Maintaining inspiration in the face of life's difficulties
Life can be challenging, difficulties arise and we face and overcome them hopefully with a positive attitude and outcome. Occasionally though some difficulties can weigh us down, leaving us feeling flat, drained and uninspired.
We have to be careful not to allow these negative periods to linger. We need to collect our thoughts and move on with fresh inspiration ready to face the world again. The clarity of wisdom needed to assist us in our dealings with life's ups and downs can flow from our daily meditations and contemplations.
Some of the positive benefits that arise from these practices are inspiration and hope, let's take a look at what inspiration brings, some of these may be new to you -
- Inspiration gives us a quiet confidence.
- Inspiration brings a renewed surge of energy.
- The source of our inspiration can bring like-minded people together; someone can always be inspired by someone else's positive achievements or ideas.
- The origin of inspiration is not our mind but our spiritual heart, the seat of infinite wisdom.
- Inspiration comes from maintaining our physically fitness.
- Inspiration can flow from uplifting music, music that raises our spirits.
- Inspiration can come from appreciation of others talents. How much we love a beautiful piece of artwork, poetry or creative pursuit.
- Inspiration comes from seeing beautiful objects. A flower inspires us with its fragrance and perfection.
- Mountains inspire us by their size, power, height and silence.
- Meditation maintains inspiration through our ability to escape the negativities of the distractive mind, allowing us to spend time with the poise and peacefulness of our own silent essential nature.
- The grandeur of nature inspires us through its diversity.
- Silence inspires us to feel its depth.
- A child's spontaneous smile inspires us by its sweet-innocence.
- Simplicity brings us inspiration. Buddhist monks and their peaceful lives free of the constraints of possessions are inspiring.
- The Truth is inspiring. Down through the ages man has been blessed by the presence of great spiritual masters whose wisdom-light has been expressed as divine Truths.
- Happiness is inspiring. Happiness brings spontaneity, goodwill and love.
- Non-judgement is inspiring. To always see the good in others not allowing for negativities or criticism.
- A parent's love and support for their children is inspiring.
- Devotion through prayer is inspirational.
- Selfless-service brings inspiration, knowing that through your humble efforts you have given assistance to those less fortunate than yourself.
- Working on community projects is inspiring. The joy of people working together as a team for a common purpose is inspiring.
- Old age is inspiring. To see how the elderly have endured the years and to listen to their tales is uplifting.
- Inspiration brings contentment.
- The company of good friends is inspiring.
- Being creative through self-expression is inspiring for both the doer and viewer.
- Effort is inspiring - an athlete's daily training schedule and the effort they put in is inspiring.
- Seeing others overcome their difficulties is inspiring. It helps us realise that there is always someone who is worse off than ourselves.
- To strive for something is inspiring. It shows levels of dedication and commitment for something we believe in.
- Beautiful singing is inspiring.
- LIFE is inspiring.
If we look carefully we shall begin to realise that almost everything around us can be inspiring. This we discover through our daily meditations and prayers by seeing difficulties as pieces of floating flotsam on the rise and fall of an ocean wave, in a constant state of movement or impermanence. Our challenge is to be aware of these continuing movements as the natural flow of life, not allowing the troughs to weigh us down knowing that the impending rise shall bring fresh hope, opportunity and inspiration.
Biography - Sahayak Plowman by nature is a positive and happy person. He attributes this to the growing experiences gained through his own meditation practice with the guidance given by his meditation teacher, Sri Chinmoy. He is a writer on spiritual topics, also the compiler of a published book of poetry and the web master for Sri Chinmoy Books.com