Mulling about in inspiration a thought popped to mind.
Inspire and envy are close cousins, only you end up in opposite directions.
Hmmm.
That’s interesting.
With envy you look at something you want or someone you want to be like, and feel deflated.
You believe its out of reach and retract.
With inspiration you see something you want or someone you want to be like and feel uplifted.
You want to bring more of yourself forward and shine.
Not that you’ll necessarily do or be exactly what you see, but you experience there is more of you waiting to shine.
What we believe about ourselves and how we respond can turn the same circumstances towards envy or inspiration.
As I look around in the everyday and many times mundane, here are some things that inspire me:
– the mother cat that puts her life at risk to protect her kittens
– the woman who organized a drive for clothing and household goods to help flood victims
– the woman who organizes an road hockey tournament so her son can continue to play in a new town
– the man who organizes a bike ride to support animal rescue shelters
– all the kids who ask their birthday gifts be for animals in shelters
– all the women and men who foster animals until they find their forever homes, knowing they’ll have to say good-bye one day
– all the women and men who adopt very senior animals, knowing they’ll have to say good-bye some day sooner than later
– the woman who organized a flash mob to celebrate the love of hockey instead of winning
– the feral cats and dogs that slowly allows themselves to trust humans and allow their personalities to come through
– the vegetable garden that comes back four times despite hail and snow
– all the people who live a near normal life in spite of chronic pain
– moms and dads who keep a positive outlook through treatment of potentially life-threatening situations
– all the volunteers who put their heart and soul into making the world a better place for someone else
– my dear friend who takes singing lessons even though she wears cochlear implants
– the trees and plants that find a way to keep growing despite the most difficult conditions
– the woman who made protecting her town’s water supply a personal mission (and succeeded) despite severe opposition
– kids who go through life-threatening illnesses with the wisdom and fortitude of elders
– parents who travel the journey with the kids above
– athletes who celebrate their personal best on the world stage while finishing well back in the pack
– animals who continue to love even after terrible abuse
– birds that migrate from one pole of the earth to the other and back again in one year
– the person who says a kind word to the cashier in the grocery store at Christmas time where the line ups go on forever
– the person supports another without expectation for anything in return
– the person with the full grocery cart at the front of the line who lets the person behind with a few items go first
I almost feel embarrassed for not writing down all that inspires me to be more of me, and know the world will be okay.
Most of all, I’m inspired by all the ways Life supports coming together to bring about a fuller expression Life.
What inspires you in the everyday to be more of yourself?
Wednesdays are your personal invitation to look into the everyday, as well as the philosophical, in order to see where we’re already Living Bliss. As the Life we seek becomes part of our normal day-to-day, we can easily forget we’ve found ourselves as we work, live and play.
Blissed by cats, potatoes and clouds, Lorraine is a “curious left-brained creative big picture idea” type who never stops questioning or connecting the dots to make possibilities come true. She uses her knack for combining intuitive abilities and logic to help you hear the inner whispers “there’s something more” and re-ignite what Lights you up. Lorraine’s deepest wish is for you to be full of yourself in everything you do – a life truly lived in bliss. You can also join her weekly look into the everyday with Letters From Home.
This post inspired me. I would agree with your list. Many of those items are inspiring to me as well. Especially those kindnesses that can only be rewards in and of themselves–with no other gain even possible. And that’s a keen observation about envy and inspiration. I never thought of it that way. But I think you are right. Envy comes from the theory of the world being a meager place, where you can only gain if someone else has lost. So the belief system behind envy is that as long as someone else has this thing you want, you can only get it if they are denied it or it is taken from them.
But conversely if you believe in abundance than someone else’s bounty only makes yours more likely. When I see people accomplishing their dreams, and I’m still stumbling along—it makes me hopeful–because if they can do, so can I. Their gain only makes mine more possible and likely.
Great piece.
Glad you enjoyed Kat. Seeing through the eyes of abundance and there’s more than enough to go around really does change everything. Watching others succeed certainly takes impossible off the table. Thanks for adding your insights to the conversation!