Whenever I feel like giving up, which seems like a lot more often as I get older, where do I find inspiration? How can I make myself get back on that bull that just knocked me down?
New Experiences
Inspiration can come about because of a change or seeing the possibility of change. You must search out and have new experiences in order to find inspiration. This works by seeing new places or people that can inspire you. There are many ways to find and the inspiring moments and things will different for everyone. Here are some ideas to find inspirational:
• Creative art and writing
• Stylish music and sound
• Innovation and brain science
• Life impact stories
• Underdog stories. ‘Remember the Titans’ always makes me feel good!
• Overcoming crisis and trauma
• Go a day or a week without TV
These are just a few and everyone will have their own personal favorites that interest and inspire them.
Keep An Open Mind
Once you do find new experiences, the unknown often drives fear or a defensive attitude towards it. The change that inspiration is generated from will only be held back by those initial worries or reactions so you must keep an open mind in these situations to see them from new perspectives. You want to let it shape you thoughts, change your initial response and give yourself some time to ponder the new things before denying any possible acceptance or further exploration of the subject. You never know what you could be missing if you close your mind to new ideas.
Watch Your Emotions
Emotions are often tied to that initial response but they also relate so closely to your past experiences they are often limiting or blinding what we dare to see or believe. A story that might be inspiring to one person can easily make another upset or angry based on how they relate their own experiences to that. Pay attention to your emotions, watch them carefully and try to control them. They can hide many subtle things that lead to inspiration at the wrong time or place. Keeping them under control and always trying to change the perspective you experience things in can help with getting past a negative emotional response.
Your emotions could just as easily be signals to find inspiration as often you feel deeply connected to something or you care a great deal about specific topics so you naturally gravitate and have interest their. Use this when it ties in well with the types of inspiration you want in your life.
Share the Experience
Finding inspiration comes a whole lot easier when you are actually talking about it doing that and talking with other people. This is where inspiration feeds inspiration in many cases as simply sharing one inspiring story with a friend or colleague can spark them to think of their own inspiring messages and it often waterfalls into a deeper relationship as you discuss important things between you. Each of those items shared also reveals something that has meaning to a person and knowing that thing is meaningful to them will automatically add importance to it in your life, especially if you already valued it.
Sharing stories of meaning and value are also a great way to discover new things and inspiration as well. The first step about searching for inspiration is made a whole lot simpler when other people bring those stories to you directly in conversation. Of course you will never feel the same hear about a story then experiencing it directly but often it inspires you enough to go make a similar experience yourself and get over your fears of leaving your comfort zone. Offering that same to others by sharing your experiences builds a stronger relationship where you can continue to share the inspiration and drive each other to find more of it.
Seek Out Solitude
While sharing your experience with others has it’s set of advantages and methods to find more inspiration, so does solitude at the opposite end of the spectrum. Solitude offers a way to focus your mind and body, which can allow you to tune in to your surroundings, your thoughts and your life. It lets you notice some of the things that inspire subtly and that you would have missed if stuck in a hectic noisy environment.
Solitude is also a place where we can find time for reflection and deep thinking. It helps a person link their actions and experiences to their thoughts, their hopes and their faith. Spending time in solitude can relax the mind and sharpen your senses which makes the impact of inspiration often more intense and lasting. Solitude will be different for different people, some may enjoy that time to think and study, others may meditate to relax the mind and body, and some may spend the time connecting spiritually through prayer and their internal connection to God. All these things help calm the emotions, alert the senses and help to make points of inspiration more obvious in your life, an important way to find more of the inspiration you are looking for.
Keep in Mind Your Role Models
Role models come about because they either inspire a person or make them jealous. Ask yourself what does your role model do that you like about them. Don’t look for what they have or can offer you, but only in what they do. Is it how they handle a situation, the steps they take to overcome hardship, their ability to lead and accomplish great things or perhaps it’s the methods they use to build and encourage strong relationship. Whatever it is, you can draw on that not only for seeing the inspiration but also to seek out more.
Do your role models align with the areas in your life you are passionate about? In other words, are they the source of inspiration that is most important to you? It’s worth looking at how your role models steer you as often people have role models that steer them away from the important areas of their life and do so more because of social influence than heartfelt inspiration. I’m not suggesting you carve out your role models only from what is important to you right now, as that would limit finding new inspiration, however, it is important to ensure your role models are truly impacting you with inspiration that matters to you and not just because of social influence.
Align Your Actions
While most of this step will be broken out in my next article about taking action on inspiration, I think some alignment of your actions with what inspires you will also help you find more inspiration. Taking action towards something reinforces in our minds that action and it can quickly build the neural connections in your brain to learn that new action and associated inspiration that led to it. This makes inspiration last and grow in value in your mind so putting attention to something that inspires you along with specific actions will only strengthen that. This stronger connection will drive you to seek out even more, as the value you have towards that grows stronger and stronger.
Follow Your Faith
Finding inspiration is not easy, especially in our hectic world with so many false social influences and media bombardment. Connecting what is really important to you with what you encounter is something that you must learn to do to separate the noise from the inspiration in your life. This comes as no small tasks and while the steps above might all help in that, it’s going to come down to you trusting yourself and your beliefs to actually recognize what is inspirational to you. You must learn to trust your own judgment here, no matter the source. That source of judgment is founded in the faith you have towards knowing what matters, knowing what is right and knowing you will recognize the differences as you encounter them. This faith, whether you consider it spiritual or not, is one to be followed when seeking out inspiration.
A lot of our guests have to travel frequently and never or seldom think of the impact this has on the ones we leave behind, even if it’s for a day or two. Remember you GET what you put into any relationship. So I went out and got some tips for our road warriors to think about or use to keep the home fires burning!
Ask the important questions at the onset, to make sure you are both clear on the parameters of the relationship. Setting parameters such as naming your relationship (dating, seeing each other, boyfriend-girlfriend, engaged) as well as defining exclusive (limited to one person,) or non-exclusive. These can be difficult and awkward questions to ask, but will save you great heartache and misunderstanding down the line. Example: "Are you open to the possibility of relocating if the relationship should become more serious?" or "What are you looking to get out of the relationship?" Stating your end goal or ideas will allow each person to maintain what they need.
Consider using Skype video chat calls every day, text messaging, phone calls and email every day. It is important to maintain contact and to be in each other's daily lives as much as possible. The video feature is really great and it’s free if you det up accounts for both of you!
Do things together. Defy the distance. As a long distance couple, it's important to do other things together besides the usual phone call. In a long distance relationship, interaction over the phone can become dull in the long run. Incorporating other forms of interaction are important. Just think... People in short-distance relationships do not spend the majority of their time talking, but rather doing things with each other. Try to replicate this by finding things to do together such as watching a TV show or movie simultaneously. Here's a free list of 90 things you can do with your long distance partner
Take advantage of the benefits a long distance relationship offers: more time with friends and/or family, no arguments over toothpaste caps, the pleasure of seeing your sweetheart again after a long absence, time to mull your options (rather than snapping at your partner impulsively) before you respond to that email s/he wrote that seemed so rude the first time you read it, not being dragged into a bunch of chick flicks, etc. Most important, being far apart gives you a chance to maintain your individuality—something that can get lost in the shuffle when couples spend all their free time together. Here are additional benefits of long distance relationships.
Pursue common interests, even if it means pursuing them apart. If there's a movie you're both interested in seeing, watch it individually and then call each other afterward and talk about it. Hulu.com is a great site to go to catch up on shows even though your traveling and it’s free. Read a certain book at the same time. Stargaze while you're on the phone. Set your watches to go off at the same time every day, and synchronize your alarm with that of your partner. Make it a point to think of each other when your watch goes off, and revel in the fact that he or she is thinking about you, too. Find creative ways to bond.
Avoid jealousy and be trusting. One of the easiest ways to destroy a perfectly healthy relationship is to poison it with jealousy and drama. When you start a long distance relationship, you must be realistic of the difficulties ahead. It always helps if you go in a relationship with the idea that everyone is innocent and worthy of trust until proven otherwise. Don't fall in the trap of interrogating your partner every time he/she decides to go out for a drink with people you haven't met or he/she didn't get back to you right away when you called and left a message. Just because you are in a long-distance relationship doesn't mean your lives will pause. Your partner will naturally have a social life where he/she lives and so should you. Sure, it helps to have your eyes open and not be totally naive, but being overly suspicious is unhealthy for you and your relationship too. You should both maintain your social activity and be happy with yourselves.
The bad guys have taken over the box office! As Loki looks to serve his brother, Thor, up to the goddess of the dead in the film that kicked off the summer it made the statement, ‘villains make the movie.’ You can look at this summer’s list of movies and if you like the villain or really hate him then you’ll probably like the movie.
I’m impressed with the line up of summer movies and the bad guys lined up to take shots at the good guys. Whether that’s from something for the kids with, Lord Shen in ‘Kung Fu Panda’ to a serious drama with Uday Hussein in ‘The Devils Double,’ and back again to the special effects extravaganza of Lord Voldemort in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.’ These bad guys are what makes a movie SOMETHING!
But it doesn’t do much for us the hotel. Could you imagine coming your favorite hotel only to find out that Freddy the gloved knife-wielding front desk agent took your luggage and hid it away from you. Maybe that’s not so bad because Freddy always hides everything in the boiler room.
Then there’s Jason the masked maintenance guy who got your thermostat stuck at 90 degrees and the only tool he brought to fix it was a machete. You know how hard it is to press those tiny buttons with a machete not to mention the mud those big boots of his tracks in.
Let’s not forget the self-conscious, scared of her shadow but don’t make her mad, housekeeper Carrie. Somehow she can vacuum, mop, and clean the bathroom by just staring intently at your room. It’s just when you ask for extra towels that things go wrong.
All these villains don’t add up to a comfortable stay for you here at Courtyard by Marriott in Pasadena but don’t worry there are no villains here. And maybe after your stay here you might even have a new hero or two for your summer travels!
Ok I’m going to warn you now… if you show up at our hotel in one of these three HOT new cars you may find me next to it oogling over your car. And if you’re thinking about a new summer car these are my first choices:
Aston Martin has done a remarkable job designing each and every one of its cars in a way that appeals to both the style-minded and performance-obsessed buyer. For some, however, the body lines and badge letters begin to blur somewhere between the DB9 and DBS models, to a degree in which it is almost impossible for a prospective buyer to distinguish between the two. Now, to fill the gap between the 470 hp DB9 and the 510 hp DBS, the British automaker adds yet another model to its ever-growing family of vehicles: the Virage.
Equipped with the same 6-liter V-12 engine as its DB-designated counterparts, the Virage fits perfectly in between the DB9 and DBS models—producing 490 hp. The Virage, however, is not about splitting the difference between the two DB models; it is about finding that perfect balance between a hard-edged sports car and a big-engine tourer.
Weighing in at just under 4,000 pounds, the Virage may not be as lithe or nimble as a true sports car, but it still manages to sprint to 60 mph in under 4.5 seconds and carry on to a top speed of 186 mph. Despite these performance credentials, drivers will notice that the car is well mannered enough to keep tea from spilling all over your passenger’s lap—or even worse, the dash. This smooth ride is due in large part to Aston Martin’s VH architecture—the basis for cars like the DBS and Rapide—on which the British automaker continues to build each model better than the one that came before.
At $209,995, the Virage comes dangerously close to the performance credentials of the DBS coupe, while keeping much of the touring character of the DB9. To say that the Virage is the best of both worlds may be a stretch, but it certainly has its place in the British automaker’s stable.
Addition by Subtraction
Audi’s R8 was innovation enough. Then came a V-10 version, and the world’s sports-car market shuddered. Now the R8 V10 has become a convertible, which only intensifies the exhilaration the coupe delivers. Most roadsters are just coupes rendered topless, but the R8 Spyder has undergone reconstructive surgery that included removing the broad strakes attached to the coupe’s flanks. Their absence reveals intake ducts that help cool the 525 hp V-10 and add menace to the car’s rugged beauty. Handling is precise and predictable—not necessarily what one expects from a 195 mph two-seater.
Back for Seconds
The R8 Spyder impressed on every level. In addition to praising its performance and handling, judges lauded the car’s mechanically magnificent retractable top and its redesigned body panels. The Spyder has lost the side blades that adorn the coupe—which placed second in last year’s Car of the Year competition, its performance prowess barely overshadowed by the panache of the gullwing-doored Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG—and added styling that appears, dare we say, Italian. The look is fitting, considering that the car’s 5.2-liter V-10 engine is similar to the one that powers the Gallardo LP 560-4 by Lamborghini, a subsidiary of Audi.
SPECIFICATIONS
Configuration Mid-engine, all-wheel-drive convertible Engine 5.2-liter V-10 Transmission 6-speed manual or 6-speed R tronic Power 525 hp at 8,000 rpm Torque 391 ft lbs at 6,500 rpm Curb weight 3,957 pounds (manual), 3,968 pounds (R tronic) Zero to 60 4 seconds Top speed 195 mph Base price $161,000.
