Motivation...What Motivates You?

The next few days we will be publishing the scholarship recipients and runners up.  They will be published in random order.

Thank you again to Marni Kent who made this scholarships possible.

MOTIVATION by Susan Fordham

          According to Psychology Today:  “motivation is literally the desire to do things.  It’s the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day.  It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining goals – and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control.  So figure out what you want, power through the pain period and start being who you want to be”.

          In the real estate market, you hear every day “the sellers are highly motivated” and in the professional and amateur sports fields, you hear analysts say “what motivates him or her?”  And in my chosen profession, I hear “when will you get motivated to find a REAL job?”

          Where does my motivation come from?  For one, when people say something like that to me!  My motivation comes from the smiles and hugs I get on a daily basis, the boo-boos I am allowed to kiss away each and every day, getting down on the floor to roll a ball across the floor – now that’s motivation for me.  I chose my path in life a very long time ago, but I do believe it chose me a long time before I was aware of it.  I believe I was put on this earth to do what it is I do.  I have a long history of caregiving, some of it was very, very hard and some of it had such rich rewards, it made my heart

sing.  I chose to focus on the rich rewards and not the bad stuff, I chose to get up each and every morning and look out the window for something to make me smile, I chose to set aside special time for me and me alone, in other words, I CHOSE MOTIVATION!

          Motivation comes to me in many different shapes and sizes.  Sometime it shows itself in a hummingbird coming to my feeder or in a peculiar or intriguing cloud formation.  I look for these things in my life, I seek them out – it keeps me going.  My mind is open at all times to find the good in things, even when they can be so dark and scary.  Motivation can be very tricky – you may have to scrape away a few ugly layers to find whatever you need to keep on going.  But keep scraping, you will find it.  There may be times when the motivation is there, but you can’t see it or you don’t WANT to see it.  Maybe sometimes, it’s as easy and as simple as getting up and washing your face, clearing away the cobwebs and see what is right in front of you – MOTIVATION was there all the time!

          Children are my biggest motivator.  All children deserve love, respect and the right to be heard.  It makes no difference what is going in my life, what matters most is what should be happening in their lives.  They should be receiving the best of everything and it is up to US to provide that for them.  Children motivate me to be a better person, they motivate me to be more creative, they motivate me to take more time to smell the roses.  I have the BEST job in the world and I would not give it up for anything or anyone.  So for those people in my life who are waiting for me to find a “real job”, don’t hold your breath – THIS IS MY REAL JOB, THIS IS MY PASSION…THIS IS MY MOTIVATION!!