Being inspired by someone can be a mental discipline.
I knew my brain needed some strong rearing when I began seeing awesome things in the life of others and instead of being intrigued and in awe, the only scrap of reflection I could seem to muster was INTIMIDATED.
There it was. Strangling the only motivation I had left, which was already reserved for the menial tasks of the day let alone the extravagant. We've all been there. Succumbed to the projects of Pinterest, the reflections of blogs, the recipes of a friend. We let them drag us on like a carrot in front of a horse without any promise of making us happier or satisfied.
When I first got married and began teaching, I let this carrot drag me on tirelessly. I would shrivel up with inadequacy every time I looked at another teacher's blog. "I will NEVER be able to do that" I would sulk to myself and occasionally speak out loud. My dear husband would sometimes lovingly "ban" me from sites like Pinterest and blogs for a time since he grasped the backlash on my weak heart. In my weary efforts of becoming all I could be as a teacher, there was no time in the day or energy left in my body to acquire much culinary skill beyond a simple pasta or chicken dish.
The four years until now are quite fuzzy. Sure I have many beautiful memories and a huge pile of cherished moments that I still cling to. Yet through pregnancy and what I have journeyed thus far as a mother have revolutionized me...and my mental health.
I still chase that carrot stick, yes. It's just in me to keeping going and wanting to be better. But now there is joy in the striving. A child-like glee in acquiring new skills that I "should have" known how to do years ago.
This all kind of reminds me of a project I did for my grad work. I was studying the difference between two types of people - people from a fixed mindset and those from a growth mindset. People (or students in particular) from a fixed mindset are the ones who don't think intelligence is something you can change. If you're smart you're smart, and if you're not you're not...so there's really no point in trying. Yet people from the growth mindset feel that your brain can continue to keep on developing and growing if you keep pushing it. In life I see this division in people and it digs deeper and stretches further than intelligence.
I knew my brain needed some strong rearing when I began seeing awesome things in the life of others and instead of being intrigued and in awe, the only scrap of reflection I could seem to muster was INTIMIDATED.
There it was. Strangling the only motivation I had left, which was already reserved for the menial tasks of the day let alone the extravagant. We've all been there. Succumbed to the projects of Pinterest, the reflections of blogs, the recipes of a friend. We let them drag us on like a carrot in front of a horse without any promise of making us happier or satisfied.
When I first got married and began teaching, I let this carrot drag me on tirelessly. I would shrivel up with inadequacy every time I looked at another teacher's blog. "I will NEVER be able to do that" I would sulk to myself and occasionally speak out loud. My dear husband would sometimes lovingly "ban" me from sites like Pinterest and blogs for a time since he grasped the backlash on my weak heart. In my weary efforts of becoming all I could be as a teacher, there was no time in the day or energy left in my body to acquire much culinary skill beyond a simple pasta or chicken dish.
The four years until now are quite fuzzy. Sure I have many beautiful memories and a huge pile of cherished moments that I still cling to. Yet through pregnancy and what I have journeyed thus far as a mother have revolutionized me...and my mental health.
I still chase that carrot stick, yes. It's just in me to keeping going and wanting to be better. But now there is joy in the striving. A child-like glee in acquiring new skills that I "should have" known how to do years ago.
This all kind of reminds me of a project I did for my grad work. I was studying the difference between two types of people - people from a fixed mindset and those from a growth mindset. People (or students in particular) from a fixed mindset are the ones who don't think intelligence is something you can change. If you're smart you're smart, and if you're not you're not...so there's really no point in trying. Yet people from the growth mindset feel that your brain can continue to keep on developing and growing if you keep pushing it. In life I see this division in people and it digs deeper and stretches further than intelligence.
Well I never learned to cook before I got married, so I guess this is it.
All through college my complete bedroom set was hot pink with fuzzy pillows, so I clearly don't know how to decorate a house in a mature way.
For years I was a Facebook mooch and just looked at what other people were doing, so why start posting pictures now?
I have never been "known" for being the reflective type so I probably shouldn't share my feelings online.
Note: All of the above are examples from my life.
I think the enemy has a hay day when people see their life through a fixed mindset. I mean, when other people are merely intimidating, we stand still. We stop moving and sulk in our "fixed fate". Yet when people are inspiring, we see the possibility that we can be that way too. Just because we weren't that way before, who says we can't now?
Over the last couple of months, I have begun altering my perspective. Through the discipline of being inspired by people, I have found such joy in new recipes, crafty projects, home renovations, and parenting tricks. So much has been gained from freely releasing my self-acquired chains of intimidation.
The people that inspire me the most are the ones who find a way to create something out of nothing. Sometimes in the crafty sense, but more so in the learned skill or rekindled lifestyle way.
-Friends who realize that as an adult they don't know how to swim so they look at tutorials on youtube and teach themselves!
-Sisters who desire to learn how to cut hair like at a salon so she buys the materials and figures it out herself. From this she went to cut hair for her whole entire dorm!
-Leaders who see the need to return a gas-powered moped back to its home 2 hours away but don't know how to drive one. She then takes 30 minutes to be taught how to and then courageously rides the steep, mountainous, and busy Philippine roads all the way back!
-Parents who become "empty nesters", but then open their hearts up to overseas ministry!
-Couples who watch as their own marriage is crumbling but then choose to try and redeem that which was broken through Christ.
-People like Paul, who are first opposed to the Gospel but then choose to abandon the labels of their past to pursue Christ fully and freely!
What an inspiration they are to me! Each of these people (whether they know it or not) have encouraged me to press on, learn new things, not be stuck with who I "thought" I was, and keep trying.
Let's dangle that carrot stick of inspiration in front of each other as to say:
"Keep pressing on!"
