The Sisters of Motivation

[or "Needs Must!" part three of three]

The Sisters of Motivation call out over the airwaves,

“Come to us, all you who are tired and weary and lacking oomph!

“And we will give you spark!

“Work with us and you will find energy for your souls,

“And enthusiasm for the day ahead!”

We’ve met Six Sisters of Motivation so far, with the Final Three to go.

Sister Defender asks, “What are you certain of?  What’s stable in your life?”

Sister Friend asks, “What new groups could you join online to find rewarding relationships?”

Sister Star asks, “What do you want to be respected for in your community?”

Sister Director asks, “How can you direct your onward journey into a better future?”

Sister Builder asks, “What steps can you take to improve your quality of living?”

Sister Expert asks, “What new expertise can you master over the coming 90 days?”

But what of the final three?

I am biased, but they are my favourites!

Creator Spirit Searcher

Sister Creator loves nothing more than sitting alongside you as your muse.  She will give you original ideas and ways to do new things that are nothing short of innovative.  I know for a fact she’s looking for listeners like you to collaborate with right now!  “What shall we make today?” is the most frequent question she asks.  And, “What shall we make oftoday?”

Creativity touches everywhere she goes.

Her Elder Sister is The Spirit.  She’s been around forever and has learned the value of true freedom.  Where The Builder seeks financial freedom, and The Friend seeks relationship freedom (only relating to those whose company she enjoys), Sister Spirit is sometimes recognised as the unemployable Free Spirit!  She loves those who love time freedom – the freedom to choose the where and the when – where they work, when they work!  To achieve this, she has very broad vision and tends to think long-term, painting her ‘Map to the Future’ with broad undefined brushstrokes.  When she can’t travel, she travels in her mind, creating alternative futures with her rich imagination, and trying out how each one feels.  She asks, “Where shall we go (virtually or virtuously) today?”

The Eldest Sister is The Searcher.  She knows that whatever a person can be, they must be.  She is restless with seemingly infinite energy.  Her quest is a noble one – one for meaning, significance, with a mission to make a useful difference in the world.  Like Sister Spirit, she’s a BIG Thinker preferring to imagine the perfect life and then reverse engineering her plans and purposes to create a pathway to fulfil her ultimate passions.  Her question is, “What are you here for?”  She’s a riot at parties.

If you are feeling tired and weary, each one of the Sisters of Motivation is on a mission to relight your fire… they only ask that you spend time with them.

I record this on Easter Sunday, 2020 – a year of surreal vision!

Empty streets, empty cinemas, empty restaurants… ghost towns.

My podcast audience is global and far more weighted towards the United States of America.

“Good Day, America!”  

It is also largely Christian.  The audience in the United Kingdom is smaller, and I have seen signs that England has lost – or at least let go of – her first love.  This is a day when England should be United as a Kingdom in celebrating the Resurrection of the One Who conquered death, and fear, and sickness and disease.  But the number of the faithful here has been small.  I hope there will be a turning around back to God.

Back to hope.

Back to motivation.

And, if I may quote the lyrics from my youth,

“Back to Life.  Back to Reality.”

For those of you listening who have faith or a hunger to know more, here’s a verse that is written on my heart.  It’s a beautiful invitation to you today from the lips of Jesus.

“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

What has this got to do with a blog and podcast on Motivation?

Motivation and Self-Mastery, Happiness and Inner Peace are, as ‘Inner Peace’ suggests, an ‘inside job’.  The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, and thus within reach of all of us.  Self-Mastery of Motivation comes when we lose our dependency on outside conditions to define whether or not we are motivated.  We go within.

The energy is within us, like the heart of a star.

Motivation radiates from the inside-out.

Proverbs has many treasures, one of which is:

Keep your heart with all diligence,

 for out of it is the wellspring of life.

The exhortation here is to guard your heart, to protect your heart, to keep watch over your heart – not your head (that’s a different story) – with all diligence.  Why?  Because the heart is where your motivation flows from – the Wellspring of Life.

From the lips of Jesus again…

Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 

He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 

from within him will flow rivers of living water.” 

But he said this about the Spirit, 

which those believing in him were to receive. 

For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.

The Easter Sunday message is that He is Risen – glorified in His triumph over death, and on His way to the Ascension – after which the Promise of My Father – the Holy Spirit would be given.

Deeper Motivation from Before the Dawn of Time

Motivation has been wonderfully articulated by James Sale in his works on Motivational Mapping – what I have called the Nine Sisters of Motivation – and Christians can tap into the greater Source behind these nine by guarding their hearts, watching what comes out of their mouths – the spout for the wellspring – and making sure they are continuously coming to drink from Jesus by strengthening their relationship with the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity.  He can keep us energised, enthused, and motivated over all circumstances – and busy.  We all have work to do, isolated or not.

The Apostle Paul spent much of his productive ministry years… in isolation.  He gave himself to writing and to prayer.  His works make up much of the legacy we have in The New Testament.  And where would we be without them.  God is bigger than isolation.

Returning to Jesus warm invitation to close:

“Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

‘Rest’ here is not a state of inactivity but rather a state of Flow.  

When you are in the right role, doing the right activities, you will enter a flow state where motivation drives excellence.  Time will fly past.  You will feel invigorated and energised by what you do – not drained and exhausted.

It is GOOD work.

There is a yoke of partnership, like that between a young ox (that’s you) and the experienced wise ox (that’s the Holy Spirit), where the younger learns from the elder… and then they plough the field and tread out the grain!  The process is easy, and the burden is light, but there are still many matters left to attend to!  When we are motivated, fully motivated, this will feel like ‘rest’ as strongly opposed to ‘toil’.  

Why? Because we will be blessed.

The Blessing of YHWH makes rich

And He adds no toil with it, no sorrow, no weariness.

Go, Flow!

Wherever you are listening around the World

Have a blessed Easter and a Visionary 2020 and beyond

This is a New Beginning – a Resurrection different from what went before

Learn from the Spirit

And know that Love Never Fails

Rather that

Love has always found the answer and always will.

Made for you, with love, from Lex.

Verses quoted or alluded to:

Matthew 11:28-30

Proverbs 4:23

John 7:38

Proverbs 10:22