Does Motivation Last?

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily. ~ Zig Ziglar

New year, new chances, new goals, new resolutions.  New, new, new. . . like a just-made baby, we love new things.  We love the smells, the freshness, the ability to forget the old and start over again. Still, it descends on us too often shortly after the newness has worn off, and we wonder why it doesn't last. 

There is something inherently beautiful about renewal.

Empty to be Filled

I've often wondered
about the rhythms of life
the emptying
the sleeping
the eating.

Why are we so high maintenance?
Why must I be interrupted to pause?
What are the lessons to be taught?

Insomniac ponderings
about the stillness of rest,
the natural purging
of impurities
and the hunger to being attended to
caught my attention.

Why can we not go forever
without sleep?
Why must we pause
to allow our bodies to fill
and empty
time and again?

Then, as I lay in sleepless quiet
it occurred to me
the lessons I needed to learn.

That the emptying
was as important as the filling.
To leave room for more,
I needed to toss the old.

Old thoughts, possessions
even relationships. . .
so that there was room
for the new, the updated
the fresh.

I realized my quiet
was as much 'being'
as my busyness. 
That my mind was as productive
in my velvet night pause
as in my productive moments
of brainstorming.

I learned that I must refuel
my soul, my spirit
my body. . . often.
It isn't something glanced at once
then left to languish into disrepair.
Not in my being,
Not in my home
Not in my relationships
Not in my family
or education
or spiritual nurturing
or emotional health.

The natural rhythms of the physical
is merely a lesson
for the whole. 

Empty to be full.
Fill to be renewed
Be still to refresh.
''Being'' is more than 'doing'.


---<--{@ Marsha Steed Keller

This year I'm going to work on BEing.  The Now.  The today in my forever.  I want to simplify more, live richer, notice more and live my best life, especially when no one is around to notice.