What inspires you?
I have had a very interesting couple of weeks. Last week I had the opportunity to speak to a 6th Grade Career Planning class. This week I had the opportunity to sit on a "College to Career" panel at Arkansas Tech University.
Kids with dreams, ambitions, aspirations...Inspire Me.
I was driving the three hours home from ATU with my head in the clouds. How is it that speaking to a room full of people is so exhilarating? How is it that I cannot seem to speak anymore without the words "passion" or "purpose" slipping out. How is it that I seem to ask everyone anymore, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
I am either completely obsessed, or I have found more of my purpose....and that is what hit me on the way home. I prep like a crazy person for these things. I am ALWAYS a little ill the morning of...and nervous!? One time I thought I might have thrown up a little in my throat. Ugh. I literally shake in the moments leading up to the moment I have to open my mouth. Then, I start to speak and it is almost like an out-of-body experience.
I wondered on the way home if it were possible that I have become one of those adults that inspire kids as I was once inspired as a kid. Could it be true? I argued with myself not believing that I have become the adult in the room. I am not old enough to be the adult in the room. Oh crap. *Sigh* I am the adult in the room. What followed was a lengthy conversation with God on how this could be true (other than the obvious that I have gotten older)? When did this become my life? When did I make the turn in the road that got me here?
It was a long three hour drive.
Isn't life funny how one day you go from the sixth grade, curious girl in the room to the eager, somewhat desperate for more college kid, to the adult at the front of the class expressing that they wish they could get a do over and be out there in the classroom with them.
Funny story...in the sixth grade class, one of the girls raised her hand and said, "It seems weird to listen to a banker talk about finding your passion." To which I replied, "Honey, I feel that way every day of my life." :) Gotta love it. :) :)
I digress...So, I find myself speaking a lot on passion and purpose these days, and I cannot begin to express how much I love it. Every time, it is almost like I am releasing a pressure valve deep inside me. During my debate with God today I had a thought that there is something else that drives us...me...the common thread that runs through all of us.
That is it.
That was the thought...."Passion, purpose and the common thread that runs through all of us."
I pulled over and wrote for an hour...trying to dissect the thoughts that were crashing through my head. Clearly I am not ready to share the garbled goop that spewed out on paper; I am still trying to sort it out. What I will say, is that there is something in that class of sixth graders, in that crowded college classroom, and in each and every one of us that is exactly the same...and I am not talking about biology here. I am speaking of spirit...
I am searching because for the oddest of reasons, I think I might be on to something. Maybe only for me, but then that is okay. I don't think anyone really reads my diatribes anyway. :)
So I say all of this to say again, "What inspires you?"
For me, I am still shocked every time I am asked to speak to groups; I hope I always will be. For in this adult, with all of the giddy nervousness lies a sixth grader, a college student, and a girl still seeking to find her way.
Maybe that is the common thread...;)
Sunshine Dreams to You ~ Today and Every Day! :) Labels: Inspiration, Passion, Purpose, The Common Thread
