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Hi, my name is David McLeod.
Inspiration is a funny thing.
I don't know about you, but I find myself inspired by a lot of different people in my life.
In fact, it seems that every person I get to know reasonably well inspires me in some way.
And yet, oddly enough, I very rarely think of myself as inspiring.
And you know, I didn't even realize this strange dichotomy in my life until someone recently
heard a presentation I did and came up to me afterward and said, "Wow, David, thank
you so much for that. You are truly an inspiration."
Well, you know, this really touched me deeply. I could feel a warm smile come over me as
I said thank you. And yet at the same time, I found myself resisting the compliment.
There was a very deep part of me that was simply unable—or unwilling—to accept that
I could actually inspire other people. Maybe you can relate to what I'm talking about.
I actually think this a pretty common experience. I mean, we go through our lives thinking what
we think, believing what we believe, doing what we do, and experiencing whatever it is
we are experiencing.
And as we go through all these experiences, we're mostly just thinking "This is how my life is."
Most of us don't even imagine that our experiences, and what we might learn from them, may just
be an inspiration to other people.
Well, as I worked on examining this doubt within me, I noticed that my thinking process was
going something like this: "How can I possibly be an inspiration to other people? Overall
I've had a pretty good life. Things have gone pretty smoothly for me most of the time, and
I've never had a major crisis to speak of or any kind of serious traumatic event in
my life. I've never had to overcome the specter of a life-threatening illness or disease;
I've never lost a child to an accident; I've never suffered some of the horrific things
that I know other people in this world have suffered.
So, I don't really have the kind of powerful story to tell people that will really inspire
them. I can't possibly be an inspiration to other people."
And yet, every once in a while, someone will tell me that I inspire them. How is this possible?
What is going on?
Well, as I dug deeper into this, I started looking at what it is that inspires me. And one
day, it finally dawned on me!
Inspiration has nothing to do with what we do and everything to do with who we are!
Sure, people pay attention to what we do, and obviously some actions are more inspirational
than others. And this, I believe, is because of the motivation behind doing what we do.
If people see us doing something that appears to be motivated by greed, for example, they
are not likely to be inspired by that action.
But if they see us doing something that is motivated by the love in our heart—with
no apparent desire for personal recognition—that's when inspiration seems to descend upon them.
So, it's who we are—the magnificent, divine beings of love and light that we sometimes
reveal through our authenticity—that ultimately inspires people to connect to their own magnificence
and to act according to the truth of who they really are.
And this part's important: we can't fake who we are. We have to be real, genuine, authentic.
Oh, and vulnerable. That really seems to be the ticket. When I share the truth of who
I really am, vulnerably and authentically, that's when people seem to respond. That's
when they seem to resonate with me and find themselves inspired.
I think this is true for all of us. Every one of us is an inspiration in our own way.
We don't need to have a deep dark story of some terrible ordeal over which we triumphed.
We just have to be who we really are—authentic, real, human beings living authentic, real lives.
So, I invite you to recognize and embrace the inspiration that you are, and to be willing
to share yourself fully with the world.
Have a wonderful and inspiring day.