Need Help with Motivation/Inspiration

Reader's letter:

Lately, I have been ignoring things that are important to me like school,workout,eating healthy, reading the Bible,writing my bucket list, writing daily goals, even praying I find it difficult as I don't have or don't know the right words to say to God. It's frustrating if not depressing. I lack the motivation,inspiration to jump from my bed, pray,workout,eat and go to school. All I want to do is wake up eat, watch movies,eat and sleep! I tell myself this is not right, this is destruction and poverty but I find it hard to get up and implement it.

Please help... just tell me anything even if it will pain me, I want to get out of this lazy mode. Thank you!

My answer:

First, just forgive yourself. You aren’t doing anything bad. You aren’t sinful, worthless, or anything like that.

Now, take some time to consider what you want your life to be like. How would you like to be remembered?

Begin by taking one small action each day that will help create the kind of legacy that you wish to create. For example, do one kind thing today that will make someone else’s day a better day.

The best way to cheer yourself
is to try to cheer someone else up.
- Mark Twain

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What Is Reality?

You Create Your Own Reality.
- Anonymous

How can someone say "You Create Your Own Reality?" Are they crazy? Yet many wise people have expressed essentially this idea. What is going on?

I say that there are two kinds of reality - the reality of facts, and the reality of experiences. At first glance, one would be inclined to think that facts are the basis of everything, but much that is important cannot be dealt with using facts.

When you argue with reality,
you lose - but only always.
- Byron Katie

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

The Byron Katie and Star Trek quotes address the reality of facts. A fact might be that you were fired from your job last Friday. That is reality, and nothing you can believe or disbelieve or argue about changes that fact - that reality. Whether you believe your dismissal was unjustified doesn't change the fact. Arguing with this kind of fact is illogical, and causes you to suffer needlessly

Now, moving to the reality (or unreality) of experiences, when you were fired, you might also have believed that you would never get another job, or that your children would starve, or that your mother would think you were worthless, or you might have begun to believe that you were now worthless. These beliefs exist outside the realm of facts. The first three of these deal with the future, and thus can either become true or can become false - depending upon your actions, among other things. Your own thought of your worthlessness can be changed in an instant by simply altering your perception of yourself and your value.

Regarding experiences and perceptions, there are no underlying facts, and thus the idea that "You Create Your Own Reality" is not only correct, but of great practical importance in motivating you to believe in yourself and to take actions that create material benefits, as well as joy, in your future.

Here are three more quotes on the idea that you can control how you experience life, and that the future is altered by how you choose to experience the present.

What others say and do is a projection of their own reality.
- don Miguel Ruiz

All that is real is seen with the heart.
- Vivian Greene

Your thoughts create your reality.
Your mind is more powerful than you know.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Further reading: How to Cope With Life
Overcome Being Negative
Abundance or Scarcity? Love or Fear?
Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.
Coping with the Impossible

Daily Renewal

Question: I try to meditate, listen to audio books, and read the bible. However, I cannot keep myself in that changed state. I just keep sliding back into what I don't want. I go back to doing things that I hate. Please help me with this. I am tired of living in circles.

My reply:

Know that you can never permanently "solve" or "fix" what you are describing - it is the nature of life.

Dealing with those situations will always require a daily effort - a daily re-commitment to your values, daily meditation, daily renewal.

People often say that motivation doesn't last.
Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.
- Zig Ziglar

What Ziglar said about motivation applies equally to inspiration.

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie