Finding sources of Inspiration and motivation or inspiration can be tough and we all tend to search for them from time to time. Well, at least I know that I do. And frequently.
I would say I’m not lazy (the first step in fixing the problem is), yet somehow I find myself searching for inspiration or motivation at times.
Podcasts, books, songs, movies and generally Google. These are the usual suspects.
But really, inspiration can come from the strangest of sources. This morning I encountered just such a strange source motivation.
Inspiration from an Unexpected Source
It’s a Saturday morning and today I had planned on a relaxing day, consisting mainly of video games and a short shopping errand. But my “honey-do” list is long, I am behind at my day-job and have tons of side-projects that need some movement.
But it’s a Saturday! Weekend are made for fun. Of course, now, I can look at that thought process and it can go one of two ways: validation or excuse.
I had also planned on sleeping in.
But since I am use to waking early, my body woke me just after 8 AM. I guess this was sort of sleeping in.
I stepped outside to sip on my first cup of coffee, have a smoke, listen to a bit of a podcast and see what the day felt like.
This little regular ritual of mine tends to take somewhere between 5 – 7 minutes usually. And in just a tiny part of this time on this particular Saturday morning, I saw something I considered not only impressive, but rather amazing and assuredly inspiring.
Inspiration from Community
I watched as one of my neighbors drove past my house and backed into their driveway, exchanging our usual friendly waves. As the car slowed to a stop, I saw his wife and two children come out of the house with bags.
The trunk popped open, and the neighbor opened up the car doors while his family stowed their bags. He shut the trunk while they got into the car and shut their doors. He returned to the driver’s seat, shut his door.
And then they drove away. Waving again.
This all happened in less than one minute.
ONE MINUTE!
Now I don’t know if you’re a family-man like me, but this was impressive as hell.
Getting everyone on the same page, same timeline, the same feeling of urgency, with no sense of anger nor disagreement – just getting the job done effectively in the shortest amount of time possible…
A book from my school days comes to mind: Cheaper By the Dozen.
Knowing this family somewhat, I am quite sure they were not on the run or any other sort of adventurous thing. But they were impressive.
And so then I decided my Saturday would be different.
I was motivated. I was inspired.
And it was from the strangest source.
Wake up and be present in life – pay attention.
You’ll never know where your next source of motivation or inspiration will come from!