How much inspiration do you need?

Let’s be real. We’ve all heard at least one of these famous quotes:

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
–Maya Angelou

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”– Lao Tzu

“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” –Jim Rohn

“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” – Robin Sharma

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”– Mahatma Gandhi

“Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit.” –Les Brown

We’ve all done it.

We liked the meme. We shared the meme. Commented in agreement on an inspirational video post. Waved our hands and gave a resounding “Amen” during the Sunday morning sermon. Hung the inspirational quote on the wall. Highlighted self-help books and had “aha” moments. We shook our heads in agreement and clapped our hands. We’ve gone to seminars and conferences and got fired up and ready to go.

But we weren’t quite ready to go. We made plans on plans on top of more plans. We brainstormed and mind-mapped and wrote down positive affirmations. We talked about what we were going to do and how we were going to do it and when. We made forgotten resolutions and empty promises.

There’s some desire to change, take a risk, or take a leap of faith that we can each pinpoint in our own lives. Perhaps it’s the burden of that change that we’re not ready to face yet. We play double-dutch with our lives and sway back and forth in the “ready” stance, watching the rhythmic turn of the ropes — but we don’t jump in.

How much inspiration do we need? How many motivational speeches do we need to finally take action — to finally take the leap? When do we cross that threshold between knowing what to do and actually doing it? I believe we finally take action when:

· Staying the same is more painful than changing

· The unknown is safer than the known

· We realize that time waits for no one and we’ve already wasted too much of it

· We get tired of sitting on the sidelines of life and we are ready to be a player again

· We get tired of hearing ourselves talk and would rather just “do”

· We run out of excuses

· Circumstances move us to change because we didn’t do it on our own

· We take full responsibility, embrace accountability and stand in truth

· We feel fear, but do it anyway

· We’re ready for joy, ready for progress, ready to live

The point is not that we shouldn’t seek inspiration. Actually, we should look for it daily. However, inspiration should be the spark that ignites the fire in us to move, not just fleeting words or images that dissolve from our memory in a moment’s time. Thoughts, prayers and discussions are necessary, but the act of doing — putting those thoughts into action — is gold. Remember, faith without works is dead. No one wants to look back on a life filled with “what ifs” and “should haves”.

I wrote this for you and I wrote this for me. Let’s finally get up and do something.