This is not what I normally do. I don’t articulate motivation/inspiration. I don’t dwell on it. It’s not that I am anti-motivational, I just think I’m slightly cynical/clumsy about the whole thing. There are plenty of people willing to motivate and inspire us, so why do I need to add to the noise right? This is how I feel about the topic, and I might add, should lend a degree of credibility to the claim “I was truly inspired after reading this”. By ‘this’ I mean the following story:
Minding my own business, getting ready to fall asleep, I was reading. It’s a habit. I read before I fall asleep. It’s hard to list all the books that have helped my ability to sleep.
The Hobbit. It’s a quick read, well written, and was supposed to be a short, enjoyable story I’ve read before. Nothing more. No source of enlightenment, not something that was going to make me stop and say “whoa… Tolkien… DUDE”.
I’m not going to recap the story. Or tell you how it ends. But on page 215 of my book, there’s a scene.
Bilbo (the primary character) is heading down a very dark cave to get information on the dragon (who he and the team of dwarves are trying to oust out of the cave). He has a ring of invisibility, the dragon won’t be able to see him. But he reaches a critical mass with his fear and thoughts of the unknown. He’s STUCK in the cave. It’s pitch black. Stuffy, and smells like hobbit-eating dragon.
Now I am supposed to be dozing off here. I’m not. I’m sucked in.
Tolkien goes to describe the level of effort that Bilbo must make, standing there in the dark, deciding to push onward, despite everything in his head that’s telling him to turn back. Then says that this was Bilbo’s defining moment, the bravest thing he would ever do, despite all the achievements and acts of bravery that were to follow.
That hit me. The battle of deciding to push on – to go into and through the “pain cave” as a friend of mine says on occasion. The fear that Bilbo had to overcome was immense. Then I put the book down.
So many stories of people doing exactly what Bilbo did. It’s not about what they’ve achieved in a material sense (although that is something that helps us appreciate their experience). It’s about the breakthroughs they have within themselves that are amazing.
It’s one thing to decide to do a marathon or a 100 miles, or run across the Sahara, each one impressive in the context of the event and who is doing it. It’s another thing altogether when the back story is revealed and you find out that they have cancer, or that they have a fear of open spaces and lo and behold they are running through Kansas.
We should take it upon ourselves to learn these back stories, and learn from them. Find out more about what made that accomplishment so important. These things enrich our lives, and yes, I will admit, provide ample fuel for inspiration.
Cheers,
-Brandon