By Spence M Finlayson

What inspires you? We can receive inspiration from a whole lot of things; watching ordinary people accomplish great things, observing people overcome life's adversities and listen to great motivational and inspirational speakers like Les Brown, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins and Earl Nightingale.

Oftentimes we get so bogged down by life's curve balls that we forget how amazing the gift that life really is. Maintaining a positive mental attitude on life is a crucial part of finding inspiration. Our brains are wired to find things we are looking for. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you are always thinking negative and being very cynical and waiting for things to go wrong, then your life will reflect that. On the other hand, having a positive outlook on life will bring you joy, unspeakable joy and provide you with inspiration when you least expect it.

At this time I focus my attention on a man who has been a huge source of inspiration to me and millions of others. He is Sir Sidney Poitier, a Bahamian actor, film director, author and diplomat. As a young boy growing up in the Bahamas in the 1960s and '70s, when his movies came to the local theatres in Nassau, I was so inspired by watching a son of the soil star on the big screen.

In 1964, Sir Sidney became the first Bahamian and first black man to win an Academy Award for best actor for his landmark role in "Lilies of the Field". We were so proud as Bahamians and the entire nation celebrated his huge success. The significance of these achievements was bolstered in 1967 when he starred in three successful films, all of which dealt with issues involving race relations: "To Sir With Love", "In the Heat of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", making him the top box office star of that year.

I can remember very vividly while working on Paradise Island as a summer student in 1968. I would be thrilled just to catch a glimpse of Sir Sidney playing tennis, then driving off in his flashy Oldsmobile. He stirred something deep inside of me that I could one day be somebody. I knew his brother Reginald Poitier and sister Maude Poitier-Hamilton and I went to high school with their children.

Sir Sidney is the son of Evelyn and Reginald James Poitier, who owned a farm on Cat Island. They regularly travelled to Miami to sell tomatoes and other produce from their farm. As a matter a fact, Sir Sidney was born in Miami while his parents were visiting.

Sir Sidney in his book "The Measure of a Man" tells the story of his premature birth, prior to which his mother went to a soothsayer:

"She was rightly concerned because I was a very premature baby, born unexpectedly while my parents were travelling to Miami to sell a hundred boxes of tomatoes at the Produce Exchange. When I arrived weighing in at less than three pounds, the question was, is there enough there to take hold? May father, who had lost several children already to disease and stillbirth, was somewhat stoical about the situation. He went to a local undertaker in the 'coloured' section of Miami to prepare for my burial, coming home with a shoe box that could serve as a miniature casket. My mother, however, felt that I could be saved. One afternoon she left the house where they were staying to visit the local palm reader and diviner of tea leaves. After some intense gazing back and forth and much silence , the soothsayer closed her eyes and took my mother's hand. There was more silence, an uncomfortably long silence, and then the soothsayer's face began to twitch. Her eyes rolled back and forth behind their lids. Strange sounds began to gurgle up from her throat. Then all at once her eyes flew open again and she said, 'Don't worry about your son. He will survive and he will not be a sickly child. He will grow up to be …he will travel to most of the corners of the earth. He will walk with kings. He will be rich and famous. Your name will be carried all of the world. You must not worry about that child'."

Wow, how is that for inspiration! Sir Sidney lived with his family on Cat Island until he was 10, when they moved to Nassau. At the age of 15, he was sent to Miami to live with his brother. At the age of 17, he moved to New York City and held a string of jobs as a dishwasher. A Jewish waiter sat with him every night for several weeks helping him learn to read the newspaper. He then decided to join the United States Army after which he worked as a dishwasher until a successful audition landed him a spot with the American Negro Theatre.

Determined to refine his acting skills and rid himself of his noticeable Bahamian accent, he spent the next six months dedicating himself to achieving theatrical success. On his second attempt at the theatre he was noticed and given a leading role in the Broadway production of "Lysistrata", for which he received good reviews. By the end of 1949, he had to choose between leading roles on the stage and an offer to work for Darryl F Zanuck in the film "No Way Out". His performance in "No Way Out" as a doctor treating a Caucasian bigot played by Richard Widmark was noticed and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and more prominent than those most African American actors of the time were offered. His breakout role was as a member of an incorrigible high school class in "Blackboard Jungle" in 1955.

Sir Sidney was also a great film director. His most successful being the comedy "Stir Crazy" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, which for years was the highest grossing film directed by a person of African descent. From 1997 to 2007 he served as the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan. And so a man born into dire poverty rose from very humble beginnings in the Bahamas to become a leader and very well respected in his field. He is without a doubt the most famous Bahamian.

I remember seeing him in a television interview BET with host Ed Gordon who asked Sir Sidney if he wanted to be the best black actor in Hollywood and he said with his brilliant speaking voice: "I did not want to be the best black actor in Hollywood, I wanted to be the best actor period, better than Paul Newman, better than Marlon Brando, better than George C Scott. I wanted to be the best."

Sir Sidney Poitier continues to be an inspiration to me and he raised the ceiling on my possibilities.