To inspire others, you must first be inspired.

These last few weeks I’ve found myself trying to come up with the perfect inspirational blog post, and over and over again, I’ve come up empty. You see, I was trying to inspire, yet I was feeling quite uninspired myself. 

I was so occupied with what I could share that I forgot to fill up my own cup. I was sitting here holding my cup upside-down waiting for the inspo to drop…..and nothing came out. I was empty. I had nothing to give.

I thought to myself, “How was this possible? I’m surrounding myself with people that inspire me. Shouldn’t that be inspiring to me? Isn’t that how it works?” The problem was that I wasn’t fully receiving their generous gifts. Instead of just taking it in and being open to how it hit me, I was listening/reading/watching their content and thinking to myself, “man they are so amazing, and inspirational, and wise…. How can I be like that?” The thing is, a beautiful platter of food does you no good unless you actually ingest it, taste it, and experience it. I was so busy admiring what a beautiful plate of food it was, that I forgot to taste it. 

What if instead, I simply said, thank you, grabbed a fork, and dug in? What if I reveled in every bite, and enjoyed every drop of that wine?   What if I decided to pick up that book that I’ve been wanting to read, not because someone told me to read it, but because I just want to read it.  What if I got dressed up and put on lipstick just because it made me feel good, not because I was expecting a compliment?

Well today, I did just that. I chose to fully take in the beautiful plate of inspiration that surrounds me. I did it with no expectation, and sure enough, my cup was refilled. 

In a time where my “what’s the point”-ism has reached an all-time high, I’m choosing to work on properly nourishing myself, and I challenge you to do the same. Not to prove that you’re productive or change-making, but just to take care of the very precious you that you are.  Trust me, you are more valuable to others with a belly full of happiness. So, don’t just admire, take it in! Eat the shit out of that plate...then share it. You’ll find it may just replenish itself. 

Annnnd...ACTION: Find ways to fill up your inspo cup. Watch a favorite Disney movie that always made you feel better as a kid. Re-visit your favorite play just because you feel like it. Watch a Christmas movie in September, cause this year, we really do “need a little Christmas, right this very moment”...then watch as the well refills itself… it’s pretty damn magical. 

Drop what’s filling up your cup right now in the comments below, it may be the very thing that someone else has been searching for. What a gift.