Monday Musings: Motivation

Did you really write that you ask? I think I did. I did my research (*cough* ^_Google…) and nothing turned up.

On Tuesday I wrote about quotes (Tuesday Tidbits) and while looking through my notebook, I came across an old post that I thought I had used. Well, I couldn’t find it in my 237 previous posts (wow!), and since it kinda fits the theme (I used part of it in Tuesday’s post), and I didn’t have anything else planned, and I also didn’t feel like writing a whole new one (you’ll get the irony shortly). Here it is:

Motivation

“Do or do not. There is no try.” Hold it right there Yoda. I’m going against my adoration for you and your (well, Lucas’s) universe and it pains my heart to when I say that I have to disagree with you. There is always a “try” in doing. It’s like telling a child that they can be whatever they want to be in life. Unfortunately, it’s just not true. But by trying, they will better themselves because they will fail at times (usually more often than succeed) and hopefully learn more about what they can and cannot do.

If someone wants to be an astronaut (Pick me! Pick me!) and winds up becoming a doctor or mathematician because they couldn’t hold down their lunch in the “vomit comet”, then the world has another person to be proud of, and they have learned that you shouldn’t eat a heavy meal the night before training. Maybe math or school in general wasn’t their strong suit and they go on to customer service, the arts, public service, or become a laborer. I hope they asked themselves, “Did I try my best?”, and if the answer was yes, then the next question should be, “Am I still trying my best?”. If the answer was “no” to either of those then we must look at, you guessed it: Motivation.

I’m not an expert on the M-word. Far from it. Do I try my best? Usually, but then again, I’m a pretty good procrastinator too.

[Pan to figure slumped on a couch, bowl of potato chips in their lap, TV remote in the other…]

(But I won’t leave dirty dishes on the kitchen counter overnight)

A few quotes come to mind: “Commitment is doing what you said you would do long after the moment you said it in has passed.” I credit this to Bear Grylls, the adventure guy. If you don’t know, he was in the British Special Forces when on a training exercise, his parachute failed, and he broke his…everything? He then (not right away) became the youngest person to scale Mt. Everest. Wow.

Now, I’m not saying that you have to suffer some life-changing injury, but often things happen, and we just say to our self, “That’s it, I’m going to do something/I’m going to stop something/I’m going to try something.”, or along those lines. It’s not easy making big changes or deciding to accomplish a task, and lack of motivation is a real killer of dreams.

Where does one get their motivation? There are many motivating factors to choose from and what works for others may not be right for you. Will what you do:

• Improve your life or the lives of others?
• Bring joy or happiness into lives?
• Raise self-esteem?
• Contribute positively to society?

I think that if you can answer yes to the question, “Will I be a better person if I can accomplish this?” then it is worth doing, even if there is a risk of failure.

So, do I watch TV and eat too many chips or finish this blog? Easy choice…

Ta-Da!

(Now where is the remote…?)

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.