By Shirin Eugenio
So how does one find inspiration?
Get out of your bubble. If you have defined your inspiration to be your boyfriend who is also your classmate, carpool-mate, movie-partner, org-mate and neighbor, then inspiration will be as predictable as a Disney fairy tale. To find true inspiration, the range of experiences you must allow yourself must be wide enough. This is precisely because, the inspiration will jump from the myriad sources you are attuned to. And the surprise of an inspiration will animate you like you’ve never felt before. So, burst that bubble, and join bigger bubbles.
Embrace the brilliant, the unique, the unexpected, the different. We often get intimidated by somebody more brilliant than us, or stay away from the unique – because it’s just hard to accept it. Being inspired by something completely unexpected (example, those funny Japanese products) does not mean you’ve found the ultimate solution to your mental block. An inspiration can spark your own idea, or open your eyes to new possibilities. From there, you will be surprised that you can twist, modify, add, minimize, exaggerate or reverse your first thought after one teeny-tiny dose of inspiration.
Don’t put a high price on inspiration. There is a huge expectation on inspirations, like time has to stop when it happens, or a choir of angels will signal the moment. Anything short of this is not inspiration, it’s just… wala lang (a technical term now). If we continue to think this way, we fail to see the little things that are actually big sources of inspiration. As a teacher, it would be fantastic to have geniuses to inspire lecturing for three hours straight. However, I was surprised to realize that it was the little things from my students that excited me – the reactions to my corny humor, the crazy ideas they throw, the understanding that registers in their eyes. These are easy to miss if expectations block your view.
Look for diversity. When you are with the same kind of people 24/7, chances are the inspiration bursts are next to none. Because everything is comfortable, convenient and conventional. If you are an advertising major, hang out with engineering students once in a while, and be swept away by all that technical genius. Take a break from your whiny friends and get new conversations from older, more mature people. Sit down where you can view a crowd and a place at the same time. You’re good at math? Enough with the advanced calculus already and study a new language. Read good quality magazines. It’s like listening to the most fascinating minds talk. Having diversity in your life is like planting seeds of inspiration. Soon these will grow into new passions that breathe life into you, everyday.
Find the real good thing. Let’s get one thing straight – there is no inspiration in a guy who smokes pot all day. Or a girl who sleeps around. Or a corrupt boss. Unless, you are inspired to be their total opposites. Even then, it takes the most enlightened minds to figure that out. So, if inspiration is meant to awaken you to be better at something, then the source of the inspiration has to be a good thing. So, find the real good thing in the things and people around you. I believe that goodness is in abundance. It just hard to see them through the haze of apathy and bad reviews. Is your mom naggish? They all are, but that’s not the only thing they are. They love us unconditionally. Be inspired by that. Is schoolwork so exhausting? Of course, but that’s not all it is. It is your source of conversation with other people. Be inspired by that too.
Inspired people are fearless. Deadlines, break-ups, bad grades, tight budgets, crazy families, moody friends – these things don’t intimidate them because they find inspiration to rise above all these. Inspired people are both thinkers and doers. That’s why they accomplish more. Lastly, inspired people inspire others. Without their knowing – they let other people experience that smile in the mind, that tug in the heart, and the tiny miracle that changes them forever.
Embrace the brilliant, the unique, the unexpected, the different. We often get intimidated by somebody more brilliant than us, or stay away from the unique – because it’s just hard to accept it. Being inspired by something completely unexpected (example, those funny Japanese products) does not mean you’ve found the ultimate solution to your mental block. An inspiration can spark your own idea, or open your eyes to new possibilities. From there, you will be surprised that you can twist, modify, add, minimize, exaggerate or reverse your first thought after one teeny-tiny dose of inspiration.
Don’t put a high price on inspiration. There is a huge expectation on inspirations, like time has to stop when it happens, or a choir of angels will signal the moment. Anything short of this is not inspiration, it’s just… wala lang (a technical term now). If we continue to think this way, we fail to see the little things that are actually big sources of inspiration. As a teacher, it would be fantastic to have geniuses to inspire lecturing for three hours straight. However, I was surprised to realize that it was the little things from my students that excited me – the reactions to my corny humor, the crazy ideas they throw, the understanding that registers in their eyes. These are easy to miss if expectations block your view.
Look for diversity. When you are with the same kind of people 24/7, chances are the inspiration bursts are next to none. Because everything is comfortable, convenient and conventional. If you are an advertising major, hang out with engineering students once in a while, and be swept away by all that technical genius. Take a break from your whiny friends and get new conversations from older, more mature people. Sit down where you can view a crowd and a place at the same time. You’re good at math? Enough with the advanced calculus already and study a new language. Read good quality magazines. It’s like listening to the most fascinating minds talk. Having diversity in your life is like planting seeds of inspiration. Soon these will grow into new passions that breathe life into you, everyday.
Find the real good thing. Let’s get one thing straight – there is no inspiration in a guy who smokes pot all day. Or a girl who sleeps around. Or a corrupt boss. Unless, you are inspired to be their total opposites. Even then, it takes the most enlightened minds to figure that out. So, if inspiration is meant to awaken you to be better at something, then the source of the inspiration has to be a good thing. So, find the real good thing in the things and people around you. I believe that goodness is in abundance. It just hard to see them through the haze of apathy and bad reviews. Is your mom naggish? They all are, but that’s not the only thing they are. They love us unconditionally. Be inspired by that. Is schoolwork so exhausting? Of course, but that’s not all it is. It is your source of conversation with other people. Be inspired by that too.Inspired people are fearless. Deadlines, break-ups, bad grades, tight budgets, crazy families, moody friends – these things don’t intimidate them because they find inspiration to rise above all these. Inspired people are both thinkers and doers. That’s why they accomplish more. Lastly, inspired people inspire others. Without their knowing – they let other people experience that smile in the mind, that tug in the heart, and the tiny miracle that changes them forever.
What do you think about Ms. Shirin's blog entry? How do you see inspiration?
236 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 236 of 236t's nice to be the best, but not when being the best brings out the worst in you.
You can make goals for family, relationships, anything.
To succeed, you need to take that gut feeling in what you believe and act on it with all of your heart.
Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.
Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed.
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
-
You owe it to yourself to find your own unorthodox way of succeeding, or sometimes, just surviving.
To freely bloom - that is my definition of success.
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.
From success to failure is one step; from failure to success is a long road.
- Yiddish Proverb
Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.
(Natural Talent + Opportunity) Hard Work = Success
There are defeats more triumphant than victories.
-
It is clearly not the journey for everyone. People succeed in as many ways as there are people. Some can be completely fulfilled with destinations that are much closer to home and more comfortable. But if you long to keep going, then I hope you are able to follow my lead to the places I have gone. To within a whisper of your own personal perfection. To places that are sweeter because you worked so hard to arrive there. To places at the very edge of your dreams.
Everyone is shy --- it is the inborn modesty that makes us able to live in harmony with other creatures and our fellows. Achievement comes not by denying shyness but, occasionally, by setting it aside and letting pride and perspiration come first.
Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people.
The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.
The greatest wealth is health.
He who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors.
- Chinese Proverb
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
- Irish Proverb
From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health.
- Catalan Proverb
Health and cheerfulness naturally beget each other.
Nothing is more fatal to health than an over care of it.
Health and intellect are the two blessings of life.
Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.
Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.
You can set yourself to be sick, or you can choose to stay well.
To wish to be well is part of becoming well.
Health is not valued till sickness comes.
One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick.
Make your own recovery the first priority in your life.
Health is worth more than learning.
One must eat to live and not live to eat.
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.
i like the inspirational quotes, thanks
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