Motivation. It isn’t easy to find. Sometimes it comes to you when you didn’t even think you needed it and other times it waits for you to be on your very last ounce of hope before it comes to give you the push that you need. For me, the best kind of motivation comes at times like this, 11:30 at night when I can’t sleep. When I allow my mind to roam freely into the depths of my imagination and pull out the thoughts I didn’t realise were there. These are the times when we come up with our best pieces of art. Motivation is a powerful thing when used to it’s greatest potential.
I also know what it’s like to lose all motivation. To feel stuck in your own life, like an endless cycle going on and on. You don’t stop it because it’s so much easier to go along with it. Saying all the right things, completing all the standard actions. It’s a hard cycle to break, it’s hard to get away from the comfortability and familiarity of your mundane cycle but where will it lead you?
All December 2018 I was hearing ‘2019 will be my year’, but what has changed? There’s only so much time that can be wasted waiting for your motivation to kick in before you have to pick yourself up and change your life by force.
Once you’ve unlocked the box that has kept you stuck for so long, a number of different and wonderful opportunities reveal themselves. Social media and hard-headed parents have made us believe that we are all on the same timeline/a similar path. Having your life sorted as soon as you leave uni, married by 25 and kids by late 20’s. In reality, it’s so far from that. There’s 18 year olds that are absolutely thriving in their work environments without going to uni. There’s 29 year old graduates that are still coasting through life, posting holiday pictures with fake smiles.
I admit, at times, I think feeling ‘stuck’ but from time to time that can be a huge life motivator. It can push you to great heights, unlocking hidden potential even. Being ‘stuck’ isn’t the end but merely a new beginning. Once you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way is up.
A lack of motivation (/procrastination) will have you screaming ‘I’m on my own timeline’, but you’re going nowhere. Saying that you’re on your own timeline means that you shouldn’t feel forced to do something just because your peers are. Take that gap year, do what feels right for you - but never stop moving forward or progressing with your life. Being ‘stuck’ while debating your next step is a natural process in life. But remember you’re only stuck, not staying.
What I’m really trying to say is that when motivation strikes you, never allow it to fade before its time. Motivation brings change. No one else is going to find you that new job or write your essay or start eating right for you. Once you’ve found your motivation, your purpose to start, keep going. If you’re going through hell, keep going. Why would you stop in hell?