“Head up, coronary heart open. To raised days!”
— T.F. Hodge

Struggling to search out your motivation? Feeling down and uncertain concerning the subsequent steps?

There are only a few issues you want to know proper now.

This fast learn is for YOU…

As soon as upon a time there was a lady in her mid-sixties who seen that she had lived her total life in the identical small city. And though she had spent many years enthusiastically dreaming about touring and seeing the world, she had by no means taken a single step to make this dream a actuality.

Lastly, she wakened on the morning of her sixty fifth birthday and determined that now was the time! She bought all of her possessions aside from some important objects she wanted, packed this stuff right into a backpack, and started her journey out into the world. The primary a number of days on the highway had been wonderful and stuffed with awe — with each step ahead she felt like she was lastly residing the life she had dreamed.

However a number of brief weeks later, the times on the highway began taking a toll on her. She felt misplaced and she or he missed the acquainted comforts of her outdated life. As her toes and legs grew increasingly sore with every new step, her temper additionally took a flip for the more serious.

Ultimately she stopped strolling, took off her backpack, slammed it on the bottom, and sat down beside it as tears started streaming down her cheeks. She stared hopelessly down a protracted winding highway that after led to a tremendous world, however now appeared to guide solely to discomfort and unhappiness. “I’ve nothing! I’ve nothing left in my life!” she shouted out loud on the prime of her lungs.

Coincidentally, a famend guru and life adviser from a close-by village was resting quietly behind a pine tree adjoining to the place the lady was sitting. When the lady started shouting, the guru heard each phrase and he felt it was his obligation to assist her. With out pondering twice, he jumped out from behind the pine tree, grabbed her backpack, and bumped into the forest that lined either side of the highway. Surprised and in full disbelief, the lady began crying even more durable than earlier than, to the purpose of close to breathlessness.

“That backpack was all I had,” she cried.” And now it’s gone! Now the whole lot is gone in my life!”

After roughly ten minutes of much-needed tears, the lady step by step collected her feelings, stood up once more and started staggering slowly down the highway. In the meantime the guru minimize by the forest and secretly positioned the backpack in the course of the highway only a brief distance forward of the lady.

When the lady’s teary eyes fell upon the backpack, she nearly couldn’t imagine what she was seeing — the whole lot she thought she had simply misplaced was as soon as once more proper in entrance of her. She couldn’t assist however smile from ear to ear. “Oh, thank heavens!” the lady exclaimed. “I’m so grateful! Now I positively have what I have to proceed onward…”

Generally we want a wholesome wake-up name.

As we journey by our private {and professional} lives, there’ll inevitably be intervals of unbelievable frustration and despair. Throughout these robust occasions, it can typically seem to us that we’ve misplaced the whole lot, and that nothing and no person may probably encourage us to maneuver onward within the path of our desires. However similar to the lady who stumbled throughout the guru, we’re all holding with us a backpack of assist that is available in many varieties — it may be a easy DM or textual content message from somebody we respect, inspiring weblog posts, insightful books, useful neighbors, supportive communities, and a lot extra.

When the going will get robust — after we’re shedding our motivation and feeling down and uncertain of the whole lot — we have to wake ourselves up and keep in mind…

1. To belief the journey, even when we don’t perceive it.
2. To simply accept what’s, let go of what was, and place confidence in the highway forward.
3. To start out precisely the place we’re, use what we’ve got, and do what we are able to, one step at a time.
4. To search for the blessings hidden in each battle we face, and be keen to open our hearts and minds to them.
5. To acknowledge our backpack of assist — our exterior sources of hope and motivation — earlier than a random guru (or somebody with much more crooked intentions) has to steal it from us in order that we are able to lastly see what we’ve got at all times taken with no consideration.
6. To be current and faucet into our personal hearts and minds — our inner sources of hope and motivation — which have the facility to push us again up on our toes and information us down the highway to our backpack of assist, even when it seems to be misplaced endlessly.
7. To giggle on the confusion, reside consciously within the second, and admire the teachings discovered at every twist and switch.
8. To not evaluate our progress with that of others, and settle for that all of us want our personal time to journey our personal distance.
9. To see how lots of the issues we by no means wished or anticipated in the end grow to be what we want.
10. To be OK with not ending up precisely the place we meant to go, whereas opening ourselves as much as the opportunity of ultimately arriving exactly in the suitable place on the proper time.

Backside line:

In case you are struggling proper now, you’ve obtained this!

Irrespective of your circumstances, you at all times have what you want to take the following smallest step.

Or as Epicurus so profoundly stated, “Don’t spoil what you may have by wanting what you haven’t; do not forget that what you now have was as soon as among the many stuff you solely hoped for.”

Be aware. Be current. Preserve going, at some point at a time, one small step at a time.

It’s your flip…

Please go away a remark under and tell us:

What’s one supply of hope, motivation, or gratitude you usually flip to whenever you want it most?

Anything to share about this essay?

Marc and I might love to listen to from YOU. Your suggestions is vital to us. 🙂

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