Tom Moore joined the military at the beginning of World War II. His service was primarily in India and Myanmar. After the war, he began a business career. While Tom was a success in life, it wasn’t until he approached his 100th birthday that he became an inspiration to everyone in the place of his birth: England.
He began a fundraising campaign for the National Health Service (NHS). He began a challenge of 100 rounds of walking around his garden – 10 rounds per day. He needed the assistance of a walker. He had a goal of raising 1,000 pounds (approximately $1,365 U.S. dollars). He met this goal in four days of walking and then increased it to raising 5,000 pounds. The goal was raised to 500,000 pounds as people around the world began contributing. He met his 100 round goal in 10 days but decided to continue walking. By his 100th birthday, he had raised 30 million pounds. More than 1.5 million people contributed.
To recognized Moore’s achievement, Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care choir, along with Tom recorded a video and single. Within one week, it was the number one single in the U.K. You can see the video here.
Tom became an inspiration of never giving up to citizens of the U.K. during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. On his 100th birthday, he received so many birthday cards that the Royal Mail Service had to create a special sorting facility. Other persons with health challenges were inspired by Sir Tom to set their own fundraising goals through confronting their limitations.
On January 31, 2021, Tom was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. He was tested to have the COVID-19 virus and died three days later.
Sir Tom Moore is an example of what can be achieved by never giving up. Think about how many people have given up on life or personal goals. Giving up is not a disease in a medical sense, but it has probably affected more lives than the COVID-19 pandemic. Giving up is not just a choice of an individual, but it is also influenced by others. All too often, we give up on people who don’t meet our expectations. In fact, we create rules and policies that mandate that we give up on individuals.
The reason that Sir Tom was such an inspiration was that he showed what can be accomplished by someone who never gave up. Just imagine the value of the contributions that Sir Tom made to the lives of those who were on the verge of giving up. Likewise, just imagine the value of the contributions of those who help others from not giving up. While we are developing vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic, just imagine the impact of developing a “vaccine” to prevent giving up.
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“Never give up. No matter what is happening, no matter what is going on around you, never give up.” – Dalai Lama