MOTIVATION

I'm totally fascinated by people.

What I think most intrigues me is what motivates us. What will consistently inspire us to choose healthy food for our bodies? To workout? To persistently work on the things that make us creatively come alive? To serve others from our hearts? To tell the truth? To follow the precepts of Vipassana?

One of my favorite quotes is:

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs-ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."-Harold Thurman

I believe this with my whole heart (and then some) but why is it so hard sometimes? I have dug deep to discover what makes me come alive (you know, what makes my heart go pitter-patter) and over the years, I have honed in and experienced the patter (and the pitter too). It's the "and go do it" part of that quote that gets me. I know I sound like a broken record here but this is what I'm learning right now and Vipassana is a perfect example.

What's more important than Vipassana?

That deadline at work? Nope.
Oh, but what about that paper I have to write? No.

Or that sleep I need to catch up on?
Or that amazing party my friend is throwing?
Or, or, or...

Nothing is more important than sitting in the reality of what is- just as it is-(not as I want it to be). There in the present moment (during my practice), I have felt humility, peace, and a deep, deep compassion grow.

Last year, I went on a solo spiritual adventure to India and Nepal. Before I left, I was a chaotic disaster area. I'll spare you the gory and dramatic details, but I had hit my bottom. You know the bottom? I felt like I was at the bottom of the bottom.

I was wreckless and that's putting it lightly. A few days before I left for India I dragged my miserable ass to a local tattoo parlor and got a little tattoo that reads: "help it grow." Under the "help" there is a seed, under the "it", a small bud, and the "grow", a full plant. At the time I was too miserable to fully understand what I was doing, but some small part of me knew that nothing was more important than the growth of the peace within me. And from that growth, all other growth spurs.

So intellectually, I understand that helping the awareness (or peace, consciousness) grow is top priority because inevitably nothing else really matters. But what will motivate me to get to that meditation cushion everyday?

What gets you there?