Photo taken by the author
At the newly-renovated Bowness Park lagoon; Calgary, AB
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea…”
– Antoine de Saint Exupery
In any search we encounter, I have noticed there seems to be different elements to it; three to be exact. They are stages that are staged along each stage of our journey – signposts, if you will – that are helpful in navigating our path along it. Like any great story, there is an enticing beginning, an intriguing middle, and an engaging ending.
The first element is motivation. Simply put, we need it to get going and to get started at something. What’s the spark, the trigger, or the idea to begin that thing on your mind? To start at something means we are motivated to do it in the first place. For without a sense of motivation, why bother at all? There has to be a desire to do the thing we have set out to do. Did someone inspire you to do it? Is it an inner prompting? A goal you’ve set for yourself? A long-awaited “bucket list” item? To break the word down, ‘motivation’, what is your motive for doing it?
Next, is inspiration. Once you have gained the motivation you then need the inspiration to keep going. That is, the determination, perspiration, and persistence to keep on going, throughout the process. Challenges will come and with it the need to keep plugging along. What inspires you? Is it a picture, a quote, or a belief? If so, write it out and put it in front of you so you can see it while you work away. We all need proverbial carrots out in front of us to get us to the next point, and the next one after that. Recognize this and recognize what your’s are.
“Instead of sailing off into the sunset, he hopes to sail into the next century.”
– Dave Anderson
The final element is hope. When you’re inspired by something you have a reason to keep doing what you’re doing. In other words, hope propels you forward, no matter what obstacles you encounter along the way. Hope is one of life’s greatest gifts, for it is the engine that fuels the aliveness of one’s heart. When you have hope, nothing will stand in your way. When you receive hope, take it in for all that it is – for as small as it may be, it becomes the rudder that charts your ship where it is purposed.
In summary, any decided journey that is so dared undertaken is secured by the bookends of motivation and hope, with inspiration being the glue holding it all together.
Dwight Van Middlesworth 