Inspiration Comes in Unexpected Packages

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it in us or we find it not."

Kahlil Gibran

Have you ever met somebody that you were immediately in awe of?

It happened to me this weekend on a mountain trail as I sat taking a break for water and to journal a bit. As I consistently swat at the persistent mosquitoes, and contemplated where my next inspiration would come from, I saw a woman jogging up Crag's Crest trail.
Her dog was at her side and she had the courtesy to ask, WHILE JOGGING UP A F-ING MOUNTAIN, if I was ok with her dog being off leash.
I could only respond with a simple "of course" due to my feelings of intense jealousy/admiration/awe. Here she is jogging uphill at over 10,000 feet above sea level and talking as if she was walking to her mailbox, in addition to checking in with me in a very unselfish way.
She passed by with an Emmy-winning smile saying "Great Day, isn't it?!"
I responded, still amazed by her (and at this point wondering if she might have a bionic appendage or two) with the most original response known to human-kind:
"Great day!"
Jeesh.
I guess that was a better response than bowing down before her in submission among the dirt, rock, pine cones and rogue broken branches...

She was full of energy, a love of life and a kindness that came through her smile.
I literally felt that in the few seconds that it took her to pass me by.
What I couldn't fully recognize at the time, in that fleeting moment, was that she was in total alignment with Source; physically, mentally and emotionally.
This woman was completely plugged in- mind, body and spirit.
I think that is why I was inspired by her.
That kind of alignment is such an infrequent occurrence in humanity, that I was just struck by her.

Think about it, we operate from our human conditioned ego selves most of the time.
I would say probably around 95% of the time.
When we are in alignment it is usually when we are fully in the present moment, which can be heightened when we are inspired or desperate (Eckhart Tolle writes that it is the life changing moments when our brains cannot maintain our egoic state - like during childbirth or death of someone we love).
In our culture we usually operate in the past or the future, but rarely in the present.
Exercise brings us right into the present moment because, if we aren't fully present, we are more prone to injury.
People that fall off treadmills or trip over their own feet - present moment lapses.
And boy does that bring their awareness right back to their bodies.

Think of who inspires you and why. What do they have inside of them that you admire?
The amazing thing about inspiration is that in order to be inspired you have to have some part of what inspires you deep down inside of yourself.
Make sense?
In order to recognize something we admire in another, it must first be present inside of us.
It works the opposite way as well - in order to judge something we don't like in another we must first have it in ourselves.
We are resisting our shadow self.
If it wasn't there, we wouldn't recognize it, and it is usually something that needs to be healed in ourselves.
Mull that over for a minute.
Your worst enemy has now become your most valuable teacher.

Does that mean you should feel bad about yourself?
Of course not, we all have our own bullshit.
You don't need to judge yourself at all, in fact.
If you want to change it you just have to accept it and recognize it's existence and make a different choice the next time you notice those thoughts surface.
Or, you can continue on as you always have, spiritually unconscious and making yourself feel more powerful by judging someone else.
And that which you resist, persists.
It is really up to you to decide when you want a different experience.

Back to the bionic, beautiful soul...
As I watched her continue up the trail, the rock moving beneath her feet and her furry companion's collar rattling, I smiled and sent her some love, saying under my breath "Thanks for the inspiration."
Then I pushed myself up and continued the rest of my hike to the summit.
Smiling the whole way.