QUOTE: When inspiration lights your vision and courage precedes relentless, unmitigated and continuing action; when you embody this and present this day in and day out, the sheer force of it can eventually change the world. -- EH

Here's a short and inspiring clip on leadership that I think you'll like.

The Power of the Mind

If you can unravel this, who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to unscramble a few other of life's mysteries.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at

Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a

wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be

in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed

it wouthit a porbelm Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey

lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Genius

I have been thinking lately about genius, the kind that one in a million posses. How do we discover and cultivate that? Can we? Or is it strictly inherited?

Malcom Gladwell, in his book Outliers, suggests that it takes a minimum of 10,000 practice hours to rise to the elite level. On the other hand, you have autistic savants who may discover their genius in a day. I am fascinated with both camps, the plodders who perfect their skill over time, and the uninitiated who unveil their talent in an instant. One group shows most of us how it’s done, while the other just amazes us in drop-jaw fashion.


German researchers back Gladwell's view. They studied violin players for decades and discovered that the elite practiced for more than 10,000 hours. The very fine but not quite elite accumulated, on average, around 4,000 hours during the same time frame. In other words, the finest players inevitably practiced way more than everyone else. Hard work consistently won the day.


Bill Gates and Paul Allen, two programmers who's skills are legendary, had the good fortune of going to a private school that offered computer programming way before just about anyone else. They also both lived near a university and practiced programming there, sometimes waking up at 3 in the morning and sneaking out of the house to program for several hours. By the time they dropped out of college, they, like the elite violin players, had put in their 10,000 hours.


These plodders seem to possess more than anything else the passion and drive to practice, practice, practice until they develop extraordinary skills. These aren’t folks who just show up half-heartedly or who burn both ends of the candle before quickly burning out. This group works until their genius is crafted and showcased. In fact, this group’s genius is their ability to generate consistent effort over a long time period that, ultimately, generates amazing results. Their genius, in other words, lies within and drives them to ultimately produce something extraordinary.


The second group, in contrast, has their genius, it seems, bestowed upon them. At four years old, the blind and autistic Derek Paravicini heard a piano and lunged toward it, and after he shoved the little girl from the stool who had been plucking out a sweet melody, he began hitting the keys with his fists, fingers, elbows, feet, forehead and nose. Without so much as a lesson, this impaired toddler banged out a remarkable version of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” Years later, this young man, who cannot count to ten or even tie his shoe, can remember every piece of music he has ever heard, and can play it perfectly, uniquely and with great feeling.


Like Derek Paravicini, Daniel Tammet’s gift came to him and revealed itself when he was four. Daniel discovered numbers and his ability to calculate almost anything mathematical. He says he sees sparks going off in his head every time he sees a huge calculation and as the sparks take shape and crystallize he sees the solution. Ask him what 37 x 37 x 37 x 37 is and he will tell you. He sees pi as a landscape of shapes that mesmerize and inspire him. He loves it so much he learned and recited, without a single errot, the first 22,500 digits.


These folks are truly gifted. Their gift comes, not from choice and effort, but from something that has chosen them. This genius suggests to the rest of us that there may be something amazing within us, something innate, something inexplicable. Like Harry Potter who took a hit from Voldemort and survived, these geniuses cannot explain why or how they do what they do. It just comes to them. It just is. These remarkable folks are unwitting recipients who bear their gift as testaments to nature’s power and favoritism. Maybe not so ironically, these folks are often bestowed with an equal measure of disability. Nature seems to announce, in these cases, that one must pay for the given gift, not in dollars but in physical and mental misfortune. Balance achieved.


Whichever way genius appears, whether over time with much effort or instantly like a lightening strike, I, for one, am inspired by its mark. I appreciate its wonder and relish its product. Now, if only we can learn to discover and produce that genius within each of us, our world would be a wonderful world indeed.

Mayor Hazel McCallion

Where will you be when you're 88? Sleeping in the rocker on the front porch? Most hit their late 50's thinking hard about retirement, you know, travel, fishing, lazy days sitting in the park, grand kids and bananas. Not Hazel McCallion. That's Mayor Hazel McCallion to the rest of us. Hazel was elected over 30 years ago and continues to be elected by her constituency in Mississauga by the ever so close margin lately of 92%. 92% of her city's voters want her re-elected.

Did I mention she is 88, and that you are far more likely to spot her on a frozen lake swatting hockey pucks and knocking them in for goals than rocking and peeling bananas on some wrap-around attached to a brick nursing home?

I hope you'll feel a little inspired like I did when you watch this video about the Canadian mayor whose city is not only debt free but has money stocked away for economic downturns. Isn't that a novel concept! I'm ready to start a campaign for her presidency but I'm afraid the Mississauga people will skin my hide if I did, and well, citizenship could be a problem too.

That aside, Hazel proves that you're never too old to make a difference or to wake up, strap on some skates and take off down the ice with a hockey stick and a healthy desire to achieve some goals.

Inspiring Others

Have you seen the joy some people bring to their work? Years ago a young man in a New Jersey gas station cleaned my car windows with such vibrant energy that watching him lifted my spirits the rest of the day. A toll booth collector once greeted me with so much enthusiasm I wondered if he were a family member. Then, at my kid’s high school, the student athletes there greeted the introduction of a beloved custodial worker with such enthusiasm that I thought the standing ovation would not end. My son’s girl friend then, a 7-time state track champion, called him one of the most admired people in her life.

Some people just shine. It doesn't matter to them whether or not they excelled in school or graduated from college. They don't seem to care if they are rich or powerful or even attractive. They just positively impact people every day. These are ordinary folks who have extraordinary souls. They light the lives of nearly everyone around them and do it by exerting their own unique genius, their individual creativity, and their warmth is palpable. They inspire others.

Don’t you just love people like that? Wouldn't it be cool to be one of them? So what’s holding you back?

Brendan Foster inspired his town to stuff the food trucks, seven of them, and to contribute $95,000 to the local food bank, as his last dying wish. Just 11-years old, Brendan saw his wish fulfilled before he died of leukemia in 2008. He made an impact despite his troubles. If Brendan can, so can you.

Sometimes I wonder what I can do, whether or not I am capable of making a difference and then I think about Johnny, a grocery store bagger with Downs Syndrome, who inspires me anew. For it’s the caring people, the passionate ones, the ones who create a little extra in other’s lives who make this world the extraordinary place it is.

Nature's Force In Me

Just as the powerful Niagra Falls has a right to roar in wonder
So do I
Just as the sky-popping Andes have the right to stand with majestic force
So do I
Just as the massive hurricanes have the right to flex their strength
So do I
Just as the peregrine falcon has the right to dive full-force toward a single-minded goal
So do I
Just as the Colorado river has the right to bust over rocks and to pour its powerful, pulsating rapids toward a basin of peace
So do I
Just as the wildebeest of Africa have the right to gather their herd and to stampede in an instinctual frenzy away from fear and apathy
So do I
Just as the brilliant sun has the right to radiate rapturous light for all who see
So do I

I have the inherent right to radiate my light, to beat MY drum and to sing MY song, “Here AM I--Majestic like the Andes, Decisive like the Falcon, and Brilliant like the Sun… Here am I -- a power to reckon with, a force of nature, my true nature

For I am this, a power of a power, whose force expresses itself uninhibited in all the universe

And since IT expresses in all forms, in all wisdom, and with all power…

Then as an expression of THAT

SO DO I

EH

Discovering Value

Michelangelo said, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." I once knew a great teacher who did this with the most pained students. He would reach into their hearts and see their wonder, the wonder they themselves missed, and elegantly call it out of them. So appreciative were that that years later they would track him down just to thank him for his kind efforts. What do you see in others? Angels? Wonder? Genius? What do you see in yourself?

I read recently about a woman in New York who found a Rufino Tamayo painting in the garbage that was expected to sell for around a million dollars. Anyone of us can look around and see wasteland. Our newpapers report the worst in human nature everyday. I hear compliants and criticism all the time, but what interests and excites me the most are the unheralded heroes who look for the treasure in others. I like to hear and read about the guy who sees the kid who cannot read and teaches him how, or the gal who sees the potential in another and reflects it back so that the other can see it in themself. This is what makes us feel most valued as human beings. This, in turn, raises our community value, by creating goodwill, and it's hard to put a pricetag on that.

Of course, seeing the value in others isn't always easy. We have to sometimes see potential that has not yet been developed. We have to see the value that is possible with encouragement and small advancing steps. We have to see like Kyle MacDonald did when he saw a little red paperclip and with it a house. Sound crazy? Not to Kyle. He got onto e-bay and traded his little red paperclip for a fish pen. He quickly swapped the pen for a smiley face door knob, and the door knob for a camping stove. The camping stove he traded for a generator and that for a keg of beer and a party, then the keg for a snow mobile. Through some publicity he generated, his trades grew increasingly larger until after just 14 trades he owned a house.

Now, how many of us would see a tiny red paperclip and think we could do that? He said that along the way he had a great time, met some really neat people and helped some of them achieve their dreams, while he achieved his. If he could achieve all this with an almost worthless paperclip, and, of course, a valuable idea, solid follow-through, a whole lot of enthusiasm and good fun, what, I wonder, could he do with, say, a roll of duct tape? In the end, he donated his house to charity and the tiny town that embraced him. Later they made him honorary mayer, while he made scores of friends and some remarkable lifetime memories.

So, if Michelangelo can see angels in hunks of rock, a woman a million dollar painting in a garbage heap, and Kyle MacDonald a house in a paperclip, what do you see around you? That's the question I have been asking myself today and the truth is, I am beginning to realize that there might be a lot more there than first meets the eye. I am beginning to realize, too, that the potential I am beginning to see in others also exists in me. In fact, uncovering that treasure could be the greatest discovery of all.





One Red Paperclip on 20/20

Your Life's Slogan

What if your entire life, all your thoughts, your communication, actions, interactions, pursuits, and demands could be condensed into a single message? What would it be? What would your significant friends, co-workers and family say? What would they declare was your most prominent life statement? Would the two be aligned?

Every big organization has a single message called a slogan. Think about it. IBM: We Make IT happen. Airbus: Setting the Standard. Dell Computer: Get More Out of Now. American Express: Do More and, of course, Nike’s unforgettable slogan “Just Do It.“ You may not know it, but we are all walking billboards, and I’m not talking about Aunt Millie’s backside. Each of us displays a prominent message.

If you don’t believe me, then try this. Think of someone in your life. This could be a parent, a friend, a co-worker, an acquaintance, or even someone you watch, occasionally, on TV. What message do they most prominently display? I am thinking now of someone in my organization. She displays this message, “You must meet organizational rules, no matter how inane.“ Another one I know communicates “Kindness Matters.” She is gentle with everyone, including herself. Another shows me how to “Live Life with Gusto!“ Still another walks around displaying a rickety sign that pretty much says, “Life Sucks!” With each person, one message leaps out at me. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what message you are advertising everyday? Wouldn’t it behoove all of us to chose a message that resonated with our heart and then present that to the world? Wouldn’t it be truly grand to then live that message everyday?

I had a friend who did this up until his untimely death. He always inspired me. After each interaction, every conversation my spirits felt lifted. His message was “I am Going to Inspire You,“ and that was the gift he bestowed upon his friends. Extremely creative, a talented artist, an all-around good guy, he always motivated me to want to be a better person, a better father, someone who made a difference in this world. Of course he did a million other things too, but at his core, radiating through his every pore, ringing true through every sentence, ingrained in every tone, and communicated through every gesture was the genuine and very moving message of inspiration.

Just think, if you knew what your core message to the world was, wouldn’t it be a lot easier to decide what you wanted to pursue, what you invested your time and energy to? Wouldn’t it be more clear what career path looked most attractive and which ones did not? Wouldn’t it be easier to avoid the endless web of distractions that await all of us who are confused about who we are and what we want to be in relation to others?

So if you are having difficulty deciding what your next “big thing,” will be, I suggest you begin by looking at who you are at your core, then find something, anything that aligns with it. Jump in and see what happens. That way you’ll learn whether or not the activity really does align with your core slogan. You may discover that it does not quite fit or that your slogan needs some revision. That’s good too. Keep refining, until you find yourself…in your life’s message. Once you do, you will live your life better focused, more clear, and less distracted. In short, you will feel a sense of fulfillment that you may not have felt before. What’s even better, you’ll not only accomplish more, you’ll accomplish more of what is truly important to you. So stop carrying around that billboard with eyes half shut. Look up and revise it if you need to. Then go live your life, aligned with your core message and focused with clarity on what matters. Do that and I guarantee you, you will feel inspired.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

--William Ernest Henley

What is Inspiration?

What is inspiration? For some it is a spark so bright, so important, so insightful that after it strikes, life takes on an entirely new meaning. I have known friends who in a moment's instant have set out on an entirely new life path. It's as if they were plodding along on a dark night when suddenly a lightening flash streaked across the sky and illuminated the mountaintop they had been looking for all along. Seeing clearly, in that instant, they then strode on with renewed confidence.

That's not to say that the flash resolved every issue. In fact, knowing where to go and setting out towards it sometimes creates some tough challenges. In other words, after inspiration strikes, the real work begins. In Fredrich August Kekule von Stradonitz's well-known dream a snake latched onto its tail and "As if by a flash of lightning" he awoke with the realization that he had discovered the Benzene molecule. He then spent an immense amount of time working out the details.

I once had a flash of inspiration while thinking about writing a novel which propelled me through more than two solid years of writing. Unlike J.K. Rowling whose flash led to seven monoliths, the last of which sold some 44 million copies, mine led to an early burial on a closet shelf. Of course, that's not to suggest I wasted my time writing it. If money were the true gage to what is worthwhile, then people like Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi wasted decades. For me hours passed in minutes while I sat totally entranced by this world I had created. I felt calmer writing it, more alive. I felt like I had unearthed a long lost treasure.

So inspiration comes in many forms. Sometimes it comes through years of effort followed by one trans formative moment and other times totally unexpected and completely serendipitous. This is what happened to a friend of mine who, while lying in a grassy field as a young girl, felt her spirit lift and expand and in that moment felt herself merge with everything around her. That moment changed her and her inspiration blended with her life. From that moment one, when she helped another she helped herself. While others fought battles, she worked toward harmony and became the advocate to those who could not defend themselves. Her fear of death faded away after inspiration struck in a big way.

Most of us, though, are inspired by smaller flashes. We feel the joy and don't know what to do with it. We just bask in it for a while and then get on with the monotony of our daily life. In other words, it feels good, but nothing really changes. Sometimes inspiration is like that. These small flashes lift our spirit, creating an inner buoyancy. There's no clear mandate, just a lightness of being that releases us from life's drudgery. Put a chain of these together and your life, while not completely transformed, will feel pretty good.

Whether a lightening strike or a candle of illumination, whether life transforming or not, our heart is always lifted and warmed by inspiration's visit. So be watchful. Be open. Be ready for the flash and when it comes, be prepared to do the work that may lie just around the bend.

Light Your Dream

What does it take to inspire dreams? More specifically, what would it take to spark your own inner longing, to set ablaze your personal torch? I have seen a lot of duty-bound people in my life who would rather live by someone else's rules than live what they long for. You have met them too. They have a grayness about them, a dull likeness to others that belies that glowing spark you know is in there somewhere and totally unique. Why is that? Why do some of us chase marketing mandates rather than the promises our own hearts make? Why do some of us follow the maps others have given us rather than our own inner guidance system?

I wish I knew the answers to those questions. I suspect security has a lot to do with it. Wanting to please others may play its part. One great thing, though, about inspiration is that no matter how it is sparked, it ultimately lights a fire within us. Even when we are inspired by another, we are not moved by a mandate. We feel compelled because something inside us moves us. Inspiration calls us to something higher, something better, something that cannot be appraised by someone else, because it is not their's. We alone own it.

Now it is possible that you may simply be looking for inspiration for inspiration's sake, but more than likely you're looking to set a new course, to feel inspired to do something you have never done before and fear you may not be ready or courageous enough to do. Maybe you want to step away from a job you have held for sometime and pursue a secret and "silly" dream you have held for even longer. Maybe you want to sail off to a foreign country or end a relationship that has run its course. Maybe you want to begin a hobby or join a community organization that values your service. Maybe you just need the strength to get through one more day. Whatever your longing, or need for inspiration, you can find it within yourself. In fact, you probably have at least an inkling already of what it is you want to be inspired to become, or to do. Begin today taking a step toward that. Do a little research. Make a single phone call. Show up there. Begin boldly and you may inspire yourself or be inspired by someone you talk to.

That's the way inspiration often works. Begin and then discover the inner spark. Strike the match, and if you need to, strike it again and again until eventually the flame bursts forth. Or as one fine inspirational friend used to constantly tell me, "Ed, do something. Just begin." Then once you have the match lit, it's up to you to lay it where it might light a few logs and set the inner fireplace ablaze. Once you do that, once you see the fire's light and feel its warmth, you'll wonder why you didn't begin earlier. Or as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."




Les Brown shares one of his dreams and motivates his audience to achieve their's.

When Your Life Is Flat

The ordinary does not inspire. The extraordinary does. Yet most live lives entrenched in the quiet, bland and somewhat mechanical grind of daily living. Why is that? Do we really expect to find inspiration living dull, repetitive lives? What's going on here?

I'm going to blame the brain--that pattern machine designed to create efficiency so we can free our mind to think about other things. Why else would we consistently brush our teeth starting with the upper left incisors before working around to the lower right side or always pull on our stocks with the left foot before the right? Why is it that we have to wash the dishes our way and even get a little testy when someone suggests otherwise? This, despite there being at least fifty different ways to clean a pot. The brain is to blame. The brain nudges us into autopilot to free up thinking room for more important tasks, like wondering whether we will ever achieve world peace or why Tiger can't keep his balls in his bag.

I mean, can you imagine having to continually monitor your breathing or to keep thinking "I have to lift, thrust and plant my right foot and then my left one" every step you take? How crazy would that be! The brain gets you on with your daily life without burning up every brain cell in the ol' bread basket. We can all celebrate that. It's miraculous...except when it's not.


Sometimes this incredible brain and its need to perpetuate patterns begins to dominate. Repetitive, ordinary and bland--but efficient--ways to accomplish everyday tasks start to take over our lives. We wake up at 5:58 AM every morning even without the alarm, shower for eight minutes, dress in ten, work all day with two fifteen minute breaks, eat in thirty minutes, drink our 64 ounces, read the paper from front to back, complete the 42 question crossword puzzle and then go to bed at 10:15 sharp. Most of this done with little or no attention to the task at hand. Let's face it, our pattern obsessive brain has taken over and our life feels flat.

Sometimes this "flatness" goes on for years before you address it. What should you do about it? I believe I have the answer.

Disrupt your life.

I mean it. Intentionally disrupt the patterns a bit. Begin to create new ruts. Start easy. Take a new route to the grocery store. Then up the anti. Go to a different grocery store. Buy something you never bought before. Plan an entirely new recipe. Become a vegetarian. That will disrupt things. That's just the beginning. Redo your hair, rearrange your house, join a cult. Just kidding. It would be far better to start a cult! Okay, don't get carried away. You may, though, want to join a new organization or pursue a hobby.

While you're at it, change your thinking too. Notice how repetitive your thoughts have become. When your mother calls to say, "Uncle Harry is at it again. He's wearing Polka-dot suspenders with his swimming trunks, and flashing the peace sign at every republican he passes," don't shake your head and ask, as you usually do, if Uncle Harry is related to Pee-Wee Herman. Say something different. Tell your mom that you're going to buy your uncle some grip tight trunks guaranteed to keep him from exposing more flab than a pregnant rhinoceros. Tell your mother that you admire Uncle Harry's chutzpa, you just wished his suspenders were ruby red.

Oh yeah, the brain will be confused for a bit, but then, just when you got it on the ropes, go in for the sucker punch. Look for something beyond ordinary, something extraordinary, magnificent, or even holy. We've all heard about the "weird guy down the street" who flew off to India to seek a guru or about the gal who abandoned her family for one of the Chippendale's, or about the guy who emptied his IRA account to buy a Lamborghini. These folks are seeking inspiration. They probably don't realize yet that the real breath-taking wonder they want lies all around them and that there are more marvelous, not to mention less destructive, ways to bring depth, texture and color back into their life. They just want the blandness to go away. Who can blame them.

So when your life needs a little inspiration, make a change. Disrupt the patterns and look for the extraordinary, whatever that is to you. Your brain will be glad for the disruption, eventually. Your spirit will be aroused and possibly ecstatic. Best of all, your flat life will be enriched with a few mountain views.

CHARLES SCHULZ PHILOSOPHY

Here's some wise and inspiring words from the creator of the Peanut's cartoons, Charles Schulz.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for
best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The facts are, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today ...... It's already tomorrow in Australia."

----- Charles Schulz-----

Ten Things That Block Inspiration

1. Complacency: Being ho-hum about pretty much everything.

2. Anger: If you hate everything and everybody you're not going to be inspired.

3. Burn-out: It's hard to get inspired when you're tired.

4. Dogma: When you believe you know the truth, why would you need inspiration?

5. Self Doubt: If you do not trust that you may be inspired, you won't be.

6. Bad Attitude: An upbeat attitude draws inspiration to it. A negative one locks it out.

7. Negative Thinking: The only thing this brings is trouble.

8. Cynicism: the arch enemy

9. Anxiety: How many anxious inspired people do you know?

10. Depression: The sure sign that things are hopeless

Who Do You Inspire?

Who do you inspire? Who do you uplift, exalt or enliven? Who looks to you for the inspiration you seek? In whose life do you make a difference?

We all can inspire others. We have all felt the impact of a kind word, a sympathetic look, or a contagious laugh that lifts our spirits and the spirits of others. In this video Byrd Baggett tells us how attitude can impact our lives through the words and actions of his dear mother. Through sharing his story we all have the chance to feel inspired.

Today

Today is it. Today is our gift, our fortune, our opportunity. Today we have been granted this magnificent possibility to live the highest truth of our being, to reach for our deepest wisdom, to lift the spirits of our fellow journeyers and to revive our resolve in our most challenging moments. We will either become stronger, more courageous, more compassionate, and more alive or we will not. We will either strengthen our indomitable will, raise our higher consciousness, and seek wisdom or we won't. Today we can be the change we seek in the world. Today we can model peace, sincerity, cooperation and leadership. Today we can stride confidently toward our destiny. Today we can begin moving that mountain one shovel stroke at a time. Today we will either live with vitality and passion or choose not to. Today we will, if we choose, stand firm in the belief that what we do can and will make a difference. Today is it. Only today. It's our choice.

INSPIRING QUOTES

Who Inspires You?

Who inspires you? Who, when in his or her presence, do you feel lighter, more courageous, more alive, more true, more motivated, more yourself and more than yourself? Who, when you hear them speak, do you feel more soulful, more willing to serve, more joyous and more aligned with your highest nature and your deepest calling? Who, when you read about their life, do you know best what you want to be? Who lifts your spirit? Who rally's your power and vanquishes your fear? Whomever that is, wherever he or she is, go there. Be with that. Honor that part of yourself, everyday. Cherish that. Nurture that. Most importantly, live that truth that inspires you and see where it takes you. See what you do as a result and watch who follows you when you become the inspiration that inspires you.

Martin Luther King embodied Inspiration

Friendships

QUOTE: "I count myselt in nothing else so happy as in a soul rememb'ring my good friends."

- William Shakespeare

What could be more inspiring, more enriching, and more enjoyable than reveling in the company of close friends? Yet in our fast-paced, mobile society finding friendship can seem a daunting task. No sooner do you begin a friendship, it seems, when one of your lives change and you go off in separate directions, never to connect again. In Jeffery Zaslow's book, “The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a 40-Year Friendship” (Gotham), he tells the story of 11 women, all childhood friends, who though scattered all over America now, managed to nurture their endearing friendships though both good times and crises.

When one of the women discovered she had breast cancer, she reached out to her childhood friends who sent emails, talked for long hours, sent cards and gifts and showered their love and concern in the most personal and compassionte ways they could. One woman who had lost her own child to luekemia sent a hand woven cap to assure her friend would keep warm during the treatments when she lost all her hair. In an interesting study of 3,000 nurses who had breast cancer, women without close friends were four times more likely to die from the diease than those with 10 or more friends.

In another study done by the Gallop Organization and several leading researchers, they found that employees who have no close friends at work had only a one in 12 chance of feeling enaged in their job. However, if an employee had their best friends working beside them, they were seven times more likely to feel engaged at work.

Friends do so much more than support us during hard times. They help give meaning and direction to our lives. They enlighten us, accept us for who we are, contribute in unique ways that no one else can, and bring to us a sense of contentment that we can hardly understand much less explain.

If you want to feel inspired, be a friend. Reach out to others and others will reach back to you.

Love and appreciate them for who they are, faults and all, and you will experience the power that true and enduring friendship offers you. Maybe more importantly, you will offer another human being the solace of knowing that they are cared for, appreciated and loved by you. That's powerful too.

Beauty Inspires

If you want to get inspired, look for beauty. Just looking for it will raise your inspiration level higher than you're used to. Finding it will lift it another notch. Actually taking time to appreciate what you have found, will send your inspiration level through the strosphere. Then, if you want to prolong this state, share what you've discovered with a few friends. Do these four things everyday and you will grow into a more appreciative human being. So, look, discover, appreciate, and share. Make this your mantra and you will appreciate the results.

So where do you look for and find beauty? When someone asks me where to look, I tell them to open their eyes. Beauty is everywhere. E-V-E-R-Y-W-W-H-E-R-E. I live in a suburb where every house, yard, street and gutter looks about the same. Yet, there is beauty here. Sometimes I sit in my office and watch the the leaves dance on the trees. I like the way the sun filters through them and the way the light and shadows sparkle while I do nothing but breath. I might listen to a Bethoven symphony or to the wind whistle around the house. Listening for beauty is for some even more powerful than seeing it. Finally, you may want to create it. There is nothing more inspiring than creating beauty that resonates deeply with your own being. A garden, a spiral walkway, a clay pot, a poem or piece of music, a rearrangement of your furniture, a new form of expression, say a dance or gesture are all ways you may create beauty in you life.

Once you find or create beauty, take time to ponder and appreciate it. If I cannot find it in my front yard, I may walk a mile to the lake and watch the herring take flight, flapping and gliding and landing on the silvery surface. I may watch for twenty or thirty minutes until my worries and edginess fade. Enjoying it for a few moments magnifies the pleasure and gives the endorphins time to respond.

Finally, relive what you have pondered. Tell someone you sat at the potter's wheel and created a coffee mug you admire. Offer to create one for your friend. That way beauty is spread and with it a little inspriration for the both of you.

Nature's Beauty

What Inspires You?

What inspires you? What fills you with unmistakable joy? I'm not talking fun here. I'm not asking you what's your favorite dessert and then telling you to go out and get some. Sure, that's alright. That's nice even, but go a little deeper. What is it you dream about? What is it that maybe you've long forgotten, but there it is in that moment of clarity. You know it. I know you do. It's what revives something in you--something important. It could be reading poetry, or going head-to-head in a kick-boxing match, or possibly sitting silently in the park while a Purple Finch lights on the branch next to you. A friend of mine laid a labyrinth in his back yard, which he walks to gain clarity and a connection to his deeper self. Others find it in mediation, yoga or in cooking a special meal for friends or family. Only you know. Only you can discover it if you don't.

That's what I did. In a time of emotional turmoil, I ventured out to a beautiful old church downtown and stepped into a sanctuary full of music. A sixty member chorus was rehearsing for an upcoming concert and I wanted to hear the choral sound. I had sung in college myself, and when I graduated I dreamed more choral dreams than any other. No other archetype, it seemed, resonated so prominently in my dream mind. When the director asked me to sing with the group, I did. What I gained from that one short rehearsal I can barely put into words. I sang for an hour, maybe less, and when I woke up the next day, nearly all the heaviness, the grief, the bewilderment that I had felt for more than six weeks had lifted. Like a balm on a severe wound, the music, singing it, hearing it, breathing and enjoying it, soothed my pain and magically, it seemed, transformed me. I suddenly felt serene. That's the power of finding your own private and very personal inspiration. That's the potency you gain when you align with your true self.