Are you looking for inspiration?

After the initial enthusiasm of starting this blog I started to feel a bit down. I needed inspiration. I needed inspiration to make changes in myself and I was also asking myself what kind of impact do I want to make? and, do I even believe it’s possible?

I started looking for inspiration and I started finding it everywhere. Have you ever looked for heart-shaped pebbles on the beach and start finding loads of them?

I found inspiration in other people. Two examples stood out in my mind.

There was the video of a 3-year-old girl who had her hair cut to donate it to children with cancer. I thought she believed she could change the world. She saw a problem and was empowered enough to give her solution. I can see she will do amazing things as she grows up.

I cried as I was watching it. Why am I crying? Was I even like that when I was a child? I cried for my lost little girl. Where is she now?

On reflecting now, this story also tells me we can start small and in doing we can gain greater confidence and create bigger things.

The other video told the story of 95-year-old Charles Eugster who holds the 200m sprint World Record in his category. He wants to tell the world it is never too late to start anything, “to show that one can learn something new at any age in life.” His goal is to single-handedly change the perception of ageing. He thinks that the three most important things in life are work, nutrition and exercise, in that order.

Wow! What an inspiration! How many times we tell ourselves that it is too late to start something, that we are too old.

A couple of days later, the thought occurred to me that these two examples provided inspiration from two ends of the spectrum, two different perspectives: the very young and the older, between the innocence of a child who’s starting out in life and the experience and wisdom of an older man at the end of his life, male and female.

How often are these two groups really listened to in our societies?

We don’t believe we can change the world

Watching these videos got me thinking that most people don’t believe they can have an impact in the world, that we can change the world. We are not empowered people.

Why don’t we believe it?

As we grow up first our families and then in school, our friends, and the rest of interactions with the world tell us in many ways to stop dreaming, that it is impossible, they tell us to get on with reality.

At what age do we stop dreaming?

We get depressed when we think things are out of our control. When we cannot make changes in our own life, how can we think we can change the world? It seems a daunting task. Frustration sets in when we don’t use your skills and talents or we don’t feel valued. We take it inwards instead of knowing there is nothing wrong with us, but the world.

Do we believe we can have an impact on somebody’s life?

I think it starts with believing in yourself, making changes in your own life. In this sense, other people can be a great source of inspiration, it can show us what is possible for our lives and it can spring us into action.

Do I believe I can inspire people?

Before starting this blog I was quite frustrated. Now I feel a greater source of purpose, and, as I look for and find inspiration, I am getting more inspired and I hope that translates into inspiring others.

How do we inspire others?

Everything about ourselves can be inspiring to other people. I believe leading by example is the only way. When somebody accomplishes something it gives us hope that we too can achieve our goals.

While lying on the yoga mat I got distracted by looking at the concentric circles in the paper lamp. I thought of spirals and ripples. I thought of our actions as ripples in the water when you throw a stone, of the many ways we can affect each other, influence and inspire each other.

When we do an apparently insignificant gesture we also are creating invisible ripple effects we are not aware of.

I thought of this inscription on the ground I had seen one day when out and about, which made me reflect on the interconnection of everything. Inspiration from the past.