Like most of us I sometimes find it hard to find my inspiration. Today is a good example as I accomplish “busy work” but make no progress on some things that I really need to get done. It is frustrating and adds more pressure, and for me that pressure makes it even more difficult to make strides where I need to.
I have learned that joining the resistance can often be my best way out of feeling stuck. So, despite feeling like a break was the last thing I needed I took a break and pondered what might be happening, why inspiration seemed so elusive. I poured a glass of wine (never fails!) and then I tooksome time to read about the word,Inspiration, on the internet.
I discovered that Inspiration has some interesting origins. From the Old French, inspiracion means “inhaling, breathing in.” From the Latin inspirare “blow into, breathe upon”. Inspire in Middle English meant, “breath or put life or spirit into… .”*
As I read it dawned on me that I was approaching inspiration all wrong. In fact, inspiration is not something I could get or find in order to feel motivated to take on the task at hand, but rather it is something that I had to impart to the task at hand. Inspiration, l learned, was within me. It was for me to give, not something to find.
This realization was all well and good but it caused me a bit of a schism. How could I impart inspiration into something when I was not feeling inspired? It felt like a bind. But then I realized that the bind was only in my mind. I wondered what would happen if I got outside my mental box and evaluated the bigger picture. I asked myself,
- What does the task at hand mean in the bigger picture of my life?
- How might accomplishing it enhance my life?
- Might accomplishing it take me closer to a bigger goal?
- How might thinking this way help me to reconnect with my inspiration?
I took a few minutes and mused the answers to these questions, stream of consciousness style. I simply listed responses as fast I could without thinking about them. Then I reviewed the list and learned a few things:
First, I learned that if I thought of the bigger picture rather than focusing on the task at hand I felt inspired and the inspiration filtered down into the task at hand.
Next, I learned that If stayed connected to the bigger picture accomplishing the task at hand became easy no matter how bit it was.
Finally, I learned that anytime I felt disconnected from my inspiration I could simply close my eyes for a moment and focus on the bigger picture and I instantly felt rejuvenated and inspired to continue on. The bonus was that over time I had to take these breaks less and less often.
Is there something that you need to accomplish for which the inspiration feels elusive? Get out of the box for a bit, ask yourself the above questions, and see how easily you can breathe inspiration and new life into things that you need to accomplish.
With Blessings and Gratitude,
From Santa Fé, New México
Dr. Mark
* From: http://bit.ly/2m4LSqn
