How To Find Your Inspiration | Design Life

Hello and welcome to the Design Life blog, where we discuss Holistic Beauty, Personal Development and a little bit of magic.

In last week's blog post, we looked at the very important difference between motivation and inspiration (read it here). Finding your inspiration, living in spirit, is the reason why you are here and it's necessary, not only for your own peace and happiness, but for a peaceful and happy world. Could you imagine living a life that feels good to YOU? Imagine being excited to wake up every morning to take on a new day, do things you are passionate about and make money while doing it! 

Often people think following your dreams, doing what inspires you and makes you happy comes at a cost - literally. Everyone is acquainted with the term 'struggling artist'. Often the term is synonymous with someone who does what makes them happy instead of following the status quo and getting "a real degree" or "a real job" and usually suffers financially because of it. Ugh! That is a really horrible generalization that is absolute BS. I know rich artists and poor artists, happy musicians and depressed musicians, miserable scientists and joyful scientists and doctors who are wealthy and doctors who are not. 

Your job does not necessarily determine your level of happiness or how much money you make. YOU DO. Also, what inspires you and doing what you love does not necessarily mean you want to become an artist. I know a girl whose parents were both restaurant owners (her dad owned the restaurant and was passionate about business, her mother was a fantastic chef). They wanted more than anything for her to be interested in cooking or business, so that she could become part of the family business. But she wanted to become a nurse - she felt called to take care of people and learn more about the world of medicine and health. 

The problem comes in when we dictate our lives based on what society (or our parents or our friends) thinks we should (or could) be, do or have. You need to find your true inspiration and your life purpose, they will always be interlinked. You can discover your life purpose, in less than 5 minutes, by watching the video below: 

Your soul yearns to fulfill your purpose. Your purpose is not necessarily about accumulating more knowledge or material objects (although that could be part of your purpose, too). And you're definitely not going to fulfill it by comparing your life, or being obsessed with winning or achieving or "getting". It's not even really about chasing happiness (although I do believe living authentically will automatically make you feel inner peace and natural joy). Your purpose is about creating, expanding, GROWING. The thing you yearn for, more than anything else is freedom to develop your natural talents and skills and welcome the infiniteness. Your passions, your joys, you are infinite. 

There is a part of you that knows of your greatness - you are special. You have a special kind of genius to share with the world, gifts and talents, thoughts and theories, feelings and creations that nobody can put into the universe except you. 

It's easy to find your inspiration, as you saw in the video, because it's already in you.  You already know. But knowing something is different than believing in it. So the question that remains is not how do you find your inspiration, but how do you believe in it? It's one thing to know you are passionate about something, but how do you make a living from doing what you love? 

Ah, such is life. One question perpetuates a hundred more. The key is to not get overwhelmed - just take it step by step. You know what you want to do. Now do it. Dream up the bigger picture, keep it in your mind, then ask yourself, what can I do today, tomorrow and this week that will get me even an inch closer to that. Ask yourself that and be open to your inner voice, that inner knowing... Your inspiration will lead you if you give it the opportunity to do so. 

Below are 5 things you could do to connect with that inner spark. Use that time to ask yourself the key question - "What can I do today, tomorrow and this week that will get me even an inch closer to living my purpose?"  

1. Meditate, do yoga or even just do deep breathing exercises. 

2. Watch a TED video to learn about inspiring ideas and hear inspiring stories. 

3. Teach someone to do something and tap into your potential as a leader.

4. Create a vision board with pictures that symbolizes your ideal life. 

5. Ask your parents to tell you what you were like as a child, and remember what mattered to you then. In fact, just spend more time with children and learn to see the world through their eyes. 

One last secret that I would like to share with you, because it has created miracles for me in the past... Journaling. Just start journaling. You will learn so much about yourself and it will really change your life! Hmm... I think I know what next week's blog is going to be about 😊

Thank you for being here! Please feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Inspiration VS Motivation | Design Life

Hello and welcome to the Design Life blog, where we discuss Holistic Beauty, Personal Development and a little bit of magic.

The words 'inspiration' and 'motivation' are often used interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing. Certainly, when looking at their definitions, the meanings seem fairly similar: 

Inspiration (noun)1. the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
2. a sudden brilliant or timely idea.
 

Motivation (noun)1. a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.
2. a set of facts and arguments used in support of a proposal.

There's a major difference between inspiration and motivation, and not only is it big, it's important to understand. Your happiness depends on your understanding of the difference between being inspired and being motivated. Does that seem like an overly-dramatic claim to make? I can assure you, it's not. 

Motivation is like the stick you use to get a donkey to move. It can be used to beat the donkey so that it has to move forward or you can attach a carrot to it with a string, hold it in front of the donkey, far enough so he can't reach, and hopefully he's hungry enough to walk. Once the donkey gets to where it needs to be, he can finally (probably) eat the carrot (or stop being beaten - kind of like how we beat ourselves up, right?). 

Inspiration, however, comes from within. When you feel inspired, you don't need external motivation or instant gratification to get you moving. You know you are inspired, when: 

• You don't dread getting up in the morning, you look forward to the day. 
• You feel excited to get started with something as soon as possible. 
• You feel good about taking action. 
• While you're doing something, energy seems to flow naturally through you. 
• You are doing it for you, regardless of what others think. 

You need motivation, when: 

• You say or feel like you "have to" do something. 
• You need to set six alarms just to wake up in the morning. 
• You're doing it for someone else, or someone else's approval. 
• You feel physically and emotionally drained after (or even while you are) doing something. 
• Throughout most of your day you feel hopeless, frustrated or unhappy. 

Why is it so important to know the difference? Because it's not just "nice" to be inspired, it's necessary. 

Too many people experience life as a challenge and begins each day as if prepared for battle. Too often, we are stressed and tense and turn to external motivators as a means to distract ourselves, at least temporarily, from experiencing the inner anxiety that haunts us. From the moment we enter first grade, sometimes even before that, we are measured against each other. We are taught to strive for society's abstract ideals and our true passion, talent and inspiration is suppressed somewhere to the back of our mind, or heart. 

No wonder so many kids grow up to be adults who suffer from depression, chronic anxiety and anger issues. No wonder there is so much underlying fear, resentment and hate throughout the world.

Tuning in to your inspiration will bring about, in time, an unwavering sense of purpose, which is necessary for a happy life and a healthy mind. There will be times, especially in the beginning, where you will feel some apprehension (and even fear) when you start to actively follow your inspirations, as opposed to allowing external factors to motivate your behavior. This is because you will be opposing a lifetime of conditioning of not listening to your inner voice. But sooner than you think, your initial self-doubt will turn into excitement and a sense of adventure, once your inner voice becomes your guiding light, rather than the many voices of the outside world. 

 When you feel inspired, not only will you feel uplifted, but you will also uplift everyone you come into contact with. Imagine a world where everyone felt that sense of purpose and inner-joy. Choosing otherwise will keep you at war with your own fears and battling others. 

Rediscovering your inspiration and allowing yourself to pursue a genuine love for yourself and your life, is not a luxury awarded only to a select few. It's the reason why you are here and it's necessary, not only for your own peace and happiness, but for a peaceful and happy world. 

In a following blog post, we'll look at how to ignite a sense of inspiration (hint: it's linked to your life purpose). Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 

Who is God? | Design Life

Hello and welcome to the Design Life blog, where we discuss Holistic Beauty, Personal Development and a little bit of magic.

The purpose of asking the question, "Who is God?" is not so much about defining God as it is about your relationship with and deepening your understanding of God, The Divine, The Universe, Infinite Intelligence etcetera. I believe asking "Who is God?" should be as natural to us as asking "Who am I?"

Everybody has some kind of relationship with some kind of higher power and therefore God often comes up in my line of work. It's necessary for our growth as individuals and as a race (the human race) that each person needs to have a personal relationship with their God and a clear awareness of who (or what) their God is. Instead of just going along with what you have been taught about who (or what) God is. You need to rediscover the Truth for yourself, even if you come to the same conclusion, you will have grown in the process. And that's the purpose of asking "Who is God?".

God is God. You can't insult God by asking "who are You?". On the contrary, I believe it gives God the opportunity to reveal His/Her/Its true nature to you. You see, each person has free will. Each person is free to choose his/her thoughts. Therefore anyone can choose to believe in whatever they want. God does not force Him-/Her-/Itself onto anyone (only people can attempt to do that), otherwise we all would be of one mind, yet we're not.

God will only intervene if we ask, through speech, thought or emotion - we must reach out to God, before He will step in, otherwise it violates our free will.

Who is right?

Words were created by people. Words are influenced by beliefs, intentions, perspectives and feelings. Throughout most of our lives, we learn about God from people who speak and write words with their own intentions (not necessarily bad, but not all good either). They have many opinions about who God is and call God by many names. People have many opinions about who God is and call God by many names.

Hindus worship Brahman (a single Being of ultimate oneness), but they worship Brahman through many representations of gods and goddesses. Muslims believe in Allah, who is superior to and transcendent from humans. Christians believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (the holy trinity). There are other religions too, and even within those religions, there are many variations of each. And each has its own concept of God (or no god), but they are all taught by people through interpretable words. We can't see God like we see people. So we all just kind of go along with and accept the beliefs of whatever the people in charge are saying, whether that's our parents, community leaders or governments.

But at some point in our lives we realize that we can think for ourselves, and often the explanations of others seem hollow. We only really learn through personal experience... And yet we find ourselves with other people all the time. Groups of people from the same religion mostly come to the same conclusion. Christians learn from the Bible and they say they know it's true, because their God from their Bible has proved Himself to them and they have experienced His goodness. Muslims learn from the Quran and they say they know it's true, because their God from their Quran has proved Himself to them and they have experienced His greatness.

So who is right?

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a Christian VS Muslim debate - the point I am trying to make is that all religions come to their own conclusions based on their own logic to prove their own God. And there is nothing wrong with that if you feel happy, safe, loved and excited about life. And harm nobody else. Although there are people who wouldn't agree with that. Some people think that there has to be a "right" religion and then, by extension, others must be wrong. But I'm not writing about them, or religion in fact. I'm writing about God.

God is Love

Regarding my answer to the question, "Who is God?"... God is Love. But what do I mean when I say Love? I don't necessarily mean the strong feeling of affection, although that is one way that we translate God.

How do you see with your eyes? When you look at an object, electrical signals travel via the optic nerves to an area in your brain called the thalamus. This then sends the information to the visual cortex, where it is examined in detail. How do you hear with your ears? Your ears enable you to detect vibrations in the air around you. We call these vibrations 'sound'. Sound travels through your ear and reaches the special receptor cells right inside your inner ear. These cells change the sound vibrations into electrical signals, which pass along the auditory nerve to the brain.

We have various senses that (as you can read above) translates vibrations and/or electrical signals into what we see, hear, smell etcetera. Our feelings/emotions are also a sense that we can use to translate the vibration of God. When I say God is Love, Love refers to a Universal vibration. Many people refer to it as Source Energy. 

God is Love, Love is Source Energy. Source Energy is God. This elicits a new question. What is Source Energy?

You are Source Energy

First, I want you to acknowledge that you are not just made of flesh and bone. Scientifically, you know that. Your body is made up of various systems, including the cardiovascular system, digestive system, nervous system, muscular system etcetera. What are these systems made of? Chemicals like oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. What are these chemicals made of, then? Molecules. What are molecules made of? Atoms.

An atom is made up of three tiny kinds of particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and the neutrons make up the center of the atom called the nucleus and the electrons fly around above the nucleus in a small cloud. Quantum physicists discovered that physical atoms are made up of vortices of energy that are constantly spinning and vibrating, each one radiating its own unique energy signature. If you want to read more about the world of quantum physics, I suggest you read this article: click here.

To clarify, your physical body (everything, in fact) is made up of atoms. When you look at an atom (through special microscopes, of course!) you would see "a small, invisible tornado-like vortex, with a number of infinitely small energy vortices called quarks and photons". The atom (what you are made of) has no physical structure. Atoms (you) are made out of invisible energy, not solid matter.

Invisible energy... Source Energy? An invisible God? What thoughts come up as you read through this information?

God is Love, Love is Source Energy. The same energy that you are made of. 

Love in Religion

Every major religion has specific views about Love. Bahá'í teaches God's love is part of his own essence, and his love for his creatures gives them their material existence, divine grace and eternal life. Most Christians also believe that God is the source and essence of eternal love. In the New Testament, agapē is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love seen as creating goodness in the world, it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for others.

In the Sahih Muslim Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said: “You will not enter paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another.” Muslims are directed by Allah in the ways to become close to Him and how to gain His love.

Love in Hinduism is sacrament. Prema or prem refers to elevated love. It preaches that one gives up selfishness in love, not expecting anything in return. It also believes "God is love". A sacred text named Kanda Guru Kavasa quotes, "For the thing which is everywhere is only Love, And Love is the only thing which is like a soul within us, Love is Kumara, Love is Kanda." Simply put it means, Love is God.

Remember, however, that religion is something that is formed by people. People write religious texts, even though they are "inspired by God". Two people can look at the same color, yet come to a different conclusion. Is it possible that two people can experience the same God, het come to a different conclusion, too?

Six Men and an Elephant

One of my favorite parables to explain the above is the parable of the six blind men and an elephant. It tells the story of six blind men who have never come across an elephant before. They try to conceptualize the elephant by touching it. But each blind man is touching a different part of the elephant's body. One is touching the tusk, another is touching its leg, another is touching its tail etcetera. They describe the elephant based on their limited experience. One says it feels like a tree trunk (leg) and another says it feels like a snake (trunk). They all end up disagreeing about what an elephant is. Each blind man is convinced that all the others are lying, because he knows what he feels is true, so they go to war about the concept of an elephant.

I believe this is an example of how people (and whole religions) conceptualize God based on a limited view of what/who God is. Nobody can see God, therefore we are essentially "blind" and can't know whether our experience of God is whole. People are inclined to project their limited experience onto the whole truth and don't consider the possibility that they may only be partially right and other people may be partially right, too.

In conclusion, I believe that God is Love, but not the conventional definition of Love. Love as in the highest energy vibration, that which we are all made of. God is Truth - timeless, unchangeable and immeasurable. Through our thoughts and our feelings (which are also vibrations) we translate and experience God and then we try to conceptualize our experience. We can use religion, any religion, to experience God, but God cannot be limited to any one religion. Not in my opinion anyway.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.