M O T I V A T I O N

Whether you are a poet or not, it does not matter. In fact, I suggest to focus on what motivation may bring to light with the help of an acrostic poem:

Moves us in a way to 

Orient our emotions into actions.

Trains us each to

Imagine the possibilities.

Validates our being,

Activates and energizes us.

Teams us up with ourselves,

Initiates us and

Obliges us to

Negotiate the urgency to get going.

What is motivation to you?



Go, go, family go!

'motivation: where are you?'

I am aware of it, but it still surprises me how relative is motivation to mood. For the past couple of days I have let myself been driven by my mood swings and it has been quite an unproductive vicious circle I have found myself in. Unproductive in terms of my writing, I have had less control over my eating, finding the slightest comments made by others about what I wear to what I eat irritating, and most of all, I have been unwilling to think positively. In fact I have come to loose sight all the possibilities, loosing touch with my motivation.

Motivation: where are you?

How relative is motivation to generations?

It is quite motivating to be able to come back to Blogher every single day, read interesting blogs and post my own. Thank you NaBloPoMo! As a mom with her younger one at home, it gets me going. Writing becomes once again my main motivation. I truly missed that over the years, 'too busy' (if you know what I mean) to teach, and 'too busy' to look after my husband and my two lovely daughters.

Motivation and Generations. Now, as I was watching the 'Scent of a woman' this morning, I could not stop thinking about the difference of age of the two main characters and their motivation in life in that movie. Three intriguing questions came to mind: 1) can we, as adult, meaningfully describe our motivation to one another?; 2) can we truly understand another person's motivation?; and 3) is it possible to grasp the motivation of our loved ones?

I will open these questions for debate. What are your thoughts?

Until my next blog.

Motivation: from emotion to action 1

I argue that we are driven to do what we do because of our motivation. Under the most difficult times, you may go on with the task you are undertaking because you have the motivation to do so. Various emotions such as tiredness or sadness may be easily forgotten since it is motivation that encourages us to take the necessary steps to be active and accomplish our tasks. To my knowledge, a lack of motivation can leave us to feel too busy, too tired or too lazy to get going. Possessing motivation can refuel us, equipping us with the necessary energy to go on.

And to be continued...

Motivation

According to Psychology Today:

Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It's the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control. So figure out what you want, power through the pain period, and start being who you want to be.

It would not be realistic for me to expect my under 10 daughter to tell me: 'well, mom, the motivation behind my action is that...'. I doubt that even my own dad, who is now more than seventy years old, would be able to explain to clearly explain the motives behind his actions, as the word desire comes easier in mind. Don't you find that it appears easier to relate actions to emotions: 'you are making me upset', 'you pushed me into doing this', 'I was feeling sad, that is why I did that', etc. Do not hesitate to let me know if you have never heard such sentences. We all need to express our emotions, however I believe that we should distinguish between how we feel and what we do. I am not a big believer in: 'I desire to do that, that is why I did it'. Such conceptualization  is not a satisfactory explanation to me.


According to Dictionnary.com:

Desire a longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment: a desire for fame.

The concept of 'desire' deals merely with emotions and I believe that focusing on only that is walking on fine ice.  Emotions are important. We need to express them. I am a true believer of that. What we do can be related to our emotions; however, I argue that we need to look beyond our emotions if we want to understand the reasons behind our actions. Having just a desire to do something is not enough for us to go ahead and do it. Desire may give us the urge to act upon whatever it is we have in our mind, but it will not necessarily give us all the needed strength to actually act. Desire creates the craving. Having a craving is one thing, taking the necessary steps to appease our craving is different. Thus, I focus on MOTIVATION.

As previously indicated, in my upcoming blogs I will look at the reasons behind why it is we do what we do. Do not hesitate to write me your comments during this process, as healthy dialogues can only lead to healthy development of the mind.

Until next time.

But why did you do that?

Have you ever found your young child to do things, surprising you with their creativity, and then up to you to find out about why it is they did what they did, especially if their actions were wrong? Thanks to my 71/2 daughter, I often get 'these' kind of surprises. At first, I used to get upset, thinking that the basis of her actions were directly tied to my emotions. Let's play the game of making mommy upset did I used to think. I now agree with you, too simplistic for a mom who supposedly has some experience to be a mom. It took me some time to realize that I should rethink my logic. Her desire to make me upset may have occasionally triggered her actions but not every single time. Of course, I have tried to ask her the question of WHY did you do that? However, even as an adult we may have difficulty to answer to a WHY question. There is so much that we can expect of a child. She barely had an answer to offer to explain why.

How is it that she ends up doing what it is that she is doing? Out of desire? It is possible. I did it because I WANTED TO, because I LIKED doing it. Out of desire may be a valid reason, but I believe it is not the only one. One should look at the MOTIVE behind the action. What motivated you to do that may be a better question to ask ourselves.

And this is the topic I would like to further expand in my few upcoming blogs. Please stay tuned...