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Most recently published stories in Motivation.
Fast Forward
I have always tried to adhere to a healthy way of life by exercising and eating right—or almost right and consuming in moderation. I am a lover of pasta, bread, cheese and decadent desserts and the first to celebrate with a good wine and an uplifting cocktail. When I’m stressed I tend to meditate, pray, read, write, eat and hit the gym. This past year, with a global pandemic that has taken the world hostage, I have had to adjust my life in ways I am still trying to unpack and sort through. I live a well-oiled, well-organized and methodical life. I am in property management, write in my spare time and work as a management consultant whenever opportunities present themselves. When COVID-19 was first introduced into our normal way of life, I was at a VIP movie premier in Silver Spring, Maryland. Masks had not become an artifact in our existence, but the theatre had more empty seats than I had ever experienced. As time went on, more and more panic and protocols had been added to our lives, but we continued to hold on to the last vestiges of our before pandemic lives albeit we had no idea the grip we would lose. On March 5 a dear friend was celebrating a milestone birthday, which consisted of a brunch that afternoon and a quaint dinner at Yellowfin Steak & Fish House in Edgewater, Maryland that night. The evening affair was a scaled-down version of the celebration she had originally planned. The original host venue wasn’t ready, so Yellowfin became the substitute. The cocktail attire she requested was meaningful now in hindsight because it was the last time I’ve worn a dinner jacket, dress slacks and Mezlan crocodile slip-ons in 10 months. We ate, laughed, drank and chatted until late in the night—not knowing that that evening would be some of the last moments of normalcy we would witness in a very long time. As the world’s news cycles became a home for the Coronavirus and terms such as masks, social distancing, and washing hands began to fill our lives, many things we took for granted—I took for granted, began to change. I no longer could go to the gym to workout. My weekend rituals of Friday night dinners on the town, Saturday matinee movies with dinner afterward and Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons or Marcel’s were brought to a screeching halt. My daily trips to the office were cut back to twice a month for a couple hours and the ability to shake hands, hug and hang out with friends and family became a nostalgic throwback to once upon a time. I tried to workout at home to replace my gym routine, but it simply wasn’t the same. The isolation from people that I loved began to be filled with space and silence and crafting a new way to maneuver through life a struggle. I knew that maintaining my health was going to be a challenge with no gym access so I began to walk and take stairs whenever I could. I tried to walk each morning and when that didn’t happen, to find an exercise video to follow, to keep from being sedentary, became a chore. My diet began to be more of comfort than that of nutrition and I no longer felt nourished, but actually empty—very empty. I knew I needed to come up with something to get me out of the drift and shift the virus had plagued my life with. At the start of 2021 I went on a 21-day fast of only water, oats, grains, fruits and vegetables. I needed something to offset the rigid quarantining I had placed around my world—the world I once knew. I replaced my classic bacon, eggs and cheese grits with oatmeal, nuts and pumpkin seeds. The Saturday shrimp and grits with yogurt and granola, pecans and almonds. There were days when I could make the better choices with no pushback, but there were other days when my cravings for bacon, bread and butter took hold of me like a vice. On the days I didn’t walk, I turned to my staple of exercise standbys and pushed myself to meet my daily goal of 10,000 steps. I admit I found myself hungry all the time and irritable, but after some time, about 9 days I began to feel my feet again. I began to feel like my old self again, or a better reinvigorated self. The pandemic had brought up a lot of stuff for me. Old hurts, ancient wounds, grief that I had pushed back in my psyche and betrayals too prickly to handle with bare hands. The isolations activated vivid dreams that woke me up bewildered and often panting, but soon I came to realize there was inner work I needed to do. The “bubble” of the pandemic simply provided a vehicle for me to zero-in on that work—and the 21-days of fasting fueled the journey. I began to sleep more soundly. I woke up refreshed. I was more alert and aware. I was more focused about the things I wanted and mattered than the things that I didn’t have or the doors I perceived as closed or opportunities that did not come my way. I began to say yes to those things that deserved a yes and noes became whole sentences. As bananas, avocados, walnuts and black bean veggie burgers replaced fettuccini Alfredo, pizza, cheeseburgers and BLTs so did my stalemate of ambivalence that the pandemic had launched on my way of life. I began to incorporate the home gym into my life. The kettle bell, pushups and lunges became my new regime that the treadmill, elliptical and gym strength training circuit had once been. The more I chose better options, walked and took the stairs as opposed to comfort choices, napping and taking the elevator, I began to write and explore areas of my life that needed to be healed. By the time the fast was over I was 17 pounds lighter in body, soul, mind and spirit! I was alert and began to take back the reigns of my life that the mysterious virus with the regal name had placed on our heads. The 21 days was the restart I needed to adjust my crown and reclaim rulership over my life—and yet, I am still subject to a cheeseburger with extra mayo!
By Marcus Graddy6 years ago in Motivation
The Universe within Us
The Universe Is a place with many stars, galaxies and planets and a cosmic web that connects all. Stars are born and stars die everyday. Like us humans we are born, we live our lives and then we die. Its like creating a black hole for all that loved you. Like the stars connected, we too are connected to the cosmic web of this vast universe, just because we cant see it doesn't mean its not there. Information travels to every single device we use via radio waves, something that cannot be seen, but we know its there.
By Christine Barger6 years ago in Motivation
We Should All Resolve to Appreciate What We Have.
Every year millions of people die of diseases that could have been prevented if only they had kept their New Years Resolutions. Millions more die from events that were out of their control. Life is always rough on people with diabetes, obesity and Heart Disease. This past year many of them took their last painful breaths alone. This past year saw a record number of people passing away without anyone to hold their hands. A record number of people were unable to visit sick relatives in the hospital or attend in person funerals. We are surrounded by people dealing with grief and financial problems. Try to cut people some slack when they act a little grumpy in public. The pain of losing a loved on often last more than a whole year. Resolve to be gentle with yourself. The grieving won't last forever.
By Naima Omar6 years ago in Motivation
Fresh Start
Wow. What an absolutely crazy year 2020 was! I had a ton of life changes, some very positive and some negative. After such a wild year, I've started off my January by taking a step back from social media. I found myself getting absolutely hooked! Rather than doing school work, I'd hop on tik tok for 15 minutes. Or that's what I'd tell myself anyway, and then two hours later I'm still doing the same thing. Scrolling through video after video. Not only that, but I felt like I was comparing myself to all those people I was watching. Driving myself crazy by looking the mirror and not seeing reflected what I was watching on my phone. It was like being overwhelmed with thoughts like "You should look like them" or "Why aren't you more like them?" all the time. Because guess what? I don't look like any of those girls on tik tok, but with that kind of thinking I forgot the most important thing of all. That they don't look like me. I forgot that I'm a real person to, and just because I'm not some tik tok famous girl with my makeup done, hair curled and nails did, doesn't mean I'm not beautiful all on my own. So with that, I deleted my account! For days I would catch myself wanting to scroll through Tik tok. Can you say addiction? After a couple weeks that went away though, and I've felt so good since. I don't find myself comparing how I look to others and I feel like I have so much more time in a day to focus on things that make me happy! I realized this wasn't enough though though. I wanted to take this further! So I went through my instagram account and deleted over 200 followers, and unfollowed a whole wack of people. Now it's just my friends and family, people who I love and have a connection with. I decided I didn't really care to know what all these people I barely knew were up to. It's so draining! I want to dedicate this year to just being happy with me, and not feeling the need to always be hooked on social media and needing to know what's going on with every single persons life. Looking back, when I had something new and exciting happen, my first instinct would've been to post it on instagram. Now I just think, I can be happy for me, without feeling the need to broadcast my life to everyone else. My life and my successes should not based by the number of likes and follows I get. Neither should yours! It's like theres this unspoken stigma where if you have below said number of follows/likes your kinda lame. It just adds that additional pressure! We put ourselves out there on social media basically asking society for approval. Unfortunately we don't always get it. However, I promise I'm not here to just try and rag on social media platforms. I think they can be a great tool, especially for businesses and getting your name out there! Being completely honest, at this point in my life for me at taking a step back was what I needed. It's is so refreshing! I found myself having more energy and just overall being in a better mindset. So you bet I put that it into doing things I love (well, and school lol)! I absolutely love all things plants and flowers. So I've been doing a lot of reading on that, and would love to start a little flower farm in my own backyard! My goal this year is to focus on my plans and dreams and making them a reality. Endlessly pursuing what gives me those happy heart feels. I'm sure it sounds like something really small, just taking a step back from the world of social media. But hey, even a small step in the right direction is still a step closer to building the world I want for myself. So with that, I wish you all a very happy 2021, full of tons of adventures and new beginnings. Here's to us and this new year!
By Meghan Lynn6 years ago in Motivation
Go From Hellness To Wellness with these 3 resolutions
Every time I reflect upon the year 2020, i cast my mind back to the last few moments of New Year’s Eve, 2019. I can clearly recall the spectacular display of the London Eye on television. The technicoloured fireworks dazzled and swirled, lighting up the night sky.
By Shan Lena6 years ago in Motivation
From the Dark comes Light
Life has always been somewhat turbulent for me. Although the last year has really shown me how conviction and investing in oneself can positively affect your life. At times I’ve struggled with consistency and patience. So focusing on myself instead of the many people around me has genuinely made each day I wake up, to so much brighter. Instead of waking up and checking my phone, I drink some water and meditate. Then I do some breathing exercises and begin my day by making breakfast. For a while I’ve felt almost addicted to technology. Time would simply pass by without me noticing. I suppose that's the reality of social media, at times you get stuck in the endless scroll. My resolution is to distance myself from social media and to focus on being present with the real people around me. It's odd to hangout with someone in silence, both of you trapped into a small screen for hours give or take. Looking back at all the times I’ve been with friends or family, only half paying attention to what they were saying, makes me a bit melancholy. There are some people you only see a few times a year, and even then I prioritized a funny picture or adorable animal over a personal interaction. Knowing this about myself has made me rethink how I delegate my time day-to-day. With the new year, I am working on becoming more aware and present. My goal is to stay enrolled in my nursing classes and to obtain my RNA license within a few years. I know my goals are going to be challenging, but that's what makes it worth fighting for. I am working towards my goals by spending time studying for classes, making music, and painting. This is how I manifest happiness for myself while also being productive.
By Lea Britto6 years ago in Motivation
The new beginning
Being a young individual in a foreign country is not as easy as someone would think. Having no one for support, is easy to get lost in the thought that you are all alone. It feels like you are trapped, you try to escape but it is useless. I guess the only thing you can really do is just sit down and let all those emotions overpower. You have to think of who you are and what you have become. Do not get distracted of useless things, but instead think of yourself. Think of all the things that are taking place and try to understand that all that is happening is happening for a reason. Life can be difficult but you are here to learn and grow. Those difficult moments that you see unfolding in front of your eyes are just memories of the past.
By Despoina Venizelou6 years ago in Motivation
Mindset and Moving
It’s the middle of a pandemic, and I decided to move across the country. The main reason for my move was my school placement. I’m finishing my Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology and because of the pandemic, placements were short in my very large, but almost constantly stay-at-home-ordered city. I decided to expand my search and applied to a small city in the beautiful Canadian Rockies, nearby where my younger brother lives. I pulled off this whole move in just a few weeks and by January 4, 2021 I was in a new place, where I have only 2 friends plus my brother, but know no one else. Not to mention a placement in community mental health which is a complete career change from what I was doing before. Yet with all of this, I’m feeling comfortable. How is that possible?
By Kelsey Harris6 years ago in Motivation
Do as Caterpillars Do: Go to Goo
Ah, January. Time for New Year's Resolutions. Time for a fresh start. But what does it mean to truly have a fresh start? As I am sure you know, Reader, the annual cultural phenomenon of making Resolutions unites the self-improvement minded in a rite of passage from one year to the next. It's both a personal and communal process of resolving to "do better." I am among those who make the yearly trek of a self-inventory check, asking: "How could I have made this past year better? How can I make this coming year better?"
By Gwynedd Vetter-Drusch 6 years ago in Motivation
10 Years a Slave...
" Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome" This is just one of many Arthur Ashe quote's that fueled my a weakened soul, when I was accepting the outside noise as inside facts. Since my birth I was conditioned by many things for being born into the black race. We was raised in the city of Providence in Rhode Island; but I lived in a house built by my grandfather's father. I always had presents under the tree, food in the kitchen cabinets, good clothes on my back, and both parents in successful jobs. YET, I outside of the comforts of my actual daily reality I was labeled by my physical features and attached to societies stereo-types of a colored boy. Today I am writing this story as a short /ˌôdəbīˈäɡrəfē/ (lol), autobiography. This journey to be the owner of my own company' that is still growing, and the blinded steps that got me here is why I chose to write about myself, when I think about who I most admire.
By Sun Moon Hazard6 years ago in Motivation
The Importance of Escapism
The Importance of Escapism We are born then we die. We work, we earn and we eat then we die. There has to be much more to life then the cradle to the grave, there should be more to existence, isn’t there? Well I have news for you, there is far more then merely life and death. There is far more then one great thing, that one thing that is beyond substantial. This thing is our imagination. It separates us from the animals and gives us motivation and drive. Our imagination can affect our health and ultimately our environment. When a person goes through life a they may be bombarded with opportunities to consume various forms of media or entertainment. While it’s easy to get discouraged with these various forms of media, we need to look at them differently. These things are forms of escapism and also they are exercises for our imagination. There is far more to life then merely life and death; there is also creation and love. The purpose of life is to create and to make and to touch others with the things we make and hopefully that will inspire others to make as well and this will be an ongoing ripple effect. Imagination is one of the strongest forces in the universe, without it we wouldn’t be here, the things around us would not exist and meaning would be sapped from our very existence. Without imagination, humanity would not be motivated to develop the complex civilizations that it has throughout history. All of that aside, it’s important to indulge in some light escapism at times, we need to treat our imagination well so we can have a far more robust perspective of reality. I don not merely mean going through the motions, I mean it is good to lose yourself and follow your imagination where it may lead. I have a belief that your imagination can shape your reality for the better or for the worse. If one has a healthy imagination then they themselves will be healthy, and I know half of you are rolling your eyes right now. However, there is science to back this up proving that your thoughts can affect your stress levels and there have been studies to show that it can go for beyond that. The main thing is that if someone does not have something to believe in or even something to motivate him or her then it can cause a decline in mental health. On the surface, escapism can be dismissed at merely consumerism, however I believe it is something else. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to indulge in fantasy. Its like going to Disney world, there’s some people who go there who think it is a total waste of money and time, however there are others who go there to be in another world and to indulge in that world as much as possible. Take a moment to create something, let your mind wander and just make something. There is something purely beautiful about the creative process where something just occurs from a mash of ideas. Indulging in the imagination of others will help to inspire you to create and this will inspire others to create as well. In essence there is more to life then merely life and death. The in-between is filled with an endless array of opportunities. What you could do, or see, or make is entirely up to you but sometimes we need a little spark to remind us what we are capable of. This is the importance of escapism.
By Myk Media6 years ago in Motivation
