Why Bother to be Inspired?

Inspire means to stimulate, affect and motivate. Without inspiration, I know my life would be dull, stagnant and boring. 

To be inspired is to be filled with creative power. It is a supernatural prompting that is sparked from within. Yet, I also know that I can be invigorated, roused, and rallied by other people. 

From whence inspiration comes, might be mysterious, yet, I do know when I’ve been inspired by someone. 

Inspiring Moments

Inspirational moments are just that; moments. They might be a brief interchange with someone, a few words from something we’ve read or sometimes a new idea that solves a dilemma we’ve had suddenly makes an appearance in our brain.

Yet, that interchange with another person, that  phrase we read in a book or the new concept that appears in our heads captures our attention. Then, it is up to us to feed that small ember into a flame. 

I’ve been influenced by the disciplined lives and kind words from a number of people. I remember when I was pregnant with our first child. I was filled with fright by the thought of becoming a mother. Of course, I wanted to be the best mom ever, but had no clue how to parent. When my husband announced that we’d soon be parents to our Bible study group, one woman exclaimed, “You will make such a good mother.” 

Her words motivated and energized me to grow into that good mother role she’d predicted for me. I read books and articles about every developmental stage my baby would go through so that I would be prepared for what was ahead. That mother saw what I could become, a good mom, and that became my aim. 

When I began to train for an open water ⅓ mile swim, a woman swimming in the lane beside me said, “You should train for the Long Bridge Swim.” That was not on my list of competitions to sign up for, yet her words created a spark inside of me. I found that training for a 1.78 mile swim made me more than ready for the ⅓ mile distance swim. 

The final example comes from one of my yoga instructors. She saw my capability to become a yoga instructor long before I imagined it for myself. Because of her influence in my life, I signed up for teacher’s training and now find myself leading yoga classes as an instructor. 

Why bother to be inspired? As long as we are alive there will be opportunities we cannot imagine until someone imagines them for us. Then it will be up to us to fan that little spark into a flaming reality.