Inspiration Is like Vapor

Can you recall times in your life when you've had genius ideas that seemed to come from nowhere? What happened to those ideas? Do you still remember them? Did you ever write them down? Imagine if you could always have an abundance of useful ideas. Ideas that could take you anywhere you wanted to go. What would you do with them?

I read a quote a while back by Confucius that said: "The palest ink is better than the sharpest memory." To me, this meant that, whenever inspiration comes to me, the best thing I can do is to honor it by writing it down. We can honor these thoughts and moments of creativity by documenting them. If we never show it, no one may ever know it. By being unafraid to truly express ourselves we give others and the whole world a unique gift. Individuality.

We all have something to offer the world. The trick is believing that we do and making sure we take the time to preserve it. By honoring these thoughts we become beacons of light and change. We also encourage others who may be shy or afraid to come out of their shell and do the same. There is a saying that when one person succeeds this provides the opportunity for others to succeed. We gain inspiration from people in our past. This process of evolution has been growing with each passing generation.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. Chances are you have thoughts and ideas within you that are different from others. Thoughts and ideas that may expand our world. I once read a passage from a book by Ben Carson. This book taught me that our minds are much greater than we think. The human brain has the capacity to store knowledge from the beginning of man all the way up to the present and STILL have room left over. That means we are not even using more than a fraction of our full potential. Instead of letting this defeat me I use this knowledge to grow my mind daily, and I am in love with knowing I have this limitless tool. We are truly fantastical beings, and we have only just scratched the surface!

However, what good is a tool if we don't use it? In the past, I admit, my mind used to be like a wrench sitting idly in a shed collecting dust. Not being used and therefore not being useful. I wasn't getting thoughts out there. I wasn't asking the right questions and so I wasn't getting the right answers. There was even a time in my life when I would write poetry. I would get these bouts of inspiration from seemingly out of nowhere and loved the reactions I got from others whenever they read my work. Over time, this urge to create started to die down, and I actually had not written poetry for many years. I know that these creative bones are still inside me. They may not be in the same areas, but I believe they are inside of you too!

What keeps me going today is knowing that my mind is a gift that will keep on giving. The more I aspire to learn, the more I get to polish my mind (tool). The more I polish my mind, the more clarity I have to teach others. When we teach something to others, as Jim Kwik says, we get to learn it twice. Believe in your power to learn and that you have the terrific tool to take you as far as you can imagine. Since our imagination is limitless, so is the extent of our capacity for growth.

There are many people with an excellent memory—able to recall a multitude of material at any point in time. We cannot always count on our memory. Sometimes it suits us best to write things down or record them. By doing this, we ensure that we will never forget them and we etch a part of ourselves into the world. If it stays in us it stays with us, but when we share our ideas they stay here forever. I believe it is especially important in this digital age to document. Even one idea or thought could save someone's life, or create a spark that will inspire someone else to change the world. Give birth to your thoughts. Think of your ideas like children and care for them. Don't let your thoughts die with you.

Be encouraged to know that it doesn't take a million ideas to change the world. It often only takes just one. Believe in yourself enough to know you are enough. You and your ideas are exactly what the world needs.

By Jerome Shaw. Find me on Twitter and Instagram: @jromeshaw