etc but it's on a much smaller scale.

Not particularly inspired by anyone. Usually these people who 'inspire' have to be in the public eye in order to be known about in the first place.

And they're usually all in it for themselves, wealth, so no can't say I've ever been inspired by anyone.

Richard McCann is also inspirational.

I don't think I've ever been inspired by anyone.

I can see someone do something amazing and think "Wow, that's amazing", but it doesn't make me think about wanting to do that thing myself. The amazing things I've done are because I've wanted to do them myself, rather than because I've seen someone else and thought, "I want that."

Although, if I see someone walk past with a pizza box I'll quite often be inspired to get a pizza myself, but I'm not sure that's really what we're talking about!

I can't say I've ever been inspired by anyone either tbh

I wouldn't say I've ever found anyone especially inspirational. Not in the sense of seeing them / knowing about them makes me want to achieve or do something particular.

Sure there are people whose skills and talents I admire, but they don't inspire me to anything. They are just people using their skills and talents, good on them, but it has no effect on me.

I can't think of anyone who I find inspiring.

No-one in real life unfortunately. Me and DP had the same discussion. All the adults in our lives inspired us to NOT to be like them.

I’m inspired by different bits of people - like I could be inspired by the way someone chooses to live, their outlook on certain things, the specific ways they respond to things in life, etc.

This is interesting. Very much with you OP. I work for a charity and the stories I encounter through that work are incredibly inspirational. I would say many people the charity works with have inspired me.

Lots of people tbh. My parents for genuinely pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, a lot of people I've met through my sports for their dedication, discipline and sportsmanship, a lot of people I've met through work who could have just emigrated and made $$$ but decided instead to start NGO's in their countries of birth and make a real difference to people, people who have spoken out against the prevailing narrative, which often takes real courage. So I suppose the theme is "people who haven't just taken the easy option".

This ^ for me.
So I wonder if he is thinking: I never felt the necessity to do something just because certain person did it therefore I was never inspired by someone.
I also think that maybe being inspired by someone for your DH implies that you know them really well from different sides which is obviously impossible in most cases. He can’t say that he is inspired by e.g Ben Fogle because, who knows, Ben Fogle might be a bad parent/ son / friend etc. Whereas for you, OP, one side of the person is enough to admire them .
By the way I’m with your DH. You are both a bit black and white on this issue but his side looks more realistic for me.

I agree with your DH. As a child- teen- young adult I don’t remember being inspired by a person or people, rather by certain experiences / events.
As older person there were traits I got inspired by in people but I wouldn’t call those people inspiring. As an example, and ex of mine inspired me to look after myself more (exercise, diet, prioritizing my physical and emotional wellbeing). Same ex was toxic in other ways and turned out to be a cheating a**. He did inspire me but I wouldn’t call him an inspiring person. For me to consider a person inspiring they’d have to have a whole lot of qualities that I value and be practically flawless, which isn’t real.

I perhaps should have expended a little why I find Chris Hoy an inspiration. Apart from being an outstanding athlete, inspiring a new generation of athletes, his terminal cancer has made him focus on helping others to act positively in terms of getting regular tests for Prostate Cancer. The incidence of online research about symptoms and getting tests increased hugely after his campaign. He has opened up about how he has told his very young children that he isn’t going to be there for them much longer as well, tackling the terrible dilemma of communicating death and grief to small children. He has chosen to use what time he has left to be a force for good, for changing the age of testing, and other events as well. I live with someone like CH, luckily not terminal but always there, ongoing treatment, so for us his story is inspirational. No problem by the way in using my example, I should have explained my choice better😁

I find quite a lot of people inspiring. At the moment, I'm inspired by people who succeed a bit later in life than is the norm, probably because I'm also a bit of a late starter in my career and so I identify with them in this way, and use that to push me forward instead of thinking it's not possible. I suppose that's the difference between admiring someone and inspiring someone- the people that inspire me go a level above the ordinary in some way, and push me along with them somehow.