are you inspired?

Throughout this course of life we will have numerous things, people, situations that will inspire us. But how long does this inspiration last? How can you inspire yourself to take the risks, ask for what you want and go for it? Do you wait for someone else to cheer you on before you become inspired to take action on the thing(s) that will give you fulfilment in and with life? It may sound easy however, having inspiration and maintaining that is an on-going task you should challenge yourself to do everyday. Write your inspirations in a journal and read them daily, weekly, or monthly. Are you accomplishing any of your goals? If not why? Would you believe if I told you that at one point in my life NOTHING could inspire me.

Let’s define what inspiration means and then you determine for yourself if you are inspired or if anything/anyone gives you inspiration.

According to Dictionary.com (2023), inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. It is a feeling of enthusiasm you get from someone or something that gives you new and creative ideas.

Now that it has been defined, ask yourself this question what inspires me?

As I mentioned above, there was a time when nothing could inspire me. Why is that? I did not feel that I had any talents that would be worth exploring thus I was not inspired to do anything.

I asked a young man what inspires him. His answer was my family, my freedom of being able to do whatever I want, when I want, my girlfriend inspires me. My inspirational creativity comes from being a child growing up in a suburban area without being ostracized for my style and taste. Thus it caused me to come up with my own brand of clothing. Nature inspires me - the animals and the colors of nature which are inspirational because I like to see the beauty in the world. - Kesean Dyson (St. Francis University)/Owner of the clothing brand The Style of Independence.

As you can see inspiration can come in all forms to include nature. My inspiration for S.H.E. came from wanting to help people to dream and believe again. When I lacked inspiration is was because I was allowing the negativity of the world to stop my dreams and stunt my creative thoughts. I found myself comparing other’s successes to my own and it caused feelings of inferiority (especially if that person was younger).

The pandemic inspired many who dreamed of becoming business owners to pursue entrepreneurship. As a result many brought to life their creative sides that they once only dreamed about. I became inspired after a session I held with a client whom had been in treatment for about 6 months with me and was working on the internal roadblocks that prevented him from moving past his fears.

During this session he said to me, “you inspired me to believe in myself, my talents, and my ability. I have done the work and it was hard but it was worth it. His statement inspired me to want to do more, to help more, and mostly to become more.

Whenever I had doubts or fears tried to creep in, I thought back to that session and allowed it to inspire me to remember my dreams, write down my goals, and take the steps to bring forth my vision.

Since then I have been inspired by much and it is the little things that inspire me (i.e. listening to birds sing, playing with my dogs, spending time with my children and sowing into their dreams so that they can be and continue to be) inspired.