Most of us spend much of our lives similarly to my dogs pictured above – uninspired and not desperate enough to change anything until it is food time or we need to go outside. For years I have been reminded by many that we move due to inspiration or desperation. I have had this repeatedly proven to me in life, as we will stay in the status quo for as long as possible, even hurting ourselves because of this.

A number of years back I had listened to a podcast from Motivation to Move that took it a step further. When looking for why someone makes big changes, they are due to one of 4 reasons:

• Pissed – where have you been wounded or hurt 
• Dissed – where have you been disrespected or dissatisfied 
• Blissed – where you love this thing you are doing 
• Blessed – where you have had something wonderful happen and want to pass this on

The first two are from the desperation category, while the last two are from the inspiration category. Looking at them more broken down like this helped me to ground them more deeply into my actual life.

How often have you held onto things until you are at the point where you are kicking and screaming, determined to not let them go? I totally used to be this type. It did not matter how angry or hurt I was or how disrespected I felt or dissatisfied with what was going on, I would hold on for dear life, always thinking that this situation would just magically shift. Looking back now, it is pretty comical how often I did this. Honestly, by holding on for so long, I was continually blocking much more incredible things from coming into my life, and was regularly creating much more difficult transition periods for myself and others than were necessary.

From this space, have you noticed how depleted your body feels? I have taken it down to where I have basically been non-functional a number of times, not realising that was what I was doing by holding on so intently. There were no reserves left over for even the most basic of tasks. The recovery can be gruelling and in our fast-paced world, it is incredibly difficult to take the time out to fully recover.

While many people’s shifts do fit predominately in the desperation category, I have also had some come into being from inspiration. Instead of coming from a place of fumes, I came from a place of fullness and desire to bring amazing gifts into the world. When here, giving of you feels phenomenal and continually fills you back up over and over again.

Don’t get me wrong, you can become empty from giving from inspiration as well if you refuse to listen to your body and the changes it is asking for. There have been many times in which I have held onto something that started out as a blessing and, because it passed its expiration date for me, it fizzled out and I became resentful of the time and energy that it requested.

It is all a juggling act that we must work through our entire lives. The ebbs and flows shift how we need to divvy up our time and energy. To do this, it requires us to slow down until we can hear the little voice from inside guiding us through our journey in this life.

How often do you slow down to hear that little voice inside? How often do you tell it, “no, not right now. I don’t have time or the energy?” When you do, how often does it keep getting louder and louder until it is more like a scream? What if that inner voice is just you giving yourself a little guidance?

What if there is a better way? What if you could choose to make small adjustments instead along the way based on what that little voice is saying and just see where they take you or what comes into your life? It is okay to make small adjustments instead of entire life overhauls all at once.