Inspiration: Give, AND Receive

Inspiration:  There for you to receive, and give!

I am one of those people who just love inspirational phrases whether they appear as email comments, posters I see on various social media sites, in blogs and as actual newsletters. 

   

Inspirational People I Admire

To sit down and write out an actual list of people from who I draw inspiration would require hours and hours of thought and effort.  Frankly, today I am not quite up to hours and hours of any one thing.  I would prefer to spend today just sort of gliding through it, doing whatever strikes my fancy and enjoying the sun, the breeze and the very low (hooray) humidity.

Yesterday the country celebrated Independence Day, and I love holidays that inspire me to either do better, feel better, love more, accept more, be more. Some days you need "big" inspirations.

Now if you have an international calendar, such as those that come with the various day planners, you may notice that there is an observed holiday falling on almost every day of the year.  Of course out of some 14 different countries listed as observing holidays, you also notice the holidays are not universally celebrated.  But, I digress!

There are people with whom I come in contact via daily email subscriptions.  Brian Tracy sends out daily quotes and Bob Proctor sends out daily Insights.  I enjoy their contributions so much that I save them in Email folders labeled with their name.  I refer to these folders on a regular basis, and these are just two people who serve up daily tidbits to help you navigate your day.  

Brian Tracy and Bob Proctor are but two people daily providing me inspiration. Inspiration truly surrounds me in many forms.  When I experience circumstances that frustrate, anger, sadden, depress or otherwise cause negative feelings for me I wallow for about 20 minutes, then draw on one of my inspiration sources.

Today Bob Proctor featured a wonderful story of inspiration, read it here if you like: http://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/4649/he-wouldnt-give-up

Another little story for you

Within each living being is the genetic code for life. Everything that we consider "alive" on this planet has this genetic code.  I occurred to me that of all the living beings, humans are the only living beings that seem to actively practice "giving up".  

Look at the this image of a weed growing 

through the crack in the cement.  Look at the image through the eyes of the Creator who gave this living green plant everything it needed to begin to grow.  Consider the obstacles this plant endured to reach the level of growth seen here.  The seed from which it grows was not sown by a human hand, the seed most likely was a bird or animal "deposit".  Water fell into the crack, sunlight encouraged photosynthesis and the little seed sprouted and began to grow.  

I have no clue what happened to this little plant.  Perhaps someone plucked it out of the crack, or spread weed killer into the crack, or just took cement and filled the crack in. My point is that this little plant continued to grow until, for whatever reason, it stopped.  The plant did not make a determination to stop.  Nor did it look at its surroundings and say "oh, dear!  I'll never be able to go on here.  There's nothing around me, there's no one to talk to, I have no money, I am uneducated, I have no where to go, so I just give up!"

Back to inspiration

The point of Bob's story today is to never give up.  The banker never gave up on the neighbor because he knew his neighbor needed a bit of inspiration.  The neighbor needed to be "ready" for the banker's help; and when that day arrived both the banker and the neighbor reaped the benefits.

You or I may need to make ourselves "ready" to accept inspiration from another source in order to obtain the benefit provided.  Sometimes we may need to wait for another person, another circumstance, another whatever it is we need to come along so we can become inspired.

We do, however, need ourselves to always be ready to inspire another.  To be the one who says "you can't give up!"  To give another comfort, or support, or advice or any combination of those three.  To be there and present to provide inspiration to not give up.

You never know when someone is going to need just a little inspiration to keep going.  You don't need to be an expert at anything to give someone inspiration.  The act of inspiration is always free to both the giver and receiver.  Look beyond your imperfect life and reach out to someone who needs a bit of inspiration.  You may receive back more than you give.

Thank you Bob Proctor and Proctor Gallagher Institute for inspiring today's post!