There are a lot of times I wake up feeling burdened. You know, their kind of mornings where even getting out of bed feels like hard work on its own. And for these kinds of days and times, motivation doesn't always show up, but then, I've learned to not wait for it. Now, when life feels heavy and my heart burdened, I have been able to discover some things that do pull me back.
One of the things I have been able to discover that has been helping me is to take a pause and breathe. I've come to train myself to know that taking time out to rest or take a break isn't laziness. There are times that our body screams, and even our mind feels too occupied; the best thing to do at such times sometimes is to either take a nap, take a break, or pause to recharge and regain your strength/mentality. I'm human, not a machine. Even machines need rest and servicing.
One of the things that has been helping me and has come in handy is music. I have some songs I had created a playlist for. They are songs that keep me on my feet, they help remind me why I can't give up or stop midway. And sincerely, by the time I listen to a few, I would have already gotten the push needed to keep me going.
Also, I find strength and motivation when I think back on how far I’ve come. When I sit to think of all the sacrifices, sleepless nights, and all those things I had survived, I can't help but ask myself, why give up now? And I can tell you for free that as simple as it may sound, it has helped me from taking certain wrong steps countless times.
Then again, I have something more to my story. And it's something a lot of people don't even know. On my WhatsApp, I run some little things where people reach out to me anonymously; I run it mostly on weekends. Where everyone and anyone is free to share their pains, speak out, ask questions, and such. There are times its just someone who needs some encouragement. Most of the times I just post randomly on my WhatsApp status, and believe, it has helped a lot. And somehow, I'm glad I had become that person who encourages, shares advice, and uplifts spirits while also reminding people to not give up.
Why am I sharing this? Because it has helped me a lot too. And of a truth, I never thought it would help me this much. Each and every time I tell someone to keep holding on, to fight, to not give up, and to keep going, it echoes back at me very loudly. I can’t possibly be telling others to stay strong and not give up while I'm about to do the same. That little trust of theirs in me has become my own reason not to quit. By motivating and strengthening others, I ended up motivating myself.
So, what do I do when I need some motivation? Nothing much, take some rest, listen to music, sometimes I remind myself of how far I had come, other times I remind myself that someone somewhere is somewhere waiting for maybe a post from me to be able to get through their day/situation. And that thought alone is more than enough spark to keep me going.
Motivations don't just show up/appear suddenly. We get to build it little by little in the various choices we make as we move forward. Even when things seems to be hard.
All pictures are mine, second picture is a screenshot of my WhatsApp status.
Thanks for taking your time to read through.