Inspiration vs. Motivation

Do you need to motivate yourself to exercise? Eat well? Do your taxes? Clean your house? Find a new job? Get out and date? What if, instead you were inspired to do so? How does that feel?

I like Wayne Dyer’s distinction between inspiration and motivation. He says that motivation comes from a negative impetus; you want to do something so something negative won’t happen. (“I want to exercise so I don’t get fat.”) Inspiration comes from a positive impetus; you want to do something so something positive will happen. (“I want to exercise so I feel energy and vibrancy.”) When we are negatively motivated, it takes will-power to overcome the negative energy to get going. When we are positively inspired, we can’t wait to jump out of bed to do what we want to do.

How else can you think of it? Are you wanting something out of fear or love? Think about it in your own life. Not only does coming from love and inspiration feel better, the Universe will work with you to help you create what you want. When you come from fear, you are inviting whatever you fear into your life.

Living Fully in the Present

“Instead of goals, make the commitment to love joyfully in the moment. Stop dreaming about the future and get back to the only thing you have now. Decide to live fully in the present.” (Wayne Dyer)

I love this quote. It is incredibly inspired and brought to my mind immediately one of the biggest (and understandable) obstacles many people have around manifesting: “How can you be wanting changes in your life, whatever they are, and still be present with your now? Isn’t the very position of wanting a change mean you aren’t being present?” No! In fact, in one of the Universe’ greatest ironies, you can’t manifest until you are perfectly present and seeing your present as perfect.

We aren’t capable of not wanting or desiring something. Desiring goes along with our human consciousness. (If you want to read more on that thought, look here: Is Non-Greed Possible?) Where we run into suffering is wanting something (whether it is something we want to be, do or have) and not feeling we can have it. We feel envy, frustration, and self-pity. These thoughts are merely beliefs that are limiting what we receive. So, our goal is to live fully in the now, to love our life and to know we are open to more.

Inspirational Quote

"I will get rich according to the definiteness of my vision,
the fixity of my purpose,
the steadiness of my faith,
and the depth of my gratitude."
-Wallace Wattled, The Science of Getting Rich

Where are you in this quote? Do you have a strong vision and purpose? How is your faith? Do you feel very grateful? Which one of these do you do well? Which one could be holding you back?

Manifesting Story: My New Yoga Mat

I have needed a new yoga mat for some time now. The one I have is worn and, well, looks worn. Shopping for yoga mats is not my favorite activity. Styles are constantly changing and surfaces are so different, it is hard to know just what will work for you. Since there is no yoga mat store, all ordering is done online which means returning what doesn’t work and starting the process again. So, now you know why I have needed a new mat for some time – pure procrastination.

In comes Woyopracmo (World Yoga Practice Month). This website was started by a fellow yogini to encourage those who signed up to practice yoga daily for the month of January. Several of us also donated prizes to be given away in a random drawing of those who did complete the entire month.

Have you figured out what I won yet? You guessed it! A yoga mat. But not just any yoga mat, The Black Mat. Apparently it is the crème de la crème of yoga mats. (I admit, I had not heard of it. Even my husband, who does not practice yoga, exclaimed, “It’s THE BLACK MAT!” with such reverence, I had to be impressed.) Here’s what is so fabulous, the mat is perfect. It is amazing. I have never had a yoga mat like this one before. I didn’t know yoga mats could be this fabulous! The invoice said it cost $75. I would never have spent that much money on a mat. Yet again, the Universe provided me with more than I would have provided for myself. Thank you!

Letting in the Good

I have discovered a new step for me in receiving, accepting it in. I know, “duh”, but there it is. I am a doer. I can out-do the best of the best, and I am in the process of recovering from that syndrome! My big “aha” of the year is that all my doing doesn’t leave space for things to come in. I am like a hamster in a wheel, things are always going for me. Interestingly, I love what I do. I am truly inspired by my life, my marriage, my parenting, my work. It is all so good and so wonderful, I didn’t think the “doing” was harming me. Hmmm…”harming” is too strong of a word. Certainly doing things that inspire me doesn’t harm me, though, when done too much, with no space between the thoughts, it doesn’t leave room for the new, wonderful things to come in.

Surrender has been my focus for this year so far. Surrendering to the moment, to the control, to the flow of my life. In my yoga practice, I have focused on forward folds and restorative poses, all about surrender. In my breathing practice I have focused on exhalation, the surrender and letting go portion of the breath. I often struggled with my exhale, never fully letting it go completely. For the past week, my exhale has felt glorious. Now, I realize that it is time to do inhalation, bringing in the something new. I am ready to accept something new.

I have been reading a new book: Relax into Wealth by Alan Cohen. He has some good quotes for me that I would love to share with you:

“If what you are doing isn’t working, doing more of it will not work any better. Creative visualization requires far less effort than exasperated action, and sets you up to win. So quite spinning your wheels, shrug off the day’s difficulties, and take a set in the theater of your goals. Then you will be unbeatable.” (Alan Cohen)

“The game of success is less about getting good things to happen, and more about letting good things happen.” (Alan Cohen)

“I am fully and wholeheartedly willing to receive ____________ now.” (Alan Cohen)
“Leap, and the net will appear.” (Julia Cameron)

“The antidote to fear is not to push hard against it or buck your way through it. The answer is to tap into a deeper knowing than the level that fear is speaking from. That deep place always exists inside you; your role is to relax into it.” (Alan Cohen)

Everyone Wins

Here is a quote I came across today and wanted to share:

“When you manage to stay connected to your Energy stream, you always win.
And you know what, somebody else doesn't have to lose for you to win.
There is always enough.”
Abraham-Hicks

Let’s take the thought one step further, not only does no one else lose, everyone else gains when you are feeling inspired (e.g., connected to your energy stream). I often hear of people feeling selfish, working on finding their inspiration. It takes time from their family, time from their priorities, and, goodness, should I be focused on the hope of a dream? When you are inspired, everyone wins, everyone. You will be a kinder, more compassionate spouse, sibling, friend, employee, world citizen. "Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." (Howard Thurman)

Manifesting Story: Ants

I just have to share this manifesting story. It is definitely negative – what you don’t want to d – and amusing all at the same time. My husband, Ron, doesn’t like ants. I certainly don’t enjoy them, but his dislike plays with the edge of fear. Two years ago we realized the hill in our back yard had a lot of ants on it. Last year the ants were much closer to our house and he began to get nervous. In the summer, he saw them on our deck. Then, we were reading a book to our daughter. A character in the book left a donut out on the floor and the next day ants were swarming around it. Ron got visually disturbed by it (I think the term is “grossed out”!) Anyway, the next day we had about 200 ants just inside the door of our deck, swarming our breakfast table. Hmmmm...connection? He did see how he had manifested it and we haven’t had an infestation since!

Just. Feel. Good.

"If you had one goal, and that was to feel good, you would never again need to hear another word from anyone. You would live successfully and happily and in a way of fulfilling your life’s purpose ever after." ~ Abraham-Hicks

Hands In The Clay

"There are no happier people on this planet than those who decide
that they want something, define what they want, get hold of the
feeling of it even before its manifestation, and then joyously watch
the unfolding as piece by piece by piece it begins to unfold.
That’s the feeling of your hands in the clay." - Abraham-Hicks

Manifesting: Feel Gratitude and Love

Manifesting: Feel Gratitude and Love Enjoy this brief 6 minute meditation for bringing the feeling of love into your heart.

Blame vs. Responsibility

We need to take responsibility for all in our life. It is not blame. Blame involves shame and negativity and responsibility indicates spiritual maturity. With responsibility, you can look at your situation and say, “Hmmm…I created this situation. What am I suppose to learn from it? What is the belief behind it? What is the fear? How can I feel love here?” With blame all we feel is judgment and shame. With judgment we further block the flow of energy.

Manifesting Story: Growing Tomatoes

I have a student who gave me 7 of the most beautiful tomato plants you have ever seen. They came from heirloom seeds that she had planted and she had cultivated them with love and attention. After receiving them, I planted three and the other four…well, they languished in my garage! I kept forgetting to get them in the ground. When we finally did, my husband said, “forget it, they are too far gone.” But I was so sad about neglecting them that I couldn’t just give up so iton the ground they went. Almost all of them did fairly well. It took some time, but they seemed to be growing and taking to their new situation. One, though, was so sick. I mentioned to my daughter that I didn’t think it would make it. She said, “Give it another chance.” I looked at her and realized she was right! I began to feel good around it, to enjoy looking at it and feel grateful it was there in my life. Most of all, I began to see it as healthy and vibrant. Yep, that plant was huge! In fact, it was easily three times larger than any of the other plants. It was a cherry tomato plant and at one point during the season, it had at least two hundred tomatoes on it. (Yes, we counted. I homeschool, remember?) Hmmm….manifesting a beautiful harvest. It can be used everywhere!

Manifesting Stories: A Good Book

Okay, this one is a good one because it involves a few miracles. One of my very favorite authors is Dr. Wayne Dyer. His books always inspire me on a very deep level. He recently came out with a new book Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life that was released this summer. I ordered it back in March when it first came out for preorders. I desperately wanted it to read on my vacation which I was taking the last weekend in July but its scheduled release was August. Now I am not sure how publishing works, but I find in most areas, late is usually the norm. I still made the request to the Universe and then promptly forgot about it.

The Sunday before we were to leave, I received the notice from Amazon that my book was on its way. I was amazed! Not only was it published on time, it was released early. But we were leaving on Thursday morning and I find my Amazon deliveries always take a minimum of 5 days and with the notice coming on Sunday, it probably wouldn’t go out until Monday. Again, I was disappointed, but my husband reminded me to manifest it. (Thank goodness for family members!) I checked my Amazon account on Monday and it had yet to be picked up. Ahhh!!!! I was feeling a bit frantic. When I felt that feeling, I knew I needed to relax so I had a couple of fun days and forgot about it. You know how the story ends, don’t you? It came Wednesday morning! I truly saw this one as a miracle.

"Reality"

I hear a lot about “reality” from my clients who are learning about manifesting. They can see some areas in their life that they can change, and then there are those areas that feel out of the realm of “choice”. The statements I hear all begin with a “but” and then I hear: “I have to pay taxes…I have to pay bills…I have to make dinner for my family…I have to exercise…” It feels like there is no “choice” here, doesn’t it? Like you can’t manifest something different. Remember, manifesting is about learning you are not a victim in your life, you do have choices in everything. Anytime you use the phrase “have to”, it is your signal that you are using victim language and there is a shift that needs to happen.

First of all, the “reality” is you don’t have to pay taxes. You don’t have to pay bills. You don’t have to make dinner. You don’t have to exercise. You choose all of those things. Now, perhaps you choose to do them because the alternative is so disagreeable it doesn’t feel like you have a choice. “I choose to pay taxes because I don’t want to go to jail.” “I choose to pay bills because I don’t want to lose my home.” “I choose to cook dinner because I don’t want my family to be hungry.” “I choose to exercise because I don’t want to be fat.” There is still a choice and even if you use these words, which still feel negative, you are at least making these “disagreeable acts” choices. Just changing the language takes it out of the victim place. I think there is another step that brings it into the unbelievable joy realm; the place we are all craving to attain. Let’s change your perspective and your paradigm.

“Are you kidding me? I pay only a small portion of my salary and I get to support a government that gives me a safe place for my children to live, great schools, paved roads, clean sewers, emergency services, and even more that I am unaware of! That is fabulous!” “I love my utilities! I can actually flip a switch and have lights in my home. I can turn a knob and my oven warms. I have such an abundance of water I can actually pour gallons of it, warmed for me, over my head to get clean every day or just fill a container to sit in for my pure pleasure. I can even warm or cool my home at my whim for my own personal comfort.” “I so easily feed my family. I can’t believe the choices I have when I walk into a grocery store and it is all there for me to use if I so desire! I can even easily find pre-prepared foods so I don’t need to cook or go to a restaurant and experience food from any place in the world!” “I am so grateful to have an amazing body that can move and exercise. I love to help my body feel great and healthy! I also have easy access to any kind of equipment I desire or just enjoy the outside because it is safe for me to exercise there. I just love living in my body!”

So, how does that feel? You always have a choice and one of those choices you can make is to not only be grateful for what you have but also to choose your attitude.