Seeking Higher, Going Further
Inspiration is a great motivator. It can evoke the best in us, aspire us to greater heights and produce creative outcomes in the humdrum, daily routine of everyday existence. It can move us passionately to improve ourselves, to seek new interests and activities, create something of value. It is a big ask but it provokes one to reach beyond the guardrails of one’s regular life and be an inspiration unto oneself and for others.
This sounds amazing, but it is easier said than done. How does one actually accomplish this? Where do we seek the answers to make this a reality, how, where and from whom? Let us delve into this further. This is a topic dear to my heart, because I feel we all need to have tools to keep ourselves fully engaged, functioning at full capacity and constantly challenging ourselves.
Stepping out
Reading up on this favorite topic of mine I have been fascinated by the ideas and suggestions that have triggered my imagination. Most of these relate to stepping out of one’s comfort zone. Recommending leaving one’s known environment and leaning into new experiences. Not just in a literal sense relating to travelling or leaving life behind to go around the world. Rather donning different lens to look at the world around us and refresh our viewpoint. In the words of Daisaku Ikeda, renowned Japanese Buddhist writer “if we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” How stimulating are these words that have the capacity to stir us beyond the mundane?
Life can feel insipid without inspiration, as if being in a black and white movie robbed of color and vibrancy. Seeking motivation is the key. It can be everywhere and anywhere. In the pages of a book, in the lines of a poem, in the joys of learning a new hobby, working on a vision board, disconnecting from online and meditating or even going for a walk in the woods. The magic is in finding the key that unlocks one own trigger. For some it is inspiring to volunteer and contribute one’s time and energy in the service of others. For others it is can be the encompassing love of family time that stimulates them and brings out the best in them. Spending time with loved ones can be like fitting in the missing puzzle that completes and makes one whole again.
How to position oneself
There is a correlation between lifestyle and inspiration. Our outlook, characteristic and interests each impact our manner of living. As we seek enrichment and take it to the next level, we need to keep an open mind and heart. Explore the possibilities and let the experiences flow through us, neither regulating nor judging. Simply soaking them in.
Engaging whole heartedly, without prejudice. Soon a pattern will emerge through the swirling, shifting ebb and flow. As the sources bring their own energy, areas of interest will surface and an outline begin to take shape. Our task at this juncture is to notate, not shutting the door to any idea, however outrageous.
Reflection follows, the journey as much the process of self-discovery as the destination itself. And idea is the fertile beginning, a seed that can germinate with endless possibilities. Mind and emotion in a synergy that can crescendo in symphony.
I am excited and can't wait to embark on this unknown but enthralling journey. I hope you will join me and try things, succeed or fail but improve and assimilate. Keep believing in ourselves and the ability to improve and inspire ourselves, because we can be our own best teachers.
Stay strong together
