Inspiration

<font color="purple">[b]I love it when the air is cool, and the breeze is soft, and when I can see birds flying back home (north) from a long winter. I realize that -really- everything is okay. My faith is affirmed, and the day to day hustle and bustle of life really is minute compared to the immensity of the world.

Nature, in it's truest form, certainly inspires me to think more kindly, to feel more secure in my own being, and to have hope for tomorrow.

I hope you find something today that inspires you to do something better, or to be a better person in some way.

((((((((((((( Sky )))))))))))))))

Inspiration!!! I feel it all around...every single day! I remember a time when I had to search for inspiration and some days, it never was visible to me. Now, I'm able to "feel" inspiration all the time.

I see inspiration in my grandson's eyes....how he longs to learn and grow....how he has compassion for living things..the world and people around him, even when he suffers from his illness...he somehow regroups and finds his way. To me, he is inspirational.

Everyday I'm inspired by this community. Whether it be through the daily struggles or the positive happenings, I'm inspired to be the best I can be for myself and for those who touch my life everyday.


sabby

(((((((Sky))))))) ((((((sabby))))))

I have been inspired by you both. More times than I can count!

that was very beautiful sky

I love to see birds migrate also, and await humming birds each year

Yes, the beautiful birds have returned to the north!!!

My inspiration likes to sit in front of the keyboard when I'm trying to type and yells for her mama all day and night!!! lol

Thank you for this thread.

I was inspired today by my eight-month-old grandson's eyes...deeply looking into mine, searching and drawing comfort, strength, something from my very soul. I've never known a baby with such wise eyes that literally looks deeply into the soul.

Little does he realize that while he's searching and finding, I'm finding.

I'm finding beauty, innocence, grace, strength, an open and giving spirit, desire, happiness...pure unhindered happiness.

Tears immediately sprung to my eyes...feeling more than I could ever put into words.

Also, a few days ago a young woman came across the street to say hi to her old "mentor". I'd not seen her but once in a couple of years.

She'd had a very difficult childhood, and many times she spent at my house seeking many things...a mother, a friend, an auntie, a safe and warm bed, a protector even.

When she was able to get away, she did just that. She fell into the "wrong crowd" and had two children, a divorce and got into some drugs.

I was lying down when she came and was very angry at my husband for coming to get me. I'd been sleep-deprived and was exhausted. I wanted to cry, but I dragged myself out the my comfortable bed and went to say, "Hi."

She asked me to come outside, that she had something to say to me. I was barely tolerating this...I was just so exhausted.

We got outside and she hugged me tight again and said that she'd cleaned herself up and was actually in college to become a drug and alcohol counselor. She said she's taking some classes right now that have her really doing alot of soul-searching and she just kept coming back to "Kim". Everything she went through, there was Kim as the bright spot, comfort zone, counselor or protector.

******************** Possibly triggering ********************



We laughed at some of the sillier things and she reminded me when she came over one specific night...running for her life to get to me. I could barely get what was going on out of her, and here came the person who'd hurt her...her father.

I had hubby meet him at the door, and though he was a friend from childhood, I wouldn't allow him in. She said no one had ever chosen her over anybody. I cried. She reminded me of the two times that I'd gone over to protect her from her then husband when she went from the frying pan into the fire with that man and marriage.

I won't share here how I handled both of those times because I wouldn't want y'all to know me in that "light". It was for the right reasons, though, right?

She said she had to let me know that she wouldn't be alive if it weren't for me, and she certainly wouldn't be where she is.

I, in turn, explained that where she is is ALL on her, and explained how proud I was of her. She said that wasn't true, that I didn't have to be there all those times, even for the silly teenaged dramas. I laughed because there was plenty of that too!

I wasn't tired anymore. I was grateful, rejuvenated, excited, thankful. Blessings come when we least expect them, and can't see them coming.

This is the second such recent event where I'm being blessed with seeing that what I attempt does matter. What an inspiration.

Please never think that your words go unheard, your actions unseen...good and bad. Please know that, even when we're not aware of it, we've touched someone, somewhere, in some way...sometimes never knowing, but always touching.

It's made me evaluate what kinds of seeds I've sewn lately. Have I sewn much that would be fruitful? What an inspiration to know that it matters...it truly matters!

Moreover, imagine the inspiration and blessing I would have missed had I not gotten out of bed that day?

I thanked her for listening to her heart and telling me, because she, in turn, gifted me...HUGELY.

KD

My aloe plant is blooming...and I think of all creation, how marvelous it is. Surely I can do some small thing to inspire others along my way!

I can remember my fascination with aloe, as a child I lived in the Everglades and my mother was very much into growing plants, she had it growing all around trees in the ground, they were huge, not like I see up here in peoples window sills, I almost anticipated getting a scrape or cut just so I could break off a piece to extract the natural medication

She lives in Fort Myers Beach and has a sun room now, full of tropical foliage, and of course aloe

Thank you Sky for helping give us a different outlook.

I love the greenery that is finally peaking out from under the snow. I am beginning to see daffodils in bloom and the top of the crocuses are beginning to break through.

I love springtime! It is the time of new beginnings....And it smells good too!

Ahhhh......Think and smell spring. What a great time of year

I love walking around my yard each morning and seeing what new plant has popped out of the earth. Noting how this or that has grown more than an inch seemingly overnight. Finding those volunteer plants that some animal has generously planted for me. Seeing the same clematis that just hasn't done much and looks like it's dead every fall come back anew each spring. Even if it never blooms, it's resilience inspires me. Seeing all these changes every morning, every year, teaches me anew that my hard work and plans do come to fruition, though it's never quite the same each time. And that variety and surprise is also inspiring.

gg

The most beautiful sight is seeing the lilies pop up...and then other flowers start popping up! Here...there...everywhere!!!! I just love it! I almost get as much joy watching that as when my babies give birth to their own little ones!

I have to admit that I was inspired much of the time spent at Philmont, the National Boy Scout Training Center/Ranch in Cimarron, NM. My avatar is one of the pictures from that time. To see the sun rise/set midst the mountains, and realize that those who finagled and bought these pieces of property so long ago so that all Scouts/Scouters could appreciate the glory that God put there were truly inspired to do so.

The deer walk through the camp at various times of the day. There are apple trees throughout and of course the deer are munching and crunching them. What gorgeous creatures they are. I see a loving creator's touch on them. With the Elk I see some of the same softness, but more of the firmness and strength that I'm sure we are also to embrace.

One of the best times was during evening vespers, the open air chapel built just along the deer path, and they mosey along as we worship in spirit together, enjoying each other's friendship and fellowship, though strangers the week before.

I agree...deer and elk are amazing creatures!

We have someone near where I live that have live tamed deer that they keep in a fenced in area. I don't know if it's a deer park or what...but everytime I pass it I always wanna go there just to revel in the beauty of such gentle creatures!

I work with many Amish people who raise deer for sale. They are just so cute when they are babies and so beautiful as they get older too. Such graceful creatures.

we have deer all over my area... i see the fawns and moms... the bucks.. they rest in peoples yards.... they are so peaceful

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_Sky said:
I have to admit that I was inspired much of the time spent at Philmont, the National Boy Scout Training Center/Ranch in Cimarron, NM.

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Part of what contributed to me falling in love with my husband was listening to him talk about his experiences there. He just seemed so in awe of the beauty surrounding him and the feelings it evoked within. It sounds like a wonderful place.

gg

thanks sky for this thread - i was starting to feel quite stressed and maybe slightly sad but this thread has really perked me up, i've enjoyed reading everyone's replies! Btw i think it is really really cool that you have an aloe vera plant, i have always wanted one so i get excited seeing any or hearing that someone has one....i'm silly like that

Kimmydawn - your post was really amazing. Thank you for sharing with us all. It is funny that often we don't know the impact we can have in someones life...and i am glad that she came back stronger and thanked you. That is inspiring!

I'm going to spend some time today thinking about what inspires me. I think though for me, it is strong people who stand up for what they believe - whether they be well known like Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Gandi.....or those that are making a difference everyday without others knowing like Kimmydawn and Sky (to name but two!)...........i could add many more!

take care everyone!

Songs can inspire us, as I see I think it mentioned in a few other threads. It's important for me to keep the songs positive, as when I open myself up to be influenced by music, I can also be influenced by those songs that would drag me down and into the muck and doledrums of real life. (Those things that everyone experiences in some fashion, and those things that I specifically battle for myself such as the chronic pain.)

It was good to see others post The River, which I added to in video forum, by Garth Brook. The video I happened to find has him in live concert and he allows those in the pit to float him about the area and back to the stage. It was a good example of how we need to "just float" at times and not struggle. Songs can inspire me to do that.

<font color="green">[b]
Some say they have no need for solitude.
Others insist on privacy, to get away and contemplate.
Most of us do want our moments of quiet.
But we want to decide when those moments will be.

It is in the quiet times that we build our strengths.
It is then we find new perspectives, and realize
we have something to rely upon.

Solitude is not the total withdrawal from the life around us.
Solitude is a sweet moment of peace that lets us recenter.
It gives us a chance to reset the rhythm of our body, soul, and spirit.

It is wisdom to stay close to the solitude of nature
to keep us young, and pliable.

It's funny...my therapists and doctor try to force socializing on me...but I don't feel comforted or accepted around people...but in nature. This is just a reminder that each one of us has different needs and that everyone is different!

The vibrations of the living things of nature are healing in themselves.
They do help us to reset our own core vibrations.
It's all God created in my beliefs,
but regardless of who or what you ascribe them to,
they are still there to help you.

Who can stay angry while lying next to a babbling brook,
or feel hopeless while listening to the birds chirp wildly
away while swaying in a hammock?
Can anyone peer at the moon and stars (away from the city)
at night and not realize their problems are miniscule?

Have you ever hugged a tree?
Such a living addition to our lives
gives us "good vibes" and can help
us with our worries...every living thing
has a spirit.
While I do not worship the trees nor any
such thing but God, I do recognize the
creation's magnificence. All things
are good, and can help us have a better
life.

namaste'

Today's inspiration came from within me.

I stood up for myself in the face of fear. So my inspiration came in the form of myself...my protector today has been me.

So my inspiration is assertiveness, strength, and justice.

(((TaintedGoth))) Yeah for you! The strength we have within is often more powerful than we first realize!