Do you feel stuck in one or more areas of
your life, lack the time to regularly renew yourself and
enjoy your interests? Are you relying on caffeine,
anti-depressants or alcohol to manage your stress and
emotional well-being?
If so, you might be suffering from
Inspiration Deficit Disorder. An inspiration deficit
occurs whenever we feel unfulfilled or somehow unexpressed
in an important aspect of life— something is missing; a
job we don’t like, a struggle with self image, a
relationship we aren’t satisfied with, are examples of
where we may feel an inspiration deficit. When we let
these deficits persist they translate into, addictions,
bad habits, poor health, and high stress—sadly, most
people have it to some degree and it impacts their health
and happiness more than they know.
Once people understand Inspiration
Deficit Disorder, one of the more common questions is:
"How do I know what my soul wants? If I’ve been
disconnected from my essence for so long, how do I begin
to feed it and make decisions with it in mind again?"
Fortunately, the Essential Self never
goes away, and it never stops speaking to us. It does get
covered up, and we can get out of practice with it, like a
language we once studied years ago but rarely use. The
wisdom and clarity of our essence is always waiting to be
expressed. In fact, the Essential Self expresses itself in
hundreds of ways and in every facet of life. From simple
things such as taste in clothing and music, to the
hobbies, foods, people, jobs, and pets that attract us,
the soul is always being revealed.
There are four dominant ways in which
the Essential Self will let you know whether a situation
or choice is in agreement with it: intuition, vitality,
love, and connection. To know what your essence wants, you
simply need to listen closely; then start trying things
out and pay attention to the response you feel inside.
Mentally, emotionally, physically, or spirituality, you
will get an answer.
Intuition: How Your Essence Speaks to
Your Mind
Intuition is more than the accumulation
of old information in an instantaneous brain blast. It’s
the gut feeling, the hunch, or "knowing" that
defies experience or understanding. We’ve all had these
experiences at one time or another. Some dismiss them and
some, rely on them for the most important decisions in
life. Research has shown that intuition, understood or
not, is a vital quality of a successful person in any
field. Mothers say that "a mom just knows,"
business people call it "acumen," and medical
doctors consider it "good judgment." Often, it
is nothing more than the small voice inside that gives us
a clear sense of direction or action. Although we can’t
explain its origin, some part of us knows that it’s
correct. Following our intuition is critical in ending
Inspiration Deficit Disorder.
So listen to your gut! When you make a
decision, pay attention to the way your inner voice
affirms or cautions you. Few people regret following their
intuition. Most people’s inspiration deficits reflect a
pattern of ignoring their deepest sense of what is best
for them.
Vitality: How Your Essence Speaks to
Your Body
Have you ever been involved in a cause
you were passionate about? Or loved something or someone
so much you were able to tap into an "energy"
that allowed you to work extra hard, stay up extra late,
or apply yourself more fully than you’d ever thought
possible? Parents, entrepreneurs, performers, rescue
workers, and artists do it all the time. When what
you’re doing is directly affirming or expressing your
Essential Self, your vitality will increase. Quite
literally, you’ll have more energy.
Pay attention to when your choices raise
your energy and excitement, as well as when they leave you
feeling drained. Over time, you’ll notice the difference
between vital energy and attraction/addiction energy. What
you get from an energy hook (such as the thrill of doing
something well that isn’t really consistent with your
integrity) is more unstable in nature—it feels more like
an unsettled, "high-pitched" kind of energy.
It’s short-lived. Imagine it being like a jarring
cell-phone ring or the buzz from a highly caffeinated
energy drink. The soul’s vitality, feels sustainable,
reliable, and grounded. It’s more like the way you feel
after a good long rest or like the deep rhythms of the
ocean waves—strong and steady. Take time to examine your
energy levels.
Love: How Your Essence Speaks to Your
Heart
In any moment, you can always ask
yourself, What is in the highest good? or What would be
most loving and empowering? Despite your wounds and
habits, you know what kindness is. Holding a door for
someone whose hands are full, picking up a pen that
someone drops, or being forgiving with a customer-service
attendant when addressing a failed product they personally
didn’t design—these are easy examples of the way most
people know to be "nice." Nice seems simple, but
it lives on the same spectrum as love and compassion. When
you feel love, you act out of compassion with respect,
gratitude, accountability, and kindness. When you commit a
loving act, you are in your Essential Self.
The energy and mind-set of love will
always move you into your center and reconnect you with
your essence. Things that create a loving feeling do the
same, which is why daily gratitude exercises,
volunteering, and falling in love are all experiences that
somehow make the world feel like a better place. It
isn’t because of what other people are doing; it’s
because of the feeling of love inside you. Being in
nature, with a friend, or with a pet are simple ways to
create a loving feeling. All these things move us into our
essence.
Don’t be trapped by thinking you have
to make people happy in order to express kindness. Love is
not conditional. Love and compassion are expressions of
your essence, and they draw their energy naturally from
your Original Source. True love is never depleted; it’s
a willing choice. Unlike the earlier notes about learning
to act with compassion, in this case it is the feeling of
love that indicates that the Essential Self is engaged.
Notice whenever you feel it and what creates a loving
feeling in you.
Connection: How Your Essence Speaks to
Your Soul
Think of a time when you experienced a
"felt sense" of relationship to the world around
you. You might call the feeling interconnection or
connectedness. Maybe you were playing a sport, enjoying
art, taking a walk. It feels like the immediate personal
awareness of the interrelationship of life. It’s a
moment in which more than thinking, you feel you are a
thread in the tapestry of creation and that every action
you take ripples throughout the universe. In those
moments, you know that nature, humanity, and all of the
past and future are somehow connected. Perhaps it was a
feeling of Oneness.
Such powerful moments are rare for some,
and then there are the fortunate ones who come to those
experiences with ease. When you encounter them, you’re
immediately reconnected with your essence, even the
Original Source. Choices, worries, fears, and regrets fall
away. In a moment of feeling "connected," the
wisdom of your Essential Self is easily reached, allowing
trust and hope to rise naturally. Any experience that
helps you feel connected reveals something about your
authentic self. Any feeling of interconnection tells you
that you’re moving into the domain of the soul.
Make a commitment to pay attention to
when you experience interconnection, it’s a sign of
being on the right track. Make a commitment to create
these experiences by returning to the practices or
activities that evoke that feeling. A spiritual practice,
for example, prayer, as well as going to your church,
synagogue, or mosque; doing yoga; meditating; singing;
dancing; or volunteering could easily strengthen your
essence and make it easier for you to hear that
"still, small voice inside."
It’s hard to imagine, but an
extraordinary life change can be quite uncomplicated. If
you just make a commitment to embrace the four intentions
of clarity, integrity, courage, and compassion while
paying attention to the four felt experiences of
intuition, vitality, love, and connection, you can begin
to reverse even the most extreme case of Inspiration
Deficit Disorder immediately.
