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The Impact Of Motivation

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Two and a half years ago when my mother went through her life altering surgery, I was in a terrible state of mind. My father was broken from the inside and I had to manage everything alone. I was drained physically, emotionally and financially. All my savings was wiped out in one shot! That took a terrible toll on me. The insurance barely covered one fourth of it. I know what mattered was that mom was doing fine, but that was like 10 years of my hard work. This one incident also showed me the true colors of people and that was not a easy thing to digest as well. After a month or so, mom was better and was recuperating at home, but it was getting tough for me to get past each day. Of course I had my partner with me to support me through it all, but inside I was fighting a raging battle and was losing my grip on life. Just as I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown, I decided to pull the reins of my life back together and get better. For me second, but first for my husband who was watching me break day after day. That is when I stared a self-project called "Project Getting Better".

While I did take therapy, I knew that I had to work really hard on myself to heal. I felt the need and the want to get better. Trust me, if you don't want to get better and find comfort in the melancholy, you will never come out of it. I did not want to be one of them. I stared the project by writing good things about a day every night. It could have been one or ten, I made sure I saw the silver lining at least once each day. This helped me look at things differently and I began seeing the positive even in the gravest of situations. One day as I was browsing Pinterest blindly looking for wallpapers for my phone, I came across a few quotes that were very inspirational. I stopped looking for wallpapers then and went on reading the quotes from one link to another. They helped me understand life better and most importantly it made me realize that I am not alone in this. Motivational quotes and thoughts helped me look at life through a different lens and helped me heal to a very large extent.

Why am I talking about this today? Well, I'll tell you. I recently saw someone share an image and caption the picture with "Insert any random motivational quote". When I wrote a post about kindness and recommended everyone to read 'Wonder', a friend came back to me saying "Did you have to read a book to understand the importance of kindness?" While her thought is justified, it also comes across as rude. We humans are weird at times. Sometimes, we miss the obvious and go ahead with life. Once in a blue-moon, a book, a thought, a quote or a movie comes your way to make you realize something that you knew all along. That is what motivation is for me.

As part of the project, I also started sharing an inspirational quote on my Instagram account every day. Honestly, it was just for me at the start. I wanted to have something to look at through the day to keep me going. Soon, people started reaching out to me saying that they look forward to seeing the quotes I share everyday and how it motivates them. Motivation is not only for the weak or broken, everyone deserves to have an inspiration in one form or the other. While there were people who mocked what I was doing, I just kept going. It was helping me get better and that's all that mattered to me. It has been more than two years now and this has not changed. When something works for you, you should just keep it going.

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What troubles me is the fact that some people do not understand the impact of motivation and mock those who do. When you see/read something good, what you take away from it is your choice. If you are the one to read and forget, then so be it! Let us not belittle those who are doing everything they can to feel better day after day. Let us not make fun of people who believe in the healing power of words. While most people are appreciative of books, quotes and movies that try to convey a good message, there are also a few who go "I can't believe they had to make a movie for people to understand this"! Well, you might be super smart, good for you! Let the quotes and the books help the others in need.

I'm not going to elucidate the need for motivation here, it is pretty self-explanatory. We get the highest motivation when our sense of purpose connects with our sense of motivation. What ever your purpose is, what ever your goal is, with motivation you can get to it. Motivation definitely is not the destination, but it does make your journey easier. Why do you watch work out videos when you want to get into shape? Why do you read up cooking recipes when you want to try cooking something? It gives you the push to ahead with your purpose. Motivation is important to manage daily life challenges and opportunities to keep moving forward and achieving goals.

Motivation is needed in every step of life. You might be the happiest or the richest person on earth, but you could also use some motivation some day. If you are the one to believe that posting a quote or talking about a book cannot change your life for the good, do note that no harm has ever come from motivation either.

How much does motivation matter to you?

Comments

  1. We all go through bad times and I admire you for coming out of your down period. It requires courage to acknowledge a problem and commitment to carry out your goal. Motivation is a major factor in achieving one’s goals . Thanks for sharing this post .

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    1. Thank you Sunitha! It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I made it.

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  2. I have told you earlier and I would like to say it again today that I really look forward to your motivational quotes posts on Instagram. These quotes work for me as they offer hope, insight, encouragement that is so needed in tough and trying times. And they act as reminders and alarm clocks to the wisdom we have within us. I have a perpetual calendar which has 365 quotes for every day of the year. The first thing that I do after waking up is to I turn a new page everyday and read the quote for the day, and this I have been doing it since the last 14 years!!
    Often, these quotes stay with us and subtly make us think and bring about a change in our mood. It is amazing to see what a ‘right quote at the right time’ can do to our day.
    There will be naysayers for everything, I think we must continue to do what works for us!!

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    1. You along with so many others have told me this, Shilpa! It helps me a lot and I'm glad it helps many others too.

      14 years? Wow, I need to get that perpetual calendar too :)

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  3. Nodding all the way down to the last line. So glad you stayed on your path, Soumya and did the thing that stoked YOUR inner being! That's what motivation does for me too. I plod on and make my way and don't care who says what! In the end, we must go for what really matters to us. I'm a great believer in positive thinking and there have been times that I've picked myself up only by reading inspirational posts and quotes, so yes, next to the naysayers you'll also find that believers exist too! Thanks for writing this post, Soumya and that quote is just what I needed to see today.

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    1. Oh yes! I believe in positive thinking too and inspirational posts and quotes do just that!

      You are welcome, Esha, I'm glad this helped you :)

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  4. Hugs Somz- had no idea you were going through such an inner turmoil. I am impressed with your self help project here - this is not only brave but takes so much effort to do so. We always find the strength and compassion to motivate others when they are down and out but never ourselves.

    Your strength in doing this for yourself and finding ways to do it is just amazing. I am super inspired by you girl.

    This is my take away from your post and I am so so glad to read it.

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    1. Thank you, darling! Self-help projects are important, it helps one better themselves.

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  5. I've always enjoyed your quotes on Insta/Whatsapp. Most times they ring a bell with me and I always look forward to reading them. You've been such a brilliant support to me. I must honestly say you're a strong person and you've earned it because you've gone through a lot. After personally talking with you, I have read your older posts to know more about you because honestly we have discussed some problems but I liked how you don't like to get into the bitter details. That's something I have liked about you. You are kinder than I thought you were and I am happy to have found you online. We all have good friends outside, but this online world is such a girl gang that I love being a part of.

    While reading this post, I wondered why on earth would people actually ask such questions. However, it took me a while to realize there are lots of people who think they are the epitome of kindness or even more like the world begins and ends with them. I'll tell you so many of us love your quotes and you must be putting them up everyday. I know you didn't in the middle and I remember you posting about how someone said something and you didn't post for a while. See, I remember that too. So, don't you stop. I started realizing how the quotes change the mind and makes us look forward to the day. I personally started sharing quotes inspired by you and your project gettting better. I started to believe myself through the tough times because of those quotes.

    You are a lovely person, Sou! You better share, because we care! :D

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    1. You are too sweet to remember all this, Jay <3

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