To be Self-Inspired

The word ‘inspire’ found its origins in Sanskrit, Middle English, Old French, and Latin meaning “breathe into or blow into”. The word initially related to a divine or supernatural being, in the sense ‘, of imparting a truth or idea to someone.  When we break apart the word “inspired,” we find it comes from two words “in” and “spirit.” The word literally means “in spirit.” In other words, when you are inspired by something, it means that you are living in line with your spirit, says Dr. Wayne Dyer.

It is believed that ‘spire’ is also from Spiral.  And thus, the image of a spiral depicts a spiral from our deeper mind spiraling up to the frontal lobe which allows inspiration to flow through from our Spirit to our conscience. It symbolizes the consciousness of nature starting from the centre and expanding outwardly. Thus we mostly go still and move within for Self-Inspiration, allowing our Spirit and heart to Inspire us, either with a way to cope, getting a deeper understanding about something, or a resolution to something we are struggling with.  Perhaps it is linked to the saying: “Listen to your inner voice”

It is true that we can also be inspired by Nature, People, Places, Things, Times, and Events.  Perhaps these are connected to Spirit somehow and can be recognized by their frequency.

Often Inspiration shows up as an Idea. And during the toughest times as we are desperate for an answer or way forward an “inspiration” or an “idea” comes from “out of the blue”, meaning out of the “normal” or current reality and we download a foreign idea to a current situation.  When I teach about the stage of Bargaining in Grief and Loss I demonstrate that when we experience a Loss we may visit denial, we may visit anger. Then something happens and we realize that this loss is really happening and we say: “What can I do?” The moment we ask: What can I do?  our brains are forced to go beyond the comfort of denial. It has to reach outside of its normal limited reality. It has to expand and find a solution from outside the denial and anger comfort zone.

Think about it.  Where do you think a bedpan comes from?  Or a straw that can bend? Desperation/loss forced the person in need to find a way and find “Inspiration” out of the blue.  And that inspiration can then serve many. 

When one is stuck and refuses to change inspiration cannot come through.  You cannot change reality from the mind which created it in the first place.  It is outside of a limited space/ perception or attitude we are occupying in our minds.

The Chinese believe Crisis is an opportunity. Perhaps because loss and desperation force us to expand and be inspired.

Recently my precious granddaughter inspired me.  Her mom was expecting her brother and whenever she was asked “are you excited?” she would promptly say “no. I wanted a girl”.  No matter how we tried to explain things she was occupying limited space in her brain that believed boys were naughty and nasty.  Her Mom went into the hospital, and I stayed with her and often discussed her baby brother.  The moment her Mom came home and she saw and held her baby brother her feelings took over and she was in love with him instantly, putting the belief of that space in her brain she was occupying to shame.

Often a fixed idea can limit our experience as it shuts out any other potential.  Annabelle’s fixed idea & belief about brothers shut out any possibility her heart, spirit or new reality had to offer.  The moment she experienced the knew her heart and her spirit inspired her mind to change. The sweetest thing was when,  on the way to school,  I commented on how cute Alexander was and that she would still enjoy him lots, and she immediately answered: “I already love him, Ouma!”  This phenomenon made me contemplate how we can allow a fixed limited thought, perception, or attitude to cheat us out of an experience’s potential.  How the moment we allow our Heart, Body, and Spirit to Inspire us we can make a transition and can shift our perception and attitude, and have a wonderful experience!

If we are willing to go within and still have the limited voice of doubt and fear we will find more than we thought was possible.  Our hearts and spirits have a lot to inspire us and we can expand and move forward, self-inspired.  We are a whole person, body, mind, emotion, and spirit.  If we allow just one part to control us, by dictating that its way is the only way, we cheat ourselves with the inspiration and experience we could have had if we were balanced. 

To be inspired we must risk surrendering to the unknown.

To be inspired is to become humble, admit there is more than just this perception, belief, or attitude to experience and allow inspiration to reveal the possibilities.

To be inspired is to trust in a Divine or Supernatural Being within or outside of us to inspire us and expand into possibilities.

To be inspired is to breathe life into new possibilities.

Be willing to question yourself.  “What else is possible?”  “How else could I be seeing this?”

And allow the inspiration to flow through and open a portal of possibilities, change, growth, and evolution.