How do I get to see the light?

Psa 36:9 You are the source of all life, and because of your light we see the light.

Depression, which is really the ultimate opposite of motivation, is often described as darkness.

I do not claim to be grasping the practical application of this scripture, but there seems to me to be a critical element here in the comments that God is the source of all life, and that we see the light because of His light. It is when our lives are light, that we are motivated. When I feel all strong and motivated, it is the opposite of that dark feeling I have when I am depressed.

How do I allow God's light to shine in me so constantly that I never face the grey dusk of demotivation, or even the deep darkness of depression?

Is the previous verse maybe an introduction that gives me a key?

Psa 36:8 We feast on the abundant food you provide; you let us drink from the river of your goodness.

Herein, it seems lie the secret. To take the time to eat from God's hand and to drink from His river, every day, therein lies a great weapon.

Creating the desired alternative for everything I don't like

We start change by first creating a mental alternative

This is a principle which I had forgotten about. The principle is that when there is anything in your life that you are unhappy about, you should create the alternative that you desire. Once you have created that alternative, you are to begin thinking about it regularly, until it becomes solid in your mind, and then you will be able to begin to see the path from where you are now, to where you want to be.

But what about the small things?

We often apply this principle to big things in our lives – such as wanting a new job, or getting married. However, the real art of a happy life must lie in the ability to apply this to the proverbial stones in our shoes.

Think about the day that lies behind you – either today or yesterday, depending on the time of day. Now identify just one thing in this day which you are unhappy about. Let it be something that recurs, something that is a regular part of your life.

Create your alternative

Now use some creativity, and create an alternative. What would you rather have had in that time slot, or what would you rather have had happen, or how would you have things to have been different? Begin to create that new image, begin to reprogram your expectation, and soon you will begin to see the path to change that specific part of your life, from the way it is now, to the way you want it to be.

I’m going to make teaching more exciting

A simple example. I find that I get bored with teaching. Now I could make a major change and ask myself what I want to replace teaching with. But I don't want to do that, because I still enjoy teaching. It's just that I sometimes get bored. So instead of making a big change – trying to change to another job or career or pass-time, I am just going to make a small change.

I don't know exactly what it is yet, but I'm going to start picturing classes with excited students and an excited, passionate lecturer. That's me! And I know it will work, because I'd done this before. I've just forgotten about it lately because I'd made so many great wonderful changes in my life that I'd become slack about keeping a watch on the small things!

The Power of Expectation

Expect a solution – remove the fear

When we expect that a problem will be solved, it has a tremendously powerful effect on our level of motivation. It firstly removes the fear, because we truly can view the problem as only temporary. Secondly, it gives our actions a sense of purpose and certainty. When we doubt success, or doubt whether a problem would be resolved, our actions are lined with fear of failure. It is better to rush towards failure, all out, and meet that failure expecting success until the last moment, because then we will have a short moment of disappointment, from which we can pick ourselves up and attack the next problem.

However, I am convinced that when we go all out, fighting with all our strength and expecting success every moment, the chances of us failing are significantly reduced and the chances of us succeeding are greatly increased.

Here are some comments from the Master Key System on this concept:

... when you can consciously realize this power by a practical demonstration of your ability to overcome any adverse condition by the power of your thought, you will have nothing to fear; fear will have been destroyed and you will have come into possession of your birthright.

17. It is our attitude of mind toward life which determines the experiences with which we are to meet; if we expect nothing, we shall have nothing; if we demand much, we shall receive the greater portion. The world is harsh only as we fail to assert ourselves. The criticism of the world is bitter only to those who cannot compel room for their ideas. It is fear of this criticism that causes many ideas to fail to see the light of day.

... will not fear criticism or anything else; he will be too busy radiating courage, confidence, and power; he will anticipate success by his mental attitude; he will pound barriers to pieces, and leap over the chasm of doubt and hesitation which fear places in his path.

Just thinking about the statement:

when you can consciously realize this power by a practical demonstration of your ability to overcome any adverse condition by the power of your thought, you will have nothing to fear

Use creativity and discipline your mind as to the thoughts you allow it to dwell on

This is where creativity and a disciplined mind comes into play. I now know that for every problem there is a solution. There is, in fact not only one solution, but a variety of solutions, some that suit me and some that do not suit me, based on my style of working. Therefore thought is what will bring me to the place where I find the solution that suits me and my style.

Choose a solution that excites you

This in itself, is a positive expectation. Before even expecting the success, whenever I see a problem, close by or afar off, I must begin to have the expectation that I will find a solution, and not just any solution but a solution that suits me, a solution that I like, a solution that I am excited about implementing.

Freedom to go wherever I wish

Where you are impacts your motivation

 

I have found that one of the things that impact on my levels of motivation, is my environment. I like being outdoors, and I like being in beautiful places. When I am in this environment, I come alive.

I have also noticed that cities and countries influence this. I am more motivated in China, than I am in South Africa. I cannot explain this, I have merely observed this within myself.

So for this reason I realized that this promise from God, is powerfully important if we find ourselves in a demotivational environment. We might not always be able to immediately up and go, but it has been my experience that when we begin to plan to move, we will be able to execute that move.

 

You can change your environment

 

Psa 31:8 You have not let my enemies capture me; you have given me freedom to go where I wish.

There have been times in my life where I thought that the “enemy had captured me,” where I felt stuck and I seemed to have reached a dead end of a tunnel. However, every time, when I took a step back, focused away from my environment and started focusing on where I wanted to go, I found that God had prepared a way out, and I just had to recognize it, and work it.

 

 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Apart from a few references in some of my University text-books, I have never really taken the time to find out much about Maslow. He is quoted for the hierarchy of needs probably more than anything else, and most of us know that research has since shown that the model is mostly useful because it is intuitive, but it is not quite correct in analysing human behaviour, because the fulfillment or lack of fulfillment of the lower order needs do not influence the need for the higher order needs in the strong way that he proposed. A beggar needs love, even though he might have no food or security.

However, I read a very interesting article about his hierarchy of needs, and about him as a person, and I realized that there is actually much more to it, than just the little that the text books quote and then promptly criticise.

I have heard many definitions of self-actualisation - and interestingly enough, all the literature I had ever read about Maslow, quoted his hierarchy and then promptly explained it without using Maslow's own definitions, and without adding much of what he really said and thought about this hierarchy.

Well, here is the defition that really got me thinking:
"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy," said Maslow. "What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization."

Think about that.

For the rest of the article that got me thinking - see http://www.spiritualwealth.com/
The name of the article is "Beyond Self Actualization" (like the Americans spell it. Was Maslow American? If he was, then the word is actualization. But if he wasn't - well - then it's actualisation.)

Wholehearted Desire

1Ch 29:19 Give my son Solomon a wholehearted desire to obey everything that you command and to build the Temple for which I have made these preparations.

This is a great verse to memorise and turn into a personal prayer, when we are battling with motivation. Here's my version:
"Dear God, give me a wholehearted desire to obey everything that you command and to complete the task that you have given me, and on which I've worked so hard, thus far."

Absence of demotivators, and presence of motivators

One thing I have learnt in my life, is that to maintain a high level of motivation, I need to not only look for those things that motivate me, but I need to keep my life as free as possible from the things that drain that motivation.

For instance, I could have goals that I am really passionate about – I could have them written down, or even have pictures of what I am wanting to achieve – those are great motivators. But if I have been driving myself day after day for a long time with little sleep and no rest, tiredness will eventually overcome that motivation.

In the same way, I could have all the motivators in place, but if there is a looming disaster in my life, fear can become totally debilitating. Or what about sadness? I've been through a few incidents in my life that made me seriously sad – and that drained me of all motivation until I was able to recover and begin to see the world positively again.

So when thinking and reading about motivation, I have to not only look at scriptures that specifically focus on motivation or those things that I believe are motivational, but also at those scriptures that show me how to remove the things that are not motivational.

Strength and Peace comes from God

Strength and Peace comes from God

Psa 29:11 The LORD gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.

It's interesting how these two go together. I remember at school there was this one guy that had a really strong “don't mess with me,” image. He somehow projected a strength from within, which caused everyone else to just leave him alone. No-one messed with this guy. His strength gave him peace.

I have noticed that when I have no strength, and when I have no peace – either one of those two missing, then my motivation levels become unstable.

Take some time to meditate on the concept that strength and peace comes from God, until you begin to understand this truth with your heart.

Creating A Rhythm of Good Habits in your life

1Ch 27:1 This is the number of the people of Israel, the heads of fathers' houses, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters concerning the divisions that came and went, month after month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000:

After this verse follows a setting out of each clan and when they were to serve. Each served one month of the year, every year, the same month, every year.

I’m beginning to realize more and more that rhythm is natural. We breathe rhythmically. The sun rises and falls. Yes, there are interruptions to these rhythms, but things return to their rhythm as quickly as possible. It is this rhythm that I want to start establishing in my life.

One of the powerful things about motivation and this rhythm, is that the things that have become part of this rhythm require little motivation. They just happen. I don’t have to motivate myself to breathe, or to give the next step when I’m walking. The rhythm creates enough expectation of the next movement or activity, that it automatically happens.

The challenge for me now, is to really identify the most important things first – and build those into my rhythm.