December 4, 2009:  Motivation vs. Inspiration

 Our culture is so action oriented.  We give awards and monuments to those who have done the most and to those who have literally died trying.  Somehow we have equated actions with results as in the greater the action, the greater the result.  So, we almost feel superior if our calendars are crammed and we have no time for anything.

 I’ve come to believe very differently and at the heart of this is the difference between inspiration and motivation.

 I believe that we have simply have forgotten how to live well.  Somehow living has gotten all mixed up with production.  It’s those people who have had an encounter with terminal illness or experienced some other life jarring trauma that tell us to slow down and take time to love and appreciate all that we have.

 We say we must do that and it does sound good but we only learn by doing and by experience.

 I thought I was living pretty close to the heartbeat of things…until I found myself unemployed and flat on the mat.  I did not realize how much of my identity and self worth were tied to being Executive Director and how much of me was identified with the agency where spent half of my life.  I was loving myself conditionally.

 And through the process of encountering myself in the stillness of my time, I’m learning to love myself more deeply.  I’m also loving the people around me more fully.  I’m finding my loved ones and even strangers more poignant, amusing, dear.  In learning to love me I can see others more clearly with eyes of love as well.

 I promised myself I would not abandon me to the push to find a new job.  I promised myself I would not be motivated by fear.  I would not squander this amazing opportunity by compromising my beliefs

 I promised myself I would act out of inspiration and not motivation.  Motivation may pump you up momentarily and it comes usually from an external source – an advertisement, a book, a “motivational speaker”, an idea from a friend, a New Year’s resolution.  But when we act out of motivation on really important things we are most likely going to fail when the motivation wears off, and motivation usually wears off.

 

Inspiration, on the other hand, comes from within.  It is spirit whispering to us or shouting at us in some cases and we simply feel the call to respond.  Motivation can feel like pushing ahead.  Inspiration feels like we have to act and the action does not feel difficult, it just flows from the inspiration.  It is the soul’s calling.

 And we can trust inspiration.  Motivation can be fickle, a slick salesman.

 So I’m committed to acting out of inspiration for my next steps and so far so good!

 With Love, Connie