Who inspires you?

Have you ever wondered who or what the real driving force was behind your success? Success can be anything you feel that you have achieved. When we think of the word success most associate it with wealth, but I am not referring to this type of success. When I reference success I imply personal success. Self love, respect for oneself and the ability to set and achieve goals.

We seem to be a quote crazed society; everywhere you look there seems to be a motivational or spiritual saying hanging for all to view. Many Facebook statuses are updated with popular sayings and quotes by the famous. It serves its purpose very well, as most people engage by reading, quoting and conversing about the meaning behind the statement. When I read these profound statements I wonder if the person who wrote them felt the power the words resignate. Moreover do we live out the words we are inspired by? Why are we not writing our own quotes and living by them? What would your quote be?

I am inspired by many people, in fact I owe a lot to the people I most admire. But I have to tell you; at the risk of sounding vain....I am my greatest inspiration. Wow how arrogant is that? It is not meant to be arrogant; it simply means or implies that I love myself. Most ..no all hugely successful people believe in themselves which in turn inspires and empowers others. Take Oprah ( oh God I know..Oprah) not that I am a huge fan of hers, but I have to tell you this ...HOLY CRAP that woman loves herself. Do you think she could have made it where she is today had she not woke up every morning saying she was the best.. I think not. She didn’t give a rats ass what anybody thought of her. She wanted to create an empire based on her strengths and gifts, and she did. Today she is an icon which many people idolize. Now go back in time 25 years ago and think of all the people that would have heard her talk about where she wanted to go with her career and laughed at her. I am sure there were many. She believes in her and only her first. That is an inspiration.

There are days when I think about my life and where I want to be after this bump I face, and I am sure many of you and some others that are close to me would laugh. However this is MY life to live and love. 20 years ago I would have never revealed to anyone what my life plans were as my confidence level was too low, and quite frankly I did not have my shit together enough to have the confidence to say I love me enough to achieve my own goals. Today that is different. I stand before you a woman that inspires herself everyday to live the greatest life I could possibly handle. I no longer fear what he or she or they will say. I am not perfect but I am the perfect me. I have learned to embrace my flaws and accept the pieces of me that are unique (screwed up) and make my weaknesses my strengths.

I try to read inspirational quotes and speeches and yes I feel overwhelmed at times and want to take on the world because of the profound message being delivered. The difficulty is that I lose the drive after a few hours....and the quote slips my thoughts. I guess I lose momentum because they are..... not my words. Yes I can be influenced by what I read but not motivated to live by someone else’s words. I have to create my own based on my values and passions. I like to refer to the people that inspire me, as mentors or spiritual guides. At the end of the day I am the only person who can truly motivate or inspire me. When I receive emails from my readers saying that I inspire them...it encourages me, not me, the best of me, all of me. I feel like my purpose has been answered which in turn confirms for me that the path I have chosen for me is the right one to be on.

So what is it that I want to be or do? For many years I struggled with that, as I hopped from one career path to another. Somehow all of my professional choices have been to inspire and advocate for others. That is my true passion. Yet, I have not achieved the success I have wanted with it because I was going about it all wrong. I was trying to inspire others but I should have been inspiring myself, and then showing others how to effectively inspire themselves. My new career path has yet to be fully determined as to how it will be presented. I will however never permit one single person in my life to say no to me ever again. I stand firmly in my decision to come forward with my life plan. I will be successful. To you that may sound grandiose but my meaning or interpretation of success may in fact be self actualization and have no monetary value. My actual plan involves my novels; I will publish this year and will not use a pen name. I am very excited about it. I believe that I will be successful because I will make sure of it. I believe in me and my abilities, I will not wait around for someone else to do it for me, as it will never happen. I have sat and thought of many quotes or sayings that will help define my real journey to success, but all I can think of on my own is to just live it, be it. Our family motto is “we may not have it all together...but together we have it all”, this statement clearly mirrors my immediate family especially in the current state we are in! Lol

At the end of the day you stand alone, you are the only person that is responsible for you and your happiness, others can only add to it! Inspire yourself! Look at yourself and see your goodness, your strengths and everything you want others to love about you, and turn it around and love you......love you enough to achieve and succeed. Then write your own quote, sign your name next to it and live by it!

hahaha I just had to use this one!

Don't take it personal! lol
~Christine~