What inspires you?  If you read Jane McGonigal’s essay, Build Resilience by Wasting Time, you’ll recall that an important component of rehabilitating from her brain injury involved doing things that made her feel happy–things as simple as looking at cute animal pictures online.  Feeling inspired is a close cousin to feeling happy–inspiration evokes a positive mood, but also tends to move us toward some sort of action to better ourselves.  Of course, inspiration can be fleeting–it must be nurtured on a regular basis to take root.  If you already know what inspires you, try to devote time to it today, or even better, every day over the next week.  If you’re searching, here are a few ideas:

• Try to put yourself in environments and around people who inspire you–seems obvious, right?  If you completed the exercise in Reexamine Your Commitments, did you find that you devote a reasonable amount of time to pursuits that allow (force?) you to grow and learn?  How can you fit this into your regular schedule?

• For a quick dose of inspiration, check out www.values.com.  This website is run by a non-profit whose sole task is to share inspirational stories, motivational quotes, and “inspire universally accepted values” such as character, perseverance, and kindness.  They have no political or religious affiliation, don’t accept donations or request volunteers, and they ask only one thing–“Pass It On.”  You can sign up to receive their daily quote, or just check out dailyshoring.com–their daily quote now appears on the blog!

What inspires you?  Please share with other readers!