A Passionate and Rewarding Journey

On February 3, 2003 the first issue of InspirEmail was published and now just six weeks short of four years, it has reached a milestone - the 100th issue. When I started out on my journey with InspirEmail, I never contemplated that during the next four years my mailing list would grow into the thousands and that I would launch a website.

During this time I have come to know many wonderful, caring people who have written to me to express an opinion about what I have published, share with me a story or quote to include in InspirEmail or to simply say thank you for making a difference in their life at that time.

In recent months I have also met with a number of these wonderful, caring people who subscribe to InspirEmail, all of whom wanted to find out a more about me and share a little about themselves. At one of these meetings I was asked why I produced InspirEmail and at the time this was one question I could not easily answer. After some deliberation, I responded by saying it was 'a labour of love', however, after the meeting and as I reflected on what I had said, I realised that this was not what I really meant to say.

What started me on my journey with InspirEmail and subsequently the launch of A Gift Of Inspiration was a deeply personal experience that I had in the late 2002. In October 2002, my mum at the age of 91 - passed away after a long period of illness. During the last two months of her life, I was fortunate to be able to spend a great deal of time with her, in fact much more time than I had spent with her over the previous ten to twenty years, although we always spoke on the phone every couple of days and saw each other at least once a week.

This time with my mum was made possible by a wonderful boss who allowed me time off from work so that I could be with her and to this very day he has remained a great friend who I deeply respect for his compassion and understanding, as well as his business acumen.

In the last weeks of mum's life, I lived with her and spent nearly every day and evening doing what I could to make her comfortable and happy. Most evenings, we reminisced about her life and all the wonderful things that had happened during her 91 years. Despite her failing health, she had a wonderful memory and a great sense of fun, so our discussions were always about the events and good times, which always brought smiles to our faces. On reflection, I believe my mum was sharing all these stories of her life with me to prepare me for the journey I would make after she was no longer around.

Then and even now I marvelled at how positive and upbeat she was through those last few weeks of her life, and my love and deep admiration for her was only strengthened by being in her presence. In the weeks and months that followed her passing and in the lead up to Christmas 2002, I didn't talk much about my mum and I confess that by then I had internalised many of my feelings and for me and many others who loved her, it was a very sad Christmas not having her around to enjoy the fun and festivities.

With the start of the New Year, some of my sadness had diminished and although I deeply missed my mum, I was buoyed by the memories of our evening discussions prior to her passing away, as well as all the times we had together from my days as a young boy through to manhood and then married life. As I now look back to February 2003, I realise that it was that time with my mum in her last few weeks which lead me set out on this now passionate and rewarding journey.

InspirEmail has given me great pleasure and enjoyment over the last 100 issues, and although it is work in that I have to make time to source or write the stories, it is also a pleasure to do it.

I now know that each time I sit down at my computer, my mum is always around and most likely looking over my shoulder to keep a watchful eye on what I am preparing to publish - to make sure that it is something that has a positive and uplifting message.

I wish you a very happy festive season and wonderful start to 2007 and early in the New Year InspirEmail will continue its journey in providing you with more positive messages to uplift your spirit and refresh your emotional bank account. Below is the very first issue of InspirEmail which I trust you enjoy.

Be Inspired and Best Wishes

Keith Ready

InspirEmail No 1 - February 3, 2003
'Inspirational messages to refresh the spirit and boost the emotional bank account'

Tonight I came home to the news on TV of the nearness of war in the Middle East, the biggest loss in corporate business history, the continued devastation caused by bush fires across three States of Australia and a train crash in Southern Sydney which has taken the lives of nine, with injuries to a further 40 odd people. How depressing it is that there is no good news or something uplifting to balance out all this sadness.

Having just downloaded my e-mails and written some replies, I took a few minutes to look in more detail at an e-mail sent to me a few days ago by a very good friend and colleague. The short message he sent to me said . . . 'this is really beautiful and you should have a look at the attached link' ... so I did and for me it is just as he had said.

Below is the message that appeared when I activated the link and if you would like to see the visuals, then click on the link at the very end of this e-mail.

I trust you enjoy the message and the visual, if you activate the link, I recommend that you start tomorrow, next week or when ever you read this, by applying some small element of this message in your daily life, I did just a few minutes ago by sending it to you and it makes the world of difference - it also helps to get you out of the 'sads'.

Have a great week and remember:

'People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel' and 'Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take, but rather by the moments that take our breath away'

P.S. My father once said to me when I was a young man - 'son, never talk politics or religion with people unless you know and understand them very well and they have the same understanding about you, for you will most assuredly offend people somewhere along the line.'

So please appreciate that it is not my intention to push any religious beliefs or philosophies, just to share a wonderful and uplifting message that you may well value.

The Interview with God

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

'So you would like to interview me?' God asked.

'If you have the time.' I said.

God smiled. 'My time is eternity. 'What questions do you have in mind for me?'

'What surprises you most about humankind?'

God answered ...

'That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.'

'That they lose their health to make money ... and then lose their money to restore their health.'

'That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.'

'That they live as if they will never die, and die as if they had never lived.'

God�s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked ... 'As a parent, what are some of life�s lessons you want your children to learn?'

'To learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.'

'To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.'

'To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.'

'To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.'

'To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.'

'To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.'

'To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.'

'To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.'

'Thank you for your time,' I said humbly.

'Is there anything else you would like your children to know?'

God smiled and said, 'Just know that I am here ... always.'

View The Interview with God >>>

December Featured Inspiration

Santa's Love

Older folks tend to astound me with their wit and wisdom, and inspire me with their determination to continue living life to its fullest. As my own Dad ages he never ceases to knock my socks off, and last Christmas he did just ... read the full story >>>

- Inspirational Quote -

'Happiness is a healthy mental attitude, a graceful spirit, a clear conscious, a heart full of love and lots of friends'

Author Unknown and on the occasion of Betty Ready's 80th Birthday

View more Inspirational Quotes >>>