Parade of Motivators

Lindsay Recknell Hope, Mental Health Leave a Comment

I’m reading Mark Manson’s book, Everything is F*cked – a Book about Hope, the follow-up to his widely successful, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. If you haven’t read either of these, I highly suggest both, even those of us who have a hard time with swear words (I know, I’m like a child that way haha). His style is conversational, intelligent and challenges conventional thinking backed by research to support his theories.

I’m not nearly finished the book yet and I’m learning a ton. In just the first section, there was something he said that really got me thinking about my own definition of hope.

“Hope is the fuel for our mental engine.”

Yes! I totally agree with this. Hope is the motivator, the gas in the engine, that encourages us towards our goals…and our goals are the things that, ideally, align to our values. Truly, hope motivates…encourages us to take action toward the things that we value, even if the thing we value today is getting out of bed (see my post about feet to floor to see what I value most days 🙂 ), taking the next action or in extreme cases, staying alive.

I picture my hope as a little Parade of Motivators pushing me forward, keeping me moving, regardless of how slow the progress. Ridiculous…maybe? But I love the imagery of a team of characters who have my back, little dudes and dudettes flanking my six – the keepers of my hope who hold tight when sometimes I forget. (Note for my sisters…like the Doozers from Fraggle Rock!)

This Parade of Motivators are a big part of my mental well-being because on days I’m feeling down, I pull up these mental images and my hope parade gives me the kick in the butt that I need. My hope parade surrounds me – both leading from the front and defending me from behind, like cheerleaders.

Because who isn’t inspired by waving pompoms at a parade?

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