
"I must tell you, you really motivated me to start blogging and put my musings on web"
I received this message from a friend of mine, with whom I had lost touch (Hopefully, I will not lose touch again).There was something enchantingly beautiful in it which put me into a state of euphoria. It was to do with the word "motivate" or "inspire". I read the statement again...whoa...My mind was clouded with arrows of questions...How did I really inspire this guy? Can I really inspire? Well, did somebody inspire me too? What is the source of an inspiration? Was I inspired all my life? Etc...
To get to the root, I hit upon some beautiful thoughts, thoughts so beautiful that would inspire you, me and everyone for as long as language exists.
As a kid, I used to laugh a lot at a certain cartoon. It was Mickey Mouse’s exploits with his donkey in search of the unknown land. The donkey was funny. It would do no work and it was hungry. Mickey was smart; He took a carrot and dangled it in front of the donkey with a stick; just a little close in front of its mouth so that it is enticing enough and just a little far from its mouth so that its not reachable. Guess what; the donkey ran, it ran like it never ran before, all in the pursuit of the never reachable carrot. Well, I don’t recollect the name of the donkey, but I can safely assume that the donkey is you, me and everybody else. Yes, you read it right, we are donkeys; most of the time. You want to know why? Read on...
To inspire is to stimulate somebody to do something. To entice is to tempt somebody by offering something attractive. Now, there is a fine line between getting stimulated and getting tempted. The line lies in the way we live our life. When we were kids, mugging and struggling with studies, there was a voice that said,” study well, otherwise I will not be successful"(success being the carrot, enticing);the voice never said,” study well, coz I see myself as the possibility of being a great leader"(this statement makes you dream, it inspires you beyond success). When you did not eat well, the voice said, "Eat well, otherwise I will not be strong"(strength being the carrot, enticing), the voice never said, "Eat well, coz I see myself as a possibility of a superhuman"(this statement inspires you beyond strength). When you were in your college, the voice said, "prepare well, I have to get a good job"(job being the carrot, enticing), the voice never said, "prepare well, I see myself as the possibility of being the next Bill Gates"(this statement inspires you beyond a job). When you are on the job, the voice says, "perform well, I have to get a promotion and a fat pay packet"(promotion and pay packet being the carrots, enticing), the voice never said,” perform well, I see myself as the possibility of being the next CEO of the company"( this statement inspires you beyond promotion and pay packet).......If we think about it, its life dangling the carrot in front of us and we running behind the carrot all through. We will never stop till we die because carrots will never get over.
In art, be it writing or any other form, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire. Inspiration just happens, it is not imposed, it comes from within, within the heart. When I started writing, I was inspired by my bosom buddy, a very special friend, a very good writer. I invented the possibility of being an extra ordinary writer (this is my inspiration). When I started thinking, I was inspired by my father, a very special person. I invented the possibility of being an extra ordinary thinker (this is my inspiration). Now, they were inspired by someone too. It made me realize that inspiration is energy. It just gets transferred to you from multiple sources, from within you, through various ways. And the beauty is , it is transferable, without you losing it. Somebody else gets inspired because you cared to be inspired. Amazingly, inspiration is nature’s way of stimulating each and every human being on planet earth towards an extraordinary goal.
John Quincy said "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader". A true leader inspires. The actors with their pre war dialogues in movies like "300","Brave Heart","Gladiator","Independence day","The Matrix","Rang de Basanti","A Beautiful Mind" inspire. You can feel inspiration. It is as if a box inside the heart is let open and there is something that immediately swarms your entire body, a soothing wave, a rush of adrenalin, that makes you punch your fist in the air and makes you shout at the top of the voice, till your voice cracks " Oh, Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, I can do it too, Wooooh!!!!"
The moral of the story is, search for inspiration and not for carrots. I see myself as the one, who runs inspired, inspiring and scaling new heights, challenging the winds blown by life.