When inspiration hits, hit back

Inspiration is wonderful.  It wakes us up to things that we never took notice to before or never thought we would do. When we get inspired there is a powerful surge of energy that takes over and for a moment we expand… then our thinking brain regains control and many times will start to list all the reasons why that idea would never work, why we don’t have what we need in order to do it or it explains that it has all been done before. It usually doesn’t take long for us to begin the process of talking ourselves out of an idea of inspiration. For those ideas that survive our initial attack, sharing them with someone else is often where we are talked back into “reason.”
     Inspiration is spirit’s gift, but our doubts and insecurities kill many of the dreams before they get a chance to grow. Inspiration is like a thought seed that is planted in fertile ground. It needs protection and nurturing in order to grow. It also takes time. In working with clients I find that many of them give up before they get the gift. They try something they felt inspired to do and are then crushed when they ‘fail’ or if the results were not what they were expecting. Our power of will is an amazing tool. When we understand that, as Albert Einstein said, “failure is success in progress,” we are able to give ourselves the grace to ask what we learned from the experience and what we have yet to learn. I often use the analogy of the caterpillar with clients. Taking action on inspiration is like going into the chrysalis. Everything has to get broken down and rearranged in there. It is quite messy and not a pretty sight inside, but stay with it. Out of the chaos an entirely new creation is emerging. You have been inspired for a reason.

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