Guest Post: Finding Inspiration

by Sarah Brooks

At various times in our lives, and for an assortment of reasons, we seek inspiration to help us move forward. Sometimes external forces provide us with the spark we are looking for, but more often than not, inspiration comes from somewhere inside us.

Whether you are stuck in a rut, looking for ways to elevate yourself, or simply striding forward through life; inspiration is at the center of your ability to succeed.  Beauty, charity, selflessness, natural sensory experiences, and a host of other external influences inspire us to feel and do things we might never touch-on otherwise.  But inspiration from within is highly personal; custom fitted to our individual wants and needs.

Finding your true inspiration starts with inward reflection; tapping passion, faith, strengths and even weaknesses.


Inner Passion Inspires

Whatever motivates you without requiring you to think about it, or moves you into action, without a second thought, is probably one of your passions.  Athletes, for example, crazy about their sports, pick up bats and balls and racquets; ever eager to hit the court or field to improve themselves.  Writers take pen to paper or rattle keyboards in search of perfect expression, or poetic passages.  Animal-lovers take-in wounded strays, fending for creatures unable to do it for themselves.  Activists for causes work the streets promoting better health, fairness, political outcomes and range of other missions held dear.  Passion - all of it.

Individual inspiration and passion are so closely linked as to be almost inseparable.  They form two-way streets within each of us, practically begging to be acknowledged and validated by tangible actions.  The closer you get to your inner passions, the better your ability to harness inspiration to apply to everything you do.

Inspirational Strengths

Your personal strengths naturally foster inspiration, prompting you to stay true to yourself by growing in areas where you already excel.  People who are good at math, for instance, challenge themselves with difficult equations - inspired to test their limits.  Empathetic individuals tuned-in to the plight and feelings of others are inspired to lend their ears to friends; hoping to help them when they need it most. Through trial and error, at times, we all find our strengths. And with each revelation we draw inspiration from the things we are good at; always striving to elevate our strengths.

What about Weaknesses?

On the other side of the coin, we sometimes draw inspiration from perceived weaknesses.  Call it motivation, desire to succeed, impetus or whatever captures the notion best for you; but the desire to cancel-out our weaknesses inspires us to behave in certain ways.  Individual failure, or whatever we perceive it to be, is a strong inspirational force, prompting us to redirect our efforts toward the things we want to do better.  Like the Little Engine That Could, we are ever-inspired by inner voices prompting us to turn weaknesses into strengths - especially when the odds are stacked against us.

Faith

Perhaps the strongest force within many of us; faith inspires in far-reaching ways.  Whether religious in nature, or simply driven by a personal belief that things will work out in positive ways; faith furnishes inspiration we can bank on.  Knowing we may fail or stumble, yet continuing forward just the same shows strong inspirational faith, which can be applied to almost every situation we encounter during our lives.

True inspiration takes many forms, but it stems from things we already hold inside:  Strength, passion, weakness and faith.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Sarah Brooks from Freepeoplesearch.org. She is a Houston based freelance writer and blogger. Questions and comments can be sent to brooks.sarah23 @ gmail.com.