My inspiration | Nancy Gianni, Chief Belief Officer

Hello friends,
I’m back again with another blog post. Today, I’ll be talking about my personal inspiration: my daughter, GiGi.
Here are a few examples of the way GiGi has inspired me, sampled from my book, #GenerationG.

1.   She’s always in the present moment.
She remembers things that she’s learned, and she teaches them back to me. It amazes me every day. For instance, if we’re in an airport and trying to find our gate, I’ll get flustered and start looking all around, confused. But GiGi’s always calm. She’s always telling me to “Just look up.” She knows where the signs are. She learned this from her friend at our New York location, who taught GiGi how to ride the subway. “Just look up, and the signs will tell you where to go,” Britt said, teaching GiGi. GiGi, in turn, teaches it to me every time we travel. GiGi has never forgotten that she got her mother—a true suburban girl—through her first subway ride in New York City. The New York City subway system can be intimidating, even to seasoned city dwellers. But GiGi took it all in stride, strolling confidently through the subway stations and looking up at the signs. She can do that because she’s not preoccupied with thinking five steps ahead. She doesn’t worry about having to meet with a new group of people, or whether we’re going to get to the opening in time. She just lives in the present. We can all learn a lot from her.

2. She is always grateful. Even for the little things.
The way she never takes anything for granted is one of my absolute favorite things about her. Even on these predictable bathroom trips that she always needs to make before going through TSA screening at the airport, she makes me smile. If the bathroom has an automatic towel dispenser, GiGi waves her hand in front of the sensor, and when the towel is dispensed, without missing a beat, she says, “Thank you, God!” I love that! I love how thankful she is, even for the little things. It might seem silly, thanking God for an automatic towel dispenser. But why not? If we can’t learn to appreciate the little things in life—if we lose that sense of wonder—how can we be expected to truly appreciate anything? I love that GiGi is so thankful and that she also sees miracles everywhere. I know I get that from her.

3. Her bravery helps others.
I get my bravery from her as well. Or, I guess I should say that I borrow it since I don’t think I’m particularly brave.  When GiGi was eight years old, I needed dental surgery on one of my teeth. I was sitting in the dentist’s chair and had been so numbed up with drugs that I couldn’t feel the pain. But what was worse were the noises. I could hear the electronic whirring of the dentist’s drill and the shrieking noise it made when it came into contact with my teeth. It was awful! I was lying in the chair and could feel myself start to freak out when I told myself to think about the bravest person I knew. Guess who popped into my head? Not a military general leading troops into battle, not a tightrope walker who works without a net, not even a firefighter or police officer. Nope. I pictured my beautiful daughter GiGi. And I knew that if she were in my position, she would find a way to get through it, just like she’d overcome so many other obstacles in her life. She doesn’t let things stop her. Not pain, not frustration, and not someone telling her she can’t do something. She just goes ahead and finds a way. To me, that’s true bravery. The strength and the grace she shows in difficult situations empower me. Everyone thinks I’m the strong one, but it’s all GiGi. So, I sat there in the dentist’s chair, bore down, and centered myself, thinking about how grateful I was for all I had and trying to emulate GiGi. She wasn’t even there, but she got me through. I know she’s my daughter, though, because just like GiGi, when my surgery was over, I wanted French fries!

GiGi lives in a place I would love to be. It’s called the present.

She always knows what’s going on around her, and she’s able to take it all in in a way that I can only envy. She’s taught me so much. We travel a lot, both for Playhouse activities and because we’re often asked to speak at events or dinners. GiGi is the one who’s always on top of things. It seems like every time we’re headed somewhere, she says, “Um, Mom, your purse.” And she’s almost always right! If I had a penny for every time I’ve almost left my purse in the cab, well, we wouldn’t need to do any fundraising for the Playhouses!

I would love to hear from you!  What inspires you to dream big and do the work to make those dreams a reality?