People sometimes just need inspiration to keep moving along

Rudy Ruettiger’s words—“People sometimes just need inspiration to keep moving along, whether it’s going to Notre Dame and being rejected, or taking a long time to bring a sports movie and Hollywood together, which took a long time for Rudy”—speak with the voice of a man who has walked the road of rejection and endured the fires of delay. In this simple confession lies an eternal truth: that human beings do not always need immediate success, but they always need a spark to keep walking, even when the path seems endless and the doors remain closed.

The heart of this teaching is that inspiration is not luxury, but sustenance. Just as the body cannot survive without food, the soul cannot endure without hope. For when the vision seems far away—whether it be the dream of studying at Notre Dame or seeing one’s story brought to life in film—it is not achievement that keeps the spirit alive, but the reminder that striving itself is noble, and that perseverance shapes destiny.

Rudy’s own story is a testament to this principle. Rejected many times, told he was too small, too weak, too unworthy to play football for Notre Dame, he refused to surrender. His persistence became the soil in which his eventual triumph grew. Even when the gates closed again and again, he pressed forward until the moment came when he wore the uniform, even if only for a fleeting play. And years later, his life was immortalized in the film Rudy, itself a work that took years to bring into being. His tale shows that inspiration is not only found in victory, but also in the fight that leads there.

History gives us many parallels. Think of Abraham Lincoln, who lost election after election, who was scorned and underestimated, yet pressed on until he became the leader of a nation in its darkest hour. Or of Thomas Edison, who, after thousands of failed experiments, said he had not failed but found thousands of ways that would not work—until at last the lightbulb shone. Each of these figures demonstrates that when progress stalls, when rejection strikes, it is not talent alone but inspiration that fuels the will to rise again.

Rudy’s words also point us to the tension between rejection and recognition. To be rejected is to feel invisible, as if the world has denied your worth. Yet if one holds fast, the rejection itself becomes the fire that forges resilience. The long years it took to unite his story with Hollywood remind us that sometimes even when the victory is won, the world is slow to honor it. Yet endurance in the face of delay is itself a mark of greatness.

The deeper meaning is clear: all people face walls, delays, and defeats. Few will be spared them. The difference lies in whether one allows those walls to halt the journey, or whether one seeks inspiration to climb higher. For inspiration does not erase hardship—it gives the heart strength to endure it. It reminds the weary traveler that even rejection, even delay, may one day become the very foundation of the story that inspires others.

Therefore, let this teaching take root in your soul: when you are struck down, when doors close, when years pass without fruit, do not despair. Seek inspiration—in your heroes, in your vision, in your own refusal to quit. For if Rudy could face rejection and yet walk into the golden field of Notre Dame, if his story could wait long years before blazing on the screen, then so too can your journey carry you beyond today’s denials. Let inspiration be the fire that keeps you moving along, until your moment arrives.