Who Motivates You?

If not what, then who?

It’s Sunday evening. The ending rays of Father’s Day are closing out the evening light. The trees are filtering the sun’s warm beams into cool shadows. Dogs are fed. Calls are made to those I needed to talk to, and an evening thought came that will be shared Monday morning.

Why write this on Sunday?

The thought is fresh and it feels like it needs to be birthed. I will write for a moment, pause, think, and add a few lines, re-write, think it through and move on to the next sentence. My normal habit for a blog post, but it may take me hours till I’m finished. Tonight.

During this past 24 hours I have had a number of personal friends and family members wish me Happy Father’s Day. From near, and far. I’ve watched all the social media posts of people acknowledging their dad as the Best Ever, and No One Comes close…. Some are with us, others are not. Some I know, and some I’ve never had the opportunity to meet.

But all the accolades cannot be true for everyone.
How can Every Dad be the Best Dad in the World?

I can compare your thoughts with my own, your written and spoken tributes, and maybe we think the same on some things… But it’s my thinking process that makes me write slower tonight, think it through deeper, and pray it makes some sense. To someone, even if only to me.

We need motivators in our lives. Someone or something that causes each of us to step up and do better. Someone from our past, and others from our present, but always someone from the crowd that will be important tomorrow. It’s not that we always need a motivating speech from some professional storyteller, but words do cause our creative juices to flow, and a temporary speaker can help us improve. We need to hear or feel something that makes us try harder to be the best, reach the next level, go the extra mile. Maybe our bucket is half empty, but there are ways to make it fill up quickly. You simply need to find your motivation!

It will be left up to us to make sure our bucket gets filled as necessary.

You may have someone in your life that is your “go to” motivator for different purposes. I know I do. A certain author, artist, singer – each can push me into a motivated state just by the connection. However, I think the truth is we need multiple avenues from where our motivation comes. One may motivate you to be a better parent or spouse, another may challenge all of us to be better in our calling, still, there are others who are not part of our daily life that create an impetuous need in our mind to reach out and become more than we ever thought possible.

It’s not always a famous person I turn to, although there are some I enjoy following, reading and listening to. No. I find most of my motivation comes from everyday people. A neighbor who shows me how to consistently be a better person to neighbors around him. A Fire Marshall who pops in annually and gives me a spark of friendship.  A mother who shows the true love of a parent with a crying child. A store clerk displays a friendly demeanor in the face of negative customers. Even that customer service rep who has to learn to be nice to a nasty personality.

The kindness and thoughtfulness of strangers
should be all the motivation we need!

I find my best motivators come from those around me. Daily. From old to young, and whatever other categories you would place them in, there are many who give me my encouragement of being better all the while tempering my personality into the person I need to learn to become.

Perhaps the best motivator is the one who sticks with you even when you are having a bad day. My bride of over 4 decades has seen every side of me, the ups and the downs, the good times and bad, and just like our vows stated – for better and for worse, she loves me and encourages me to be better today than I was yesterday. Mostly without saying a word! Simply by Being There!

So. Here’s my thought for today… Too often we are needy. Always in need of a motivator we fail to see our role in the landscape. We yearn to find someone new. Different. Exciting. Itching ears is what Paul tells Timothy (2 Timothy 4:3). We search far and wide for that motivation that will help life make sense.

Perhaps well and good, but you cannot continually be a sponge, soaking it up. Eventually you are full and unless you’ve done something to squeeze it out on others you will never be able to gather any more motivation. The reality of life is that you have to learn to give back.

Who are you motivating?

What do you do, daily, that motivates someone else to become their personal best? Maybe it’s no one you know, but imagine there are people motivated by the very life you live, the challenges you face, and the perseverance to see the day wind up and you are on top of the world! Daily they watch your faithfulness, friendliness, and enjoy feeling like they know you at your best and learn from you at your worst.

As Oleg Vishnepolsky (a person I follow on LinkedIn) recently posted,
“Dear Past – thank you for the lessons!
Dear Present – so happy to have you!
Dear Future – I am ready!“

So. It’s up to you. Whether you find motivation because you need it to get moving or give it even when you do not realize your impact on others, you need to refresh yourselves daily with motivating thoughts.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last.
Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
~Zig Ziglar

A morning devotional thought gets me going, and for me, it seldom comes from another persons post or book. It’s me taking whatever my morning thoughts are as my feet hit the floor, or that thing I wrestled with throughout the night, or even the challenge I have to face in a few hours, and then allowing the morning to speak to me in calm contemplation in light of the circumstances.

This is what works for me.

A word from God.
A season of prayer.
A personal devotion.
Some Motivation from others.
Now.
I’m ready to face my day and be the motivator I was meant to be.