“If you try, If you really try, and it doesn’t work, it’s not on you.”
This quote is written on a wrinkled, rain-stained 3×5 note card in the pocket of my favorite coat. When I reach in my pocket and pull out the piece of paper, I’ll either open it and read it if I’m alone, or remember and repeat the quote to myself. It’s a mini-motivation to keep giving everything I’ve got, even if I don’t want to or I don’t think I can.
We all can use motivation, a gentle nudge on the mind and heart, as a way to remind us to keep our head up, for the rainbows mean the rain won’t last forever.
What motivates you?
Take a moment, close your eyes, and think of what it is that motivates you to keep your head up, to keep walking in the face of struggle, to keep swimming when the English Channel looks like it’s only begun, when where you want to be and where you are seem like an endless chasm.
Is it a song? A movie? A quote? An image? An activity? A nap? A list? A prayer?
Maybe you couldn’t think or feel anything. That’s fine. Maybe something in this article will spark some inspiration
In this time of great stress and overwhelming life situations, your body knows what it needs more than you give it credit for. Listen to it.
There’s no right or wrong thing that motivates a person.
For me, it’s the quote from Scandal. Sometimes it’s a song, or a playlist. Sometimes it’s a snack or coffee or a long drive on the back routes of West Virginia, looking at the cows and sheep who remind me to be where I am and expand and fill the space I’m in.
This week is difficult. You’ve got finals every day. You’ve got studying to do. You’ve got to pack to go home. Your parents are coming. You’ve got situations you left behind in August or October or November you have to face when you get home you’re not looking forward to. You’re going back to work. Whatever it is, it’s there, sure. It’s real, most certainly.
That’s why it is so important to be motivated by something, to find intrinsic motivation — motivation in yourself and what matters to you, what makes you push through stressful and overwhelming times.
Best of luck on finals and traveling home, Dear Collegiettes. Rest well, eat well, and be well.
See you next year!
P.S. Maybe the idea of the new year can be your motivation? We’re almost done with 2014!