When people find out I am, in my own small way, a writer, it provokes some interesting reactions. A lot of people ask me how I come up with so many different topics, then want to assist me in providing subjects for me to write about. It is difficult to explain that writing is personal, individual, and my inspiration comes from my own life experience. Usually I turn it around and encourage them to write about their own suggestion, because obviously it is something that is important to them, or they wouldn't have thought about it in the first place. And that is the heart and soul of writing, finding something that you feel passionately about, then discussing it.
I don't normally worry about the source of inspiration for each blog. It usually just comes to me, and so I write. But I do have to be intentional about it to write for 40 days in a row, because I don't normally feel I have that much to share. Over the last few weeks, as I have written each morning, I have had to genuinely consider what I wanted to write about each day. I have had to think about why it is important, not just to me, but potentially to someone who might read my words, and what my experience might have to say to them to enhance their own Lenten journey.
I am inspired by other people's stories. Knowing how other people have overcome hardship and pain or how they have succeeded at something new and different is reassuring and uplifting, because it makes me believe in myself and my ability to do the same. I am gratified to know people are inspired by my story, as well, because I am pleased about who I have become as I have overcome the obstacles life has thrown in my path.
The root of inspire comes from the Latin word inspirare, meaning to breathe. To draw breath, to excite the alveoli and pull vital oxygen into our bloodstream, is critical for living.
That is what happens when we are inspired. We are drawn in. We get excited. We push past the present to think beyond where we are right now. It makes life better, more interesting, more vivid.
Jesus inspired those whose lives he touched, as he continues to inspire us today. He drew people to him, he caused them to rethink and change and grow and become something different. His example inspires me to be the best version of me that I can be, each and every day, even when I continually fall short of the goal.
Today I am grateful for inspiration, both human and divine. I am grateful for those people who force me to rethink, to reframe, to refresh, to be better and more and different. And I am grateful for a Lord who provides the opportunities to stretch, to grow, to change and to renew myself in my spiritual journey.
The world needs more inspiration. I think it starts with each one of us.
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