Not Inspired

Cluster made with On My Knees elements by Darlene Haughin

I’m joining Josanne at A Chocolate Bouquet again today for the last week of Motivational posts in her blog hop. Next week, as we move into February, A Chocolate Bouquet blog hop switches gears to “All Things Love.” For those reading who haven’t decided to try this hop because you just don’t feel like a motivational writer, everyone has thoughts on love! Consider joining in next week to talk about the emotion, where to find it, how to be romantic or even just your take on the people and things you love. The January theme was pretty open and I expect that the February one will be as well. You don’t have to blog about Valentine’s Day…But ya could!

But back to today; it’s still January and we’re still talking motivational, how do your stay on track with your goals and why that’s important to you. How do you inspire and motivate yourself and others. There’s my challenge right now.

How Do You Inspire If You’re Not Feeling Inspired?

I didn’t post anything motivational last week because I’m just low on steam in that area right now. I know, right? Me, uninspired and unmotivated? I’m always “up” and ready to share all the positivity I can muster, and I can muster a lot of positive vibes! But that’s been a challenge this month. I’m not good with negative starts. It’s not just the hospital stay to start the year; the whole month has had a bit of a dark cloud for me. Maybe that is exactly how I inspire right now.

As you know, I’ve been called inspiring because of my refusal to let my issues with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis stop me. Oh, they slow me down, sometimes a lot, but the one thing they don’t get to even touch is my spirit. I have my rough patches, but deep down inside, I won’t allow it to change who I am. Who I am includes that when I’m depressed I’m more embarrassed than actually depressed. I think that’s ego.

The thing is, that’s how I continue to inspire, even when I’m not inspired, when I'm feeling challenged. Even the happiest and most tenacious people have bad days. If you’re having a bad day, even a bad week, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost that spark that keeps you a positive person. You just need a break to regroup. Know that you’ll be fine tomorrow and can pick up then.

You don’t have to be battling an ailment to inspire. You don’t even have to be happy and perky all the time. I offer this; every one of us inspires someone in a positive way. Parents inspire children, teachers inspire students. Members of the clergy and volunteers in social groups inspire. We all set examples for others by just being who we are. The talents we have the things we work hard for, every kindness we extend; they all have power when witnessed by others. Of course we can also inspire others to not be like us. Whether it’s “I want that, but not like he got it,” or “I want her work ethic, but without being as cruel as she is to her employees,” we’ve still set the example and others are influenced by us. When we have a bad day, or feel unmotivated, we also let the people we influence know that they can still attain their goals if they have a bad day too, because tomorrow we’ll be back to that forward moving direction. We can inspire even when we don’t feel very inspirational.

Okay, personally I want to be the good example. When I’m having a tough time I want to show that it’s not the end of the world and I still want people to think I’m worth a hug for encouragement.