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Captain Tom 101
On what would have been Captain Sir Tom Moore's 101st birthday, his family launched #CaptainTom100, the 'Captain Tom 100 Challenge,' to raise money for charities that include the Captain Tom Foundation.
Over the long weekend, I heard about people's own personal 'hundreds,' ranging from fitness goals, through culinary challenges, to more tongue-in-cheek feats. Many individuals, seemingly unknown to one another but connected by a common thread of inspiration - and a collective will to make a positive impact.
What a huge legacy Captain Tom left behind! Without doubt, he captured the hearts of the nation as he completed the many laps of his garden in Bedfordshire last year, but to say he was an inspiration goes further still.
To use the words of Captain Sir Tom himself:
One step has the power to inspire one hundred more.
And isn't that exactly what happened? Not everyone has repeated Captain Tom's garden circuits, but individuals have picked a challenge relevant to themselves and applied themselves with similar dedication, inspired by Sir Tom's resolve and tenacity.
C. S. Lewis, the well-renowned author of children's book series The Chronicles of Narnia hit the nail on the head for me when he said:
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
Supplemented by Walt Disney, who asserted:
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing,
which is a not-so-subtle nudge, reminding us to stop procrastinating and get started!
Will we all inspire as many others as Captain Tom? Some of us might, but I imagine many of us won't, and that doesn't matter. For, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr:
If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.
And that is why one of our core values is Excellence. We can't all be famous, or the fastest, or the strongest, or the cleverest, or the best in our field. However, in reality, our only race is with ourselves and we will certainly win if we always strive for our very best.
