The power of being inspired
I yelled at my kid today. I’ll save you the details but let’s just say it involved wanting cream cheese toast and then not, and then yes, and a lot of ‚all done with nap‘ before that nap even started. Now, why is that a big deal you might ask. It is because good mothers don’t yell. A good mother serves pinterest worthy creations of healthy foods and waits patiently for her children to eat whatever they like and whenever they feel emotionally ready for it. Then she sings them a lullaby and takes adorable pictures of their angelic faces and closed eyes before she starts making sugar free jam from home grown strawberries.
In our interconnected, ever-communicating world it is so easy to compare ourselves to others. No matter what we do, what we eat, wear, work at, which country we travel to or which new passion we pick up — there will always be that one friend (of a friend of a friend) in our network who has already done it.
Whatever thoughts we have, whatever opinion we express — there will always be judgement, a different, a seemingly better view. Whichever way we chose for ourselves — there is always an alternative, a missed opportunity we will eventually be confronted with.
A constantly buzzing feed of images, stories, hashtags, comments, and conversations makes it easy to give into that ‚I should do better‘ voice. Every day we’re being presented with new ‚what ifs‘. And for some very strange reason most of us are, in one way or the other, addicted to this madness (speaking as a mum who’s screen time has skyrocketed to a number I will not ever allow for my child).
Now, it would be really easy to go on and condemn social media for their impact on our lives. We can all go ahead and delete our instagrams, and our twitters, our stravas, and facebooks (for those of you under 30: YES, people still use that!).
But a: we know it’s not going to happen and b: what if there was a different way to look at it all?
Yes, in our world as it is, it is easy to get lost in comparison. Also, it has never been easier to be inspired.
We can be inspired by a person, a situation, an image, and even emotions. Inspiration is the ability to look at others with curiosity rather than fear. It is a gift that makes us see what others can do rather than focus on what we can’t. It allows us to discover our true potential by nurturing creativity and growth.
The first person that truly inspired me was my mother. She didn’t only raise us, she gave me and my sister a sense of what it means to be a strong woman, both in the literal sense (I vividly remember my 100 lbs mum swinging a BOSCH Drill and telling me something like ‚If I wait for your Dad to do this is not going to happen‘) and figuratively. I learnt from my mother to never not try anything because that’s ‚not what girls do‘. She taught me to stand up for myself as much as she taught me how to cook and iron and do my make-up.
Throughout my life I have met many more inspirational people, some of which have changed the course of my life entirely. I have worked with true pioneers who refused to let the mundanity of a corporate world slow their strive for progress. I have learnt to admire co-workers who are fundamentally different from me. I have met artists, and key note speakers, and mothers of five. I have met activists, true believers, and reckless adventurers.
I am granted insights into their lives, their passion, their achievements through the very same windows that forced me to look at what I considered my shortcomings. I see their posts and I read and listen to their stories. I admire many of them more deeply than I’d like to admit.
Now, the question is: Do I want to be entirely like them? Do I want to become that corporate manager, that musician, that politician? Do I want to be like my mother? Not by any means! And that, truly, is the power of inspiration. It can be — and I quote another wonderful, strong woman in my life — our north star, something we strive for while staying true to ourselves.
I can admire that perfect mother and her home-made jam, I can let her inspire me to be a little calmer, a little more patient — AND I can be confident about my own way of being a good mum.
Looking at it like this I believe that inspiration, this magical ability to learn from and grow with each other, has the power to truly change lives.
