Inspiration, Motivation, and Procrastination

Although it is now December, I actually began this post back in May. First I wrote the title and then added the definition to each word, with every intention of writing it over the next few days. I thought for sure when inspired I would become motivated to write and finish it that month, but as I kept procrastinating about it, I either wrote about something else or didn’t write at all.

Although I’m not really all that inspired now, I am motivated, so before I start to procrastinate again here goes.

Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. Much of my writing comes from some sort of inspiration. Many times the source is certain songs that hold some type of meaning to me, but it can also be something I see on TV that touches my heart or a recent event in my life.

Motivation is a general desire or willingness to do something. When inspired, I’m certainly motivated, but it doesn’t always mean I will write something as a result. The reason why I don’t always write while inspired and motivated comes from the third thing I spoke of, procrastination; the act of delaying or postponing something.

It seems I can find five other things to do before I actually sit down and attempt to write something for my blog, and before I know it, the inspiration and the motivation have subsided.

Now there are days when something comes up while I’m feeling inspired to write that prevents me from doing so, and that’s understandable. But man can procrastination play a role in my life when it comes to other things as well. There have been times when I put something off until the last minute and then had to hurry to get it done. Or worse, I put a couple of things off and felt overwhelmed as I worked to get them done.

In truth, I’ve gotten better at doing things right away, but when it comes to my writing, I can still delay it to the point that I’m no longer mentally stimulated or have the desire to do so. I think the reason for this actually comes from not writing more. The more I write, the more inspired I feel.

The same holds true when I look for things to be happy about. The more I look at the positive things in life and the ones that have meaning to them, the more grateful I am, and the more inspired I become to live life to its fullest.

Perhaps this inspiration comes from a different source. A divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul that while invisible to us, is evidenced in the good people do.

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