Sweet Inspiration

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Inspiration.  Where it comes from, the impact that it has on our lives, how it guides us to where we need to be. How it can propel us to great heights even when we don't want to -- or even think we can -- climb even the smallest of hills. 

These thoughts have then led to where Inspiration comes from...where do you get it? What inspires you? And, once inspired, how do you then take that spark and inspire others?

I thought that I would start off the blog today with a quotation, but the truth is, there are way too many quotes to even begin to search through them...and frankly, nothing inspired me!!  So, I decided to Google "Inspiration", and this is the first thing that came up:

Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or other artistic endeavour. Literally, the word means "breathed upon," and it has its origins in both Hellenism and Hebraism. The Greeks believed that inspiration came from the muses, as well as the gods Apollo and Dionysus. Similarly, in the Ancient Norse religions, inspiration derives from the gods, such as Odin. Inspiration is also a divine matter in Hebrew poetics. In the Book of Amos the prophet speaks of being overwhelmed by God's voice and compelled to speak. In Christianity, inspiration is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
(taken from Wikipedia, under "Artistic Inspiration")

I love the idea that one is "breathed upon"... that is, for me, how it feels when I am inspired.  Inspiration plays a huge part in my life...I am inspired when I go into my ribbon room at home and make headbands; I am inspired when I see my oldest daughter take a smaller child under her wing to teach her something. I am inspired when I see my son take on a new task and master it; and when my middle daughter shows unexpected kindness or grace.  I am inspired when I walk into the gym and I see a new friend working out, doing something that I have been raving about and she has decided to try it...I am inspired by bursts of color, and I am continually inspired by the beauty of the human spirit.  All of things inspire me to be a better human being, to try harder, to be MORE.

Since I started this blog a few months ago, I have been blessed enough to be told that I have inspired YOU.  As many of you know, that was one of my key factors in starting the blog - to inspire MYSELF to do better, to make better choices; and hopefully, in doing so, to reach out and inspire others.  To know that I am accomplishing this means so much to me!  I also take it as a very serious responsibility...it is not something I take lightly, and I do think about it a lot...it is helping me to make the right choices and to do what I know to be the "right thing."

Weight loss and this journey towards better health is such a tricky, twisty path.  When one first steps foot on this path, it is usually with a fair amount of trepidation and uncertainty...what lies ahead? Can I do it? And if I do do it, then what happens next?  For me, I turned to others who had walked this path before me...I am lucky: I have several friends and loved ones that have walked the path towards better health and have actually made it to "home plate," if you will...they are living and maintaining healthy, happy lives.  This is my goal.  My inspiration, you might say.  Now that I have been walking this path for the past five months, I am learning that inspiration is not static - it is not one thing, one point on a map.  It is continually moving forward, learning, taking in...and adjusting.  It is about the constant search for inspiration -- and then, once inspiration is found, taking it in to create MORE inspiration!

For me, it is inspiring that I inspire you.  To know that someone who reads this blog can then make even the smallest of healthy changes in their lives...to have made the world a little better, a life a little healthier...well, that is sustainable inspiration.  Kind of like the most wonderful of cycles...you inspire me, so I inspire you, so you inspire me, and so on, and so on...

It makes you think, doesn't it? For me, knowing that I've inspired someone to make positive changes in their lives -- well, it just lifts me right up.  And makes me even more determined to make choices and to move forward in a way that will continue to inspire others...including myself!

So, my charge for today is this:  get out there! Find your inspiration, and then, make a little more...and then, give it away.  I can assure you, as a friend once told me a very long time ago:  giving IS receiving.  It is the very same thing.