Inspiration Is Where You Find It
I want to talk about inspiration for a bit, because I truly do think inspiration is where you find it.
Consider, please, that when you go outside, you see small animals. Birds. Squirrels. Rabbits. Assorted critters of various sizes along those lines.
Observing wildlife, just watching them, gives you the idea that the struggles we face aren’t a patch on what they do.
In the middle of fall, as we are now in much of the Northern Hemisphere, a squirrel is storing away food to make it through the winter. A bird is figuring out where it’s going to nest, or perhaps lighting out for warmer climates. A rabbit…well, who knows what’s going to happen to it, as there are many competitors for that rabbit, and most do not indicate a long life.
Yet they continue to get up, move around, and do whatever they can to extend their lives. It’s instinctual, sure…but it’s also inspirational.
None of us know the future. None of us have any idea what will happen tomorrow, or the day after that either. Yet we continue to get up and do what we can, in the hope that it’ll matter down the line.
All we can do is our best. Every day. In every way.
If we realize that, and if we are observant, we can find many things to inspire us and also to give us hope, even during the darkest time of the year. (As Ned Stark put it in Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming.”)
The most important thing to do, though, is the hardest.
Believe in yourself. Believe in your talents and abilities. Give them a chance to flower, no matter how rocky the ground is, and no matter how much fertilizer you have to put on that ground in the meantime.
If you can do that, you’re one step closer to where you want to be.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 
Stirring and vibrant words Barb. To keep on keeping on. To look to the sky and say ‘I an’t done yet’.
Reblogged
deteremineddespitewp
October 4, 2022 at 11:54 am
Thank you so much, Roger. 🙂 I appreciate your comment and the reblog. Hope all is well with you and yours. 🙂
Barb Caffrey
October 5, 2022 at 12:56 pm
Again, my pleasure Barb. 🙂
We’re not so bad thanks. ‘Poddling along’ (Our own phrase).
Not long had our second Covid booster, glad for that.
deteremineddespitewp
October 5, 2022 at 1:04 pm
That’s excellent! 🙂
I will get my next booster shot as soon as I’m done with the sinus infection. They don’t let you have the Covid or flu shots when you have an upper-respiratory or sinus infection.
Barb Caffrey
October 6, 2022 at 10:00 am
Very wise move. The recent booster in the UK comes with its own sharp spasm of cold or flu-like symptoms…..Still ,it’s worth the inconvenience 🙂
deteremineddespitewp
October 6, 2022 at 11:21 am
Reblogged this on Writing Despite Computers and Programmes and commented:
Words so true from Barb
deteremineddespitewp
October 4, 2022 at 11:54 am
Thanks, Roger! 🙂
Barb Caffrey
October 5, 2022 at 12:55 pm
My pleasure Barb 🙂🌻🌺🌼
deteremineddespitewp
October 5, 2022 at 1:02 pm
IMHO, believing in yourself isn’t a virtue in and of itself (as proven,for example, by Donald Trump). Believing in yourself must go hand-in-hand with striving to be the best person you can be, otherwise anyone without integrity who believes in him-or-her-self is little more than smugly delusional.
mistermuse
October 4, 2022 at 2:52 pm
That’s absolutely true. If you have self-belief but no empathy, care, or understanding for others, then you have someone who’s more narcissistic than not. Those folks do not help others because they don’t think they need to…and yes, that adds to everyone else’s problems.
You have to have both. I sit corrected. 🙂
Barb Caffrey
October 5, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Sitting or standing (or both), you said it (and better than I did)! 😀
mistermuse
October 5, 2022 at 3:25 pm
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I do my best. 🙂
Barb Caffrey
October 6, 2022 at 10:00 am
My thoughts were so similar to yours this week, watching a groundhog, a bevy of squirrels, birds, a rabbit, and deer coming through the yard. They’re all on alert, searching for food, eating as they can, preparing for winter, moving and planning, preparing to live, striving to survive, always doing their best. Excellent post. Cheers
Michael Seidel
October 4, 2022 at 6:03 pm
Thanks, Michael. I appreciate your comment. 🙂
Barb Caffrey
October 5, 2022 at 12:54 pm
“Live each day to create a memory you will not forget, or regret.” This is one of the mottos I live by, along with the old hippie motto to “Be whomever you want to be, do whatever you want to do, as long as you don’t (intentionally) hurt anyone (in the process). (Bracketed words added by me.)
I do not know this for a fact, though most humans assume its veracity: animals and other living beings cannot contemplate their own deaths. Therefore they live like they are never going to die.
If this truly is what separates humans from other lifeforms, then I think we did ourselves a disservice by having that realization. To live in fear of death is debilitating. Knowing we are going to die should should make us want to live the best life we can live, but this seldom happens. Instead, we contemplate our futures, and thus put restrictions on our daily happiness. Even worse, we indoctrinate our children to restrict themselves to the point some people never truly learn what it means to be happy. (Does this contradict my opening statement? Only if you let it.)
rawgod
December 11, 2022 at 6:02 am
This song, by the Grass Roots, expressed how most of us living the hippie lifestyle felt, and I have to say, 55 years later, I have never known the same level of happiness as I experienced during that phase of my life.
rawgod
December 11, 2022 at 6:12 am