Motivation

It’s been a long time since I wrote on this blog, almost two months now. The thing is, we aren’t always motivated, or we have problems, or we simply don’t have the time.

According to the RAE, the Spanish language academy, motivation is “a preparatory mental rehearsal of an action, to encourage oneself or others to carry it out with interest and diligence”.

Without motivation, it’s very hard to do anything well, or with interest. So motivation matters a great deal if we are to “function” as people.

So each of us looks for a goal, and with it in mind gets motivated to take some action, with interest and diligence.
Many of us who write blogs do it more out of vanity than anything else. We feel we have something valuable to contribute and we write it down.

Either way, there are times when we find no motivation in what we do, or in anything around us. Those are the times when we need help, support, patience, and also a good shaking.

We need those people who tell us we’re in bad shape, or who show they’re worried about us. Who know how to shake us, to tell us what’s wrong, who are able to forgive us in spite of the mistakes we make, but who are there to point out when you’re getting it wrong.

It’s not that I want to share my problems with you. I only want to say that for those of us who don’t have the gift of faith, love is a source of the energy you need to find motivation. And love comes from sharing with others; you may love yourself a great deal, but we need to receive love from others in order to live. In my case, the love of my wife, my children, friends and family.

A religious person will tell me that God is Love. Could be.

What matters is getting into that state that motivation gives you. That urge to start things, to work, to do anything at all. That state that sharpens your concentration, gives you more energy, lets you say yes or no depending on what you’re asked.

If I want to climb a mountain, I have to motivate myself into the state of mind that will get me to the top. But clearly there has to be a mountain to climb.

Motivation is important, but motivation comes from the desire, or the need, to do something. A target, a goal.

Setting goals is a prior step, a necessary one for getting motivated, and that’s what we’ll reflect on in an upcoming post.