You know those weeks where you feel like you should be doing about 99,956,789 things and you just can’t get them all done? I am having one of those weeks. It’s the end of the year, we’re preparing to go out of town, and everything seems to require a commodity I don’t have enough of: time.
But this week has also been inspiring. Isn’t it great when inspiration spontaneously pops up in your everyday life?
Today I want to share three pieces of inspiration with you from my week because I know that you, too, may be having a week like mine–if not right now, some other week. In the meantime, this post will be here waiting for you!
1- An African Proverb
So often I wonder if my efforts are really worthwhile. After all, I am not reaching millions of people each day and my efforts aren’t visibly changing the entire world. Not by a long shot. But if one person has more joy today after reading what I’ve written or participating in my course, then the time and energy were worth it.
If you are feeling discouraged or a whole lot less than enough, this little proverb may be exactly what you need today. Be a mosquito! Keep going, keep trying—you are making a difference! YOU ARE ENOUGH!
2- A Poem
My son had to memorize a poem for school. He chose Langston Hughes’ poem Dreams (I may or may not have voiced my opinion to persuade him, but that’s not really relevant here). Since I heard him recite it over and over this week, I had a lot of opportunities to really internalize it.
I was recharged to remember that I am holding on to my dreams. No, I am not perfect, but I am giving each day my best shot. Just as birds were made to fly, life is pointless if we are not developing our talents and growing. No, it is not comfortable or easy, but it is fulfilling.
If you are feeling defeated or considering yourself a failure, hold fast to your dreams! Find an escape, something you love to do, and incorporate it into your life. If you have already done that, celebrate it! Like me, you may notice you are still busy, but you find joy in what you are doing—even the mundane. Don’t beat yourself up over your inadequacies, celebrate your progress and keep dreaming. You can do this!
3- An Excerpt from a Children’s Book
I know I say this a lot, but I’m saying it again: I love books! This beautiful excerpt comes from The Velveteen Rabbit:
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real, you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Isn’t this wonderful? This is what it means to live, isn’t it? We are becoming. We are giving each day all we’ve got and getting up the next ready to try again. As we do so, we get a little less concerned with the superficial. We recognize all those things that truly matter (and by the way, what matters to you may not be the same as what matters to your next door neighbor or your cousin or the person in front of you in the checkout line—and that’s OK). We will not become in an instant, but over time. Wherever you are on your journey, I hope you will keep trying!
Find Inspiration in Your Life
Each of these three inspirations were things I first heard/read and then dismissed. I was busy. It wasn’t until later as I sat at a red light and found myself reflecting on my week that they began to surface. As I stopped in a parking lot a few minutes later, I jotted down a few notes to myself so I wouldn’t forget them again.
This week—or some other intense and busy week—I hope you will take just a moment (maybe while you are driving or waiting in a long line or waiting on hold) to reflect on your week and look for the inspiration that you may have been too busy to really notice and internalize. Feel free to share them below in the comments or on social media. I hope that these inspirations bring you joy.
