I have always had an insatiable curiosity

What causes me to get out of bed every morning is driven by inspiration. Ever since I was a little boy, I was inspired by my insatiable curiosity, which caused me to be a reader, a thinker, and a dreamer.

I can remember being inspired by seeing Bobby Kennedy on TV and watching videotapes of Martin Luther King Jr., and being deeply saddened by their assassination even though I was only 10 years old when I experienced all of this.

As a little boy, rocket flight was a big thing. I remember being fascinated by the moon and the stars and the astronauts exploring them.As humans we are achieving remarkable things that only a handful of years before were just in the imagination.

As a fourth grader, I watched Ozark Airlines build their headquarters right next to my elementary school in Bridgeton, Missouri. I was enthralled and inspired and began to teach myself the construction business by spending countless hours after school wandering the construction site and befriending some of the construction workers who were happy to guide me through what their craft was all about.

One of the things that attracted to me to Barack Obama, when I saw his early work as a state senator, and then a U.S. senator, was not his ability to captivate audiences with his charismatic oratory, but what he was saying. He was convincing everyday people that they mattered, that their work mattered, and more importantly, that their vote mattered. What made the Obama campaign so incredible was the way he inspired thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of people to think that they could do more, and be more, and that they mattered more than they did the year before.

There are literally thousands of ways to get inspired, but not without seeking them out. Artists, singers and songwriters, scientists, and super-humans with simple acts of kindness, are shaping our everyday future. We can sit back and read about them, or we can jump out of bed and decide to be an active participant, not only focusing on the work of the acts that inspires us, but by becoming inspirational ourselves.

This kind of inspiration is a driving force for me.