Inspiration moves us
Inspiration can come from being frustrated by something that goes against our grain.
It can come from something that meshes with you and lifts you to another level by clarifying or simplifying your own expression.
It can come from someone or something showing you the wonder of your inexperience.
What follows are things that can help you inspire. These are taken from my direct experience over decades of training and guiding people to push past their own internal barriers.
Internal barriers, just like any other barrier, prevents you from moving.
Inspiration moves…
A little note on some inspiration in my own life.
I have found many women to be inspiring—and not for the obvious male-to-female reasons.
My mother is one of the most inspiring. I was born into a farming family in north-central Wisconsin where hard work was the life. Period. It’s almost as if we didn’t know any better 🙂
My mother did the work of any man and often had more endurance than any man. Not only did she do field work right alongside us, but she also took care of house and home. She fed us, clothed us, and showed us the value of a mind that can focus through hardship.
She inspired us.
As children, we didn’t see this as clearly as we do now. I have 8 brothers and sisters. Mom had a lot of work keeping the house and our individual natures in check.
I see it now.
I see it in some of my female students. There are men who can do this, but my point is that the women in class often have to work harder against stronger, heavier men.
We tend to forget that.
Here’s a sample of one of my student’s conditioning training session. She just also happens to be an instructor-in-training and that’s why she gets this level of work.
I cannot tell you how difficult this training session was, but she can. I can also tell you that I would have required more rest than she had.
Please keep in mind that she only had 10-30 seconds of rest between each 50 yard set.
Warmup
200 yard jog
50 yard sprint
Workout
50 yard Beasts interspersed with sets of 10 sprawls (full from standing.)
50 yard Beasts interspersed with single sprawls and cartwheels. Basically run the beast, drop to sprawl, cartwheel, then back to beasts.
50 yard 1 sprawl, then 5 long knees on shield, cycle this.
50 yards of 4-point (5 rotation) then Ah-00s (think squatting cartwheels) and cycle.
50 yards of back kick, rotate to round kick and then JKD side kick on shield and cycle.
50 yard of Savate kicks (chasse) cycling each side.
50 yard cycling close-range momentum kicks into shield (hopping into air, firing side kick into shield, then landing.)
50 yard hopping on one foot forward, backward, side to side (approx. 30 hops) then switching foot (this while I was holding her other leg above waist level.)
25 yards of 10 drops from standing fall to pushup on shield, then I held her legs at standing shoulder elevation for standard pushups.
25 yards of Wing Chun chain punching on shield.
50 yard shoulder carry run with 180 pound person, drop to single-leg sprawls, pick up person for shoulder carry run, sprawl and cycle.
Then finishing with 5 minutes of sparring with headgear, grappling gloves, and an impressed instructor.
So much for the “weaker sex,” right?
Personally, I think weaker sex identifies any person who lets ego and emotion trump logic, knowledge and experience.
Here are some ways I have found inspire people:
Be The Example
People who overcome tremendous obstacles and surpass the norms of society and human nature catch our eyes and illuminate our minds, and spirits.
Seeing someone at a distance physically demonstrate inspiring values, traits, or feats is inspiring all in itself.
But having that person directly in your life—someone doing that beside you—raises the inspiration factor by an order of magnitude.
Some of the men and women I train literally stun and otherwise elevate the mentality and spirit of those around them.
And just so you know, regarding inspiration, age isn’t a factor.
Be Honest
Being honest to yourself and about yourself puts everything on the line and is terrifying. Often we get trapped by the desire to be liked, loved, or simply accepted.
Follow your path honestly.
If you don’t know what that means, or haven’t found your path…well, I guess I’ll have to write about that sometime.
Suffice it to say, I believe everyone has a path driven by your own internal inspiration. It is something heard in the quiet of a park or residing in your childhood dreams.
It is often something you’ve been doing most of your life without knowing it.
When you are honest, you allow others to see your truth. Simple as that. People deny their truth because of how it might make them appear to the people around them.
The funny thing about that “need to fit in” mentality—it lessens with age and alcohol. (I don’t subscribe to the alcohol thing, but it makes the point.)
Accept others
Accept others as they are, so they can be honest expressing themselves.
Allowing, and even encouraging, people to be their true selves around you is inspiring.
It helps remove that overhead of “needing to be accepted” and enforces that the person is valued for who he or she is.
When you feel accepted, you feel safe. You will find it easier to express your gifts in that kind of atmosphere.
When you accept others, you inspire.
Stand out
When you look at the people of the world who are inspiring—who stand out as leaders in their field or are examples of powerful personalities—you realize they aren’t in that position because they try their damnedest to fit in.
They stand out from the crowd because they stand out from the crowd!
They follow their path regardless of how it looks or is accepted by those around them. They are honest to their truth no matter how the chips fall.
This differs from the people who want to stand out for the purpose of standing out. That kind of mentality is without foundation. Its energy wanes easily.
People stand out in life because they listen to that inner drive in them and follow it wherever it may take them—usually past people who point, detract, or otherwise impede them even with good intent.
Take satisfaction in the fact that you are completely unique.
One particularly stupid statement I’ve heard is: “Yes, we are all unique, just like everyone else.”
That statement irks me. The person saying it doesn’t understand what being unique means or why it’s important in life and nature itself.
Sameness does not inspire change or growth.
It’s the commingling of intrinsically unique individuals in a free environment that promotes growth in a myriad of forms.
This interaction supports, sustains, and elevates the human condition beyond its base.
But it starts with one.
One individual, unique to all in the world of billions, finding personal truth, expressing his or her gifts, and daring to stand out from the crowd.
Its effect is like a flame passing among unlit candles, sometimes even just the spark of which is enough to ignite fully.
Exercise your greatness
Having a mind and body that is refreshed, strong, and resilient increases the effectiveness of the expression of your gifts
This applies even if your gift is simply being the best greeter at Walmart—such a job is actually valuable!
I’ve had my spirits lifted for the day by someone who greeted me with such enthusiasm and vibrance; it was hard to do otherwise. And the reverse it true as well.
Having a strong foundation physically, mentally or spiritually has a bleed-off effect enriching your talents and their expression.
It also helps you live longer.
Like the greeter at Walmart example, our energy—positive or negative—flows over and through other people and can be long-lasting, coloring one’s day—and yes, even changing someone’s life.
Find new ways to better yourself or old ways that you know work and exercise them.
If your talent is art-related, then take classes or read up on—and try—new ways to express it.
Or try a different medium.
Whatever your talent or drive, seek out ways to refine and improve upon it.
Increase the depth of your knowledge in your expression, and exercise it.
As, when an author writes and and finds his or her own voice, you have to write, write, write.
Practice makes you.
Dare to Dream...
Dare to Pursue The Dream...
Pursue The Dream
Going beyond the norm requires vision and persistence.
Persistence by itself is simply a rodent running in an exercise wheel.
Vision—dreams—are a path to opportunity unrealized.
Period.
Couple persistence and your dreams and you have things that inspire the world.
Dare to put your well-meaning critics in the dustbin of the ordinary.
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