Uninspired.
/ʌnɪnˈspʌɪəd/
adjective
1. (of a person) not filled with excitement.
2. lacking spirit, creativity, zest, etc.; dull
Uninspired. Un·in·spired.
That word most accurately describes how I have felt over the past couple of weeks. Getting out of bed every day to do the things that previously excited me has felt more like a chore with each passing day.
While discussing with a friend some nights back, he asked “Why do you always seem tired?”. It was a seemingly simple question, but it sent me into a flurry of questioning.
If the things I do are indeed my passions, should they feel so bothersome? Should I feel so tired, so uninspired? Is this even my passion? If it isn’t, how do I find what is? If I find a new passion, will I burn out in the pursuit again?
{Read: Keep your Passion Burning Amidst Life Challenges}
Generally, we refer to passion as a strong desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.
I like to think of passion as a fire in my heart that births a determination, conviction and love that weathers all obstacles.
Passion fuels a desire that creates a special drive within you to achieve those goals in your path and become better. However, I find that we might have romanticised the idea of following your passion as being an untiring, unyielding, constantly motivated journey.
I for one grew up expecting to discover something I would love so much, I would go to classes everyday with a spring in my step while in school, bag a first class degree because studying would be so enjoyable, and things would just fall in place to get me to the peak of my career all because of my untiring passion. Thinking about that utopian dream now is decidedly funny. Life really said “lol, hold my beer” as I entered my late teens, didn’t it?
I really do not have the answers to the most important questions about passion yet, but what I have discovered in the course of troubleshooting my ennui is this: You really can get tired in the course of pursuing your passion and that’s okay.
Passion isn’t the undying flame we all seem to think it is. You could get frustrated in the course of doing the things you love, regardless of how deeply vested your passion is. It doesn’t make you any less passionate about it.
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Your passion is actually more active in those times when the journey requires more work than usual and it’s not so easy.
Your drive has a root, an origin of what inspires you. Those are the times to remind yourself of that origin and connect with the things and people that constitute your drive.
Remind yourself why you started the journey. Connect with a like minded person who fires you up. I promise you, this isn’t motivational okoto*, it works.
If you cannot find a drive anymore, your passions might have shifted, and that’s entirely okay as well. You deserve a motivated life, so get to planning that journey of self-rediscovery and go on it. Uninspired Me is here rooting for you!
Okoto*: a popular Nigerian slang essentially meaning “baloney”.
Are you ever uninspired? How do you get over it? How do you sustain your passion? I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments!
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