Choosing to be INSPIRED over MOTIVATED

When we feel that we "have to" do something, it's usually because we want to avoid something else. We "have to" pay the electricity bill to avoid sitting in the dark. We "have to" wash the dishes to avoid getting sick from rotten food and bugs. We "have to" eat the vegetables to avoid heart disease. This list could be endless.

MOTIVATION, by definition, is 'a reason or reasons that we act or behave in a certain way'. The reason is an outside FORCE that "makes us", aka forces us, to do something. When we look at the things that need to be done as being forced upon us, it creates a perspective that we don't have any choice in the matter and more often than not, feelings like resentment, hesitation, and avoidance can keep us from getting things done.

When we honestly think about it though, the choice is truly all ours. We can choose to live off the grid, we can choose to use paper plates, and we can choose to enjoy all the greasy food we want and just be content with clogged arteries.

What it comes down to is knowing exactly what it is that you want in life - FOR your life. Once you know that you want to live comfortably and enjoy reading on the couch at night and use the A/C keep you cool in the summer, you decide that paying the electric bill allows you to live that comfy life. Once you know that you want to feel healthy and strong so that you can do all the things you want to do, you decide that clean dishes and clean arteries allow you to have energy and strength to be active.

Once this perspective shifts, you become INSPIRED to create the life you want to live. You have an internal spark within you that actually stimulates you to do something - even the things you "have to" do.

So instead of feeling resentful and those other crummy emotions, we feel thankful, energized, and proactive in our actions. We realize that within the millions of choices available to us, we can decide which of those options will give us the life that we want, and choose those over the ones that don't.

The trick is actually discovering what it is that you actually want. Because once you know that, the choices are easy to make - even paying the bills and eating the veggies.

So, how can you switch your perspective about something that you would rather not do? How can the life you WANT be affected by the choice you make, and the attitude you have, towards that thing you "have to" do? If it honestly goes against everything you want for your life, maybe it's time to get rid of it or find an alternative. If it IS something that leads you to, or supports what you really DO want, then make sure you give it the gratitude it deserves for what it does FOR you - and you will see how quickly you feel INSPIRED by all kinds of things around you!

XO K~