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Inspiration and Thought
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Can you see it?
There it is.
There it is again.
Did you see it this time?
There it is…look.
All you have to do is open your eyes and mind, and there is Inspiration all around you.
I am incredibly excited by the topic of this Monday Inspiration because I am so inspired. I am inspired by my thoughts of what the week of July 4th means in history. Regardless of where you live, I’d like to share with you what it means to me and why I get so inspired. My excitement has nothing to do with the current state of politics. It is about the power of thoughts.
There is so much to tell, so much to communicate and so much we can accomplish. We live in a world of instant communication. Imagine if we set out to really use the power of the Internet to move ideas forward? Envision what we could accomplish.
Imagine the men who gathered to sign the declaration of independence in 1776. David McCullough in his biography of John Adams writes about the road to Philadelphia:
“In the cold, nearly colorless light of New England winter, two men on horseback traveled the coast road below Boston, heading north. A foot or more of snow covered the landscape, the remnants of a Christmas storm that had blanketed Massachusetts. Beneath the snow, after weeks of severe cold, the ground was frozen solid to a depth of two feet. Packed ice in the road, ruts as hard as iron, made the going hazardous, and the riders, mindful of the horses, kept at a walk. Dressed as they were in heavy cloaks, their hats pulled low against the wind, they were barely distinguishable even from each other.”
The trip took two weeks and the conditions were grueling. Yet John Adams arrived to meet his colleagues of the First Continental Congress, and there all these leaders gathered.
The passion to advance thought and human conditions moved those with dedication and inspiration beyond and through all obstacles. Can you imagine what they could have done with the Internet?
Today we have the ability to instantly communicate and advance forth our thoughts. We have the ability to combine our thoughts from around the world, and advance the human condition, regardless of politics, religion or geographic location. Yet often the Internet is used for basics like shopping and entertainment, without considering what we can achieve.
The fourth of July, Independence Day, represents to me a profound example of the power of thought and how thoughts can change the world.
-Thomas Jefferson
Allow the power of your thoughts to move you from your seats and to continue to make your life what you want it to be. Don’t waste time waiting for the right moment; today is the right moment, and today is your moment.
You may delay, but time will not.
-Benjamin Franklin
No complaints, no fears, no excuses. Most important, do not lie to yourself by saying you are not powerful. Each and every one of us is powerful to take action in our lives and positively impact our lives and the world around us. My hope and desire is that we all recognize our power.
Take action to live better lives, and contribute to make the world a better place.
We all have the power inside of us to create positive changes in our lives and the world around us.
-Devlyn Steele
Thank you for allowing me to share how this week inspires me. All too often we look at the world and focus on what we lack, our problems and complaints. Instead, look around each day this week and find what inspires you. I’ll be talking about inspiration all week on the Toolstolife.com Daily Podcast.
Join me and think about what inspires you. I’ll ask you later this week what inspires you, in the Question of the Week. We can inspire each other by sharing.
If you are celebrating July 4th, have a happy and safe holiday. As always don’t drink and drive and keep in mind that many do, so be careful on the roads.
Regardless of where you are in the world, get inspired by the power of thought.
Inspired by you,
Devlyn Steele
I have a friend that inspires me greatly. She is very creative and she says she always has been. She is a non-stop go-getter and doesn't wait for life to come to her. She has MS and is losing the use of her one good arm. It will be very sad when she does because she will feel trapped in her body and destined to live out her life like that. But even if she is trapped, she can still be useful with her creative ideas. She realizes how short this life is and she is living every little bit to it's extent!
Wow...this brought tears to my eyes.
Working in the internet industry, I often think about the power we have to communicate and do good in this world.
I've come to realize over the past year - since using Tools - the power I have is inside me. I feel it, I know it, and I'm ready to express it.
This entry is right on. A month ago I went to the National Volunteer and Service Conference in Atlanta. The theme was "The Urgency of Now" inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King.
Going to this event - not from a volunteer standpoint (although I do volunteer) - but from a technological standpoint really impacted my life in an incredibly positive way.
I follow probably over 100 blogs of influential people on the web and the question that rings true is "What are we doing with all this chatter online? Who's using it for good?"
There is an incredible opportunity for all of us to grow and be who we are supposed to be. It's exciting.
At the conference, I visited a booth of a sweet older gentleman. His booth was about the Constitution and how we can look back on this time period as a road to freedom. I purchased their book and I've been in complete awe. These men paved the way for something so great - our freedom.
Yes, imagine what they would have done if the internet was in place then?
World peace? Maybe. Imagine what we can do now. What they had, is in us. We just have to search within and find the spark hidden deep inside. It's there.
The question is - what's it telling you?
Thanks Coach. This was just what I needed to start my day.
The word inspiration comes from the latin ' in spiirtus' to be situated in spirit. T obe situated in spirit means to understand our constitutioanl position as a soul, and how the dharma, or function of the soul is to serve, We cannot be anything more or less than a servant. Just as water in its natural sate is pure and liquid, a chili pepper is hot, sugar is sweet, so the uality of the spirit soul is to serve, As Bob Dylan sings ' Youve gotta serve somebody, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody'So thats the next stage. Once we understand sambandha, or our relationship as a soul with the Supreme Soul, then we start to direct our loving service there. This is called abhideya, or the stage of practical application of bhakti, or loving devotional service to the Lord, whether we call Him Allah, Krishna, Jehovah, its the same Lord whom we are all related to as brothers and sisters, as one anothers servants.
Our forefathers were wise and open to ideas and innovation--they also knew that the Native Nations of the Eastern shore lived in harmony, had happy thriving children, and lived productive lives between and among themselves.
So they invited Native leaders to come to speak to them of their governing laws, to share how they worked, what they said, how these laws kept peace and happiness as far back as anyone could remember. These governing laws formed the basis of the Constitution.
So these ideas are rooted in centuries of experience and trial and error, they have centuries of working among populations, and they worked in the lands of this continent, long before these great men learned of them and recognized their power. Then wrote them down to fit the New World.
This is part of why the Constitution is such a powerful and effective document...they were so wise and capable, they knew to pull working ideas from successful history.
Thus the Constitution will be strong 100 years from now, and 1,000 years from now, because it has already existed in living daily life among people, and helped them achieve and maintain peace and happiness, for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Thomas Jefferson was a huge fan of composting, which he learned from Native Americans. He practiced composting all his life and promoted it as a lifestyle.
They were just amazing guys. Ahead of their time, and willing to use ideas from before their time.
...Certainly ancient Greece and Rome, medieval England, and the minds of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and others were vital contributions to the ideas of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
But one source, hiding in plain sight, so to speak, is frequently overlooked. This is the contribution of native Americans, particularly the Iroquois, to the mix. The Iroquois constitution, called the Great Law of Peace, or Gayanashagowa, contains many echoes of our Constitution, and in a number of respects, is more advanced in thought than the Constitution that resulted from the Convention of 1787.
This is not something I made up. If you read the original documents from the time, from people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, you will easily see that they deeply acknowledged their debt to the Iroquois and other native Americans.
It's no accident that the protestors at the Boston Tea Party chose to disguise themselves as Indians. They did this out of respect for the democratic and free nature of Indian society - something they were trying to establish in the face of what they considered British tyranny.
Who were the Iroquois? Here's how the Wikipedia article on the Iroquois describes it:
The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power, Five Nations, or Six Nations, mostly Six nations now a days) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. It was made up of six tribes: the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas. A sixth tribe, the Tuscarora, joined after the original five nations were formed. They are also sometimes called the people of the Long house. They are often referred to as Iroquois, a term that some members of the group consider derogatory.
The Union of Nations was established prior to major European contact, complete with a constitution known as the Gayanashagowa (or "Great Law of Peace") with the help of a memory device in the form of special beads called wampum that have inherent spiritual value...(by Ira Krakow)