Motivation

the other day i was looking for some motivation.

I thought to myself, "self, let's see what the Bible says on motivation"

I found nothing.

I laughed and thought, i guess God doesnt want me motivated. Sweet.

That was the day that i blogged about laziness and everything the Bible said about it. i figured if I cant find anything on motivation, then i can research the opposite of motivation.

but and interesting thing happened. I thought more and more throughout the day on Motivation. Isnt it weird that the thing I struggle with so much isnt really mentioned in the Bible? The word doesnt even pop up! Why wouldnt God talk to one of those old Bible writing dudes and dudettes and give a little somethin somethin on how to self-motivate?

Nowadays, one of the most popular phrases i both hear and say is, "I just cant seem to get motivated." or "I'm just trying to get myself motivated" or "I need a little motivation." Back in the day actors would say, 'Whats my motivation for this character?"

I would imagine during Jesus's time, motivation was much more objective. Like, this family is my motivation, Survival is my motivation, not starving to death is my motivation. the people who didnt have motivation likely died or were pretty hated for being scoundrels. People did things because they had to do them. It wasnt about feeling like it.

In our wonderful industrialized modern era, motivation seems a lot more subjective, sentimental or emotional. It's more of a feeling, or a sense, or a phase we go through. We technically dont have to have any motivation to live our lives. If we had no motivation, we would just be fat, lazy hermits who died alone...but we might still have an okay time with it if we could still afford TV.

I find myself crying and sobbing around for motivation sometimes. "gee, if i could just get motivated i would be able to blah blah blah." GAG...

Maybe the Bible doesnt talk much about motivation because needing it presupposes that you have an option to not do something. The Bible doesnt ever really allow for a lot of subjectivity in our actions. It never says, "Love one another if you feel like it." Or "take care of the widows when you get motivated." Now though, I am sitting in my house right now thinking about how much I need to goto the gym and wondering if i can suck up the motivation to go. Motivation would not be an issue if i didnt allow the possibility to just sit here into my list of options. If i said to myself, "Self, time to goto the gym" and left it at that, i wouldnt need to find motivation...because I would just go...

But now we preface everything with, "Hmm, Do I WANT to go to the gym? Ugh, I'm tired, maybe I dont"

The truth is, we rely entirely too much on feeling like doing something. In the last 6 months I have gotten partly famous for saying, "you dont have to want to, you just have to have to." Its true man. Its really true. Dont make motivation or lack thereof your scapegoat for failure.

Screw Motivation.

to quote my shoebox...


"JUST DO IT"

Comments

Anonymous said…
Complex Post. This post helped me in my school assignment. Thanks Alot
9:27 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

listless

I'm not sure what is going on in my head, but i'm very uninspired lately. i feel like there is so much more I should be doing, but its like i'm watching life from through a window. like i have no real impact on the story, i just sit and watch it unfold and hope the story starts getting adventurous. I'm chosing to call it uninspired because that still leaves the door open for me to have some kind of impact. Like if i could just muster up some passion for something I would be able to find some great purpose and meaning in what I'm doing. I'm thinking about all the kids going back to school and the college students heading off for a new year, and I'm finding that I'm jealous. My life doesnt cycle like that anymore. There is no rise and fall with the seasons. There is no connection to the calendar. Everyday bleeds by in the same numbing pattern. My clothes barely even change with seasons anymore. everyday finds itself looking exactly like the last: wake up l...
Read more

whats your self worth?

People have said, something is only worth what someone would pay for it. If what you're selling, no one is buying, then what you have is pretty worthless. But there are stores out there that sell all kinds of things and so the market makes room for them. People are the same. Some people are beautiful, but useless for more than their looks. Like a painting they are worth a lot because people see them as rare.But, some people can go their whole lives without decorating. Some people are useful and so are worth a lot because they fulfill some purpose. Hardworking, or smart, they are seen has having some value that makes them worth the investment. Then there are people I'd characterize as novelty people. You buy them because you've just never seen anything like them. They're especially entertaing or unique. They don't cost a lot, so you can't pass them up. Then there are bargain people. They don't cost much, arent worth much and don't last long. They fill a s...
Read more

Musical Unity: A response to Michael Gungor

When I first started listening to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) the only people around were Amy Grant and Michael W Smith. Maybe Kathy Tricolli and Sandi Patty...Any maybe Carmen, but why mention Carmen? Shortly before I started listening to CCM there was no such thing as CCM. The 80s were just about a barren wasteland for Christian entertainment. We had a handle on good old Gospel and regular people started writing worship music. My life wouldn't be the same without Keith Green. But then came the 90s. WHAT an AMAZING time!! Right? DC talk, Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, OC Supertones...Holy Music COW! If you were a young Christian, you could turn your radio up proudly and still feel cool. It was EPIC. From 15-21 I didn't listen to much other than CCM. Only the cool CCM of course. The stuff that the local Christian radio station only played on Friday Nights. Then I hit 21 and was, practically overnight, too cool for CCM. I bought a soapbox on top of which I declared ...
Read more