my friend introduced me to a website called epicfail.com. it's content is in the title, a website that captures pictures and videos of people failing at something...epic-ally. :-)
one of the funniest videos i saw was the one above. whether this is a joke or not i have no idea, but it is a perfect illustration of how self-motivation is NOT the answer to what ails us. i find myself trying to 'better' myself all the time. there's so much i want to accomplish in life and so i set my mind on a goal and attempt to achieve it by sheer discipline, focus and hard work. but the results of my efforts are usually only a headache (as i'm sure they were above :-).
the truth is, it takes way more than self-motivation to break the boards of my life that stand in between me and whatever it is i've set out to achieve. even if i am successful in motivating myself through discipline, focus and hard work to achieve what i set out to accomplish, i become a disaster to others because i believe the lie that everyone should "just be more disciplined, focus and work harder because after all--i did it."
the method by which we accomplish our goals becomes the message we communicate to others about how they are able to do the same. but if the message we tell others--about breaking through the boards of their lives--has become 'self-motivation' we are leading people into 'self-destruction' (as seen above, ouch). in short, if we can accomplish our goals solely by ourselves...we fail to discover the greater reality of life: we all need help. we need help to break through our 'stuff'--our debt, our behavior patterns that we've been stuck in for years, our anger, our selfishness, our denial about how bad things have gotten. we need help to become the person we're destined to become.
Answerer of prayer, i lift up my friends to You. they are so much like me. together we are always believing there is some simple fix to what is ailing us. we're constantly trying to 'feel' better by our own efforts. we're trying to solve our problems by working harder, we're trying to mend our relationships by moving faster. we're trying to heal our wounds by getting busier. and all of this only makes us spin our wheels in the myth of motivation never catching true traction. help us to slow down and listen to our souls. help us to consider stillness and rest in the love that has been available to us since the beginning of time. as we unplug from the inner voices of our own determination, speak to us and infuse us with a quiet confidence that You are in control and You will rescue us, again and again.
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
...but you would have none of it. "
--Isaiah 30:15
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