Inspiration can be completely undone by the rigor of daily life, defeated quite easily by as little as a single thought.
In her book The Invitation (inspired by the prose poem), Oriah wrote a stunningly engaging piece about spiritual enlightenment and peace. She recounts how she experienced a great state of enlightenment one morning, a sense of flowing inspiration and overall feeling of connectedness to that which ultimately drives her. It was inspiring and encouraging to read. The climactic end to the event, which was the ultimate undoing of her inspired state, was nothing less than Oriah stepping barefoot on a wet sock left lying by her son on the bathroom floor.
A Sock Undone
Was it the wetness on her foot that caused the undoing of her inspired state? Was it the cold mushiness of a sock that was not put in its proper place? Not at all, for inspiration is not solely deterred by external events. It is instead how we internalize these events that decides whether we live inspired or not. For Oriah, it was everything that the wet sock signified: her son ignoring his responsibility coupled with the associated internal ‘baggage’ of frustration that she experienced. The sock was simply the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
The Stress of Losing Your Calm
If you’ve ever lost your calm at a seemingly insignificant event, then you know that there’s typically much more at work than what appears on the surface. We all have underlying stress and emotional anguish that we experience, which we may very well be unaware of at the time until it is triggered. This can completely shatter an otherwise perfect state of inspiration and functional happiness.
Stress has a way of creeping up on us. It is a strong inhibitor to our overall happiness. As explained by the Model of Functional Happiness, just being aware of the stress in our lives is a great step forward. The steps we take after that, however, are the ones that truly determine how much impact it has overall.
So challenge yourself to first determine what is causing stress in your life and then set a goal to eliminate or reduce the impact of one item on your list. You’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to be happy when you are working to eliminate the stress in your life rather than simply enduring it.
For assistance with goal setting, check out the Goal Setting Worksheet in the 2nd START section.