Harnessing Inspiration

By Rusty @russellpurkiss

“Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working twenty-four hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force”.–Irving Berlin

I have a problem, well it is sort of blessing but it can be a problem if not used properly and if I am unable to learn to use it properly!  I am a person who goes largely by inspiration.  Don’t get me wrong, I really believe in the importance of inspiration as it can cause you to move on to greater things in life, to be inventive and creative.  However if you are  led solely by the inspiration of the moment, it can lead to trouble at times, such as in my case.

Sometimes you can get so wrapped up in the moment through inspiration that things can go missing that you should be taking care of and this is how it can lead to problems.  I get all excited about a project and jump in head-long only to discover that, due to my excitement, I leave behind other important matters that don’t get properly addressed or tended to!  Inspiration is important, as it can be the very fire that will bring about new ways of doing things, besides the fact that it inflames the desire to keep going. If everything is too methodical, it can grow boring and become a real chore and eventually you can lose interest.

You need both in the end, you need a “method to your madness”, if you are able to harness the inspiration in such a way that you don’t lose it, yet at the same time keep everything going so as  to not lose the progress that you have made then this would be the best balance!  But since none of us are perfect, the fact that we need one another becomes more evident!  There are some people who are gifted in being organized and methodical, they do great in bringing order out of chaos, and a certain rhythm to everything. Others of us who run more on inspiration, like I mentioned about myself, we get a new thought or idea, and off we go!  We need people to help us keep our feet on the ground!

One weakness we can have though as inspirationalists is, we can be overly protective of our new and “wonderful” idea that it makes it extremely difficult to take criticism or suggestions on how our idea could be modified to be even better. So, at times it is necessary to learn to harness our inspiration, not to forsake it as without it there would never be any change, and to learn to be thankful that not all of us all the same!

What do you think? Are you driven largely by inspiration or are you more methodical? If you have found a wonderful balance and have some tips to share, please feel free to do so!