Books That Inspire 2002
 
The Thurber Carnival, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
James Thurber


Generally, when we are required to do something which demands a significant time commitment we don’t expect the task to be enjoyable, let alone inspirational. However, such was the case for me in dealing with the required reading of a wide variety of books during my High School years. When told to read The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, I never expected that my perspective on life itself would be positively influenced forever. While the adventures of Walter Mitty were entertaining, it was the basic premise of an ordinary man imagining himself doing extraordinary, if not heroic things, which truly inspired me. We are all going to be known for something, but I’ve learned that it can be special if we want it to be. When thinking about leaving my own legacy, I always found it important to, “begin with the end in mind.” Mitty did this in creating his own imaginary adventures. The difference in real life is we can actually visualize or imagine a goal for ourselves, or the people that we represent, then develop a plan to make it happen in spite of the difficulty or degree of the challenge.
contributor_image
Joe Castiglione
Director
Athletics