Inspiration: A Never-Ending Process

in Response to the DEP Book Project prompt

Umme Salma
Dancing Elephants Press
5 min readApr 30, 2023

--

Image by Jill Wellington on pexel.com

I can’t believe my eyes!

Is it real what I am seeing? I rub my eyes and have a fresh look; oh my God! Yes, this is real!

This dramatic intro refers to a miracle.

Before going to bed a few days ago, I visited my balcony and was shocked by the beautiful smell of jasmine flowers. However, it is usual that the Jasmine flower has a soothing fragrance that charms anyone. But, the miracle is this: the tree from which the jasmine popped up was dead before! Despite that, my husband and I watered the tree regularly, hoping for a miracle.

This incident inspires me never lose hope, keep faith in God, and do my best.

Inspiration can strike from anything anywhere- from a simple comment from a stranger to profound thought-provoking stories, from a simple painting or a color palette of the sky, and whatnot.

Stories of real heroes who start their journey from scratch but manage to do extraordinary work and contribute significantly inspire me. Tales of people who make a U-turn from their hardships inspire me. I take inspiration from the people who are full of positivity. Their success stories are all time source of inspiration.

Inspiration from Real life stories

Today, I will share a story of real heroes that have greatly inspired me to shape my life and be a better version of myself.

Story#1:

Around 35 years ago, my uncle started his career as a salesman at an early age, and within ten years, he became a successful businessman! Today, he is a business tycoon. His hard work, dedication, and business strategies create his success stories.

He started his journey with the job of a salesman at a guitar shop. His dedication, sincerity and excellent customer dealing made him the best salesman in the shop in the first quarter of his work. He purchased and owned that guitar shop within a few years with his savings and loan. Then he develops his business plan to grow his business.

One of his contributing strategic moves was his offer: Buy a guitar, learn free. At that time, it was rare to have classes for musical instruments. So, the offer clicked so well among the students, job holders, and other enthusiasts that it increased sales multiply. Gradually, his hard work, dedication, sincerity, and innovative business ideas make him who he is today.

His success story is an inspiration. Only hard work will not unlock your fortune. Strategies and intellectual inputs are essential elements to make some difference.

His story always inspires me to add value to whatever I do, home management or the creative field. Everywhere developing a plan, formulating a strategy is a must.

Story#2:

I grow up seeing my real-life hero, my mother.

She get married at the age of 19 and she entered into a joint family that was initially not that welcoming towards my mom. Her loving nature and innocence gradually create a home in the family members’ hearts. She transformed a brick-built house into a sweet home. Her home management skills, dedication and love, and efforts amaze me. I am proud of how she has nurtured us and raised us.

When I see my mom, I am inspired to be a Rabbaitul Bait (Queen of Home) like her. I inspire to be a good wife, a good homemaker.

Story#3:

When I see one of my colleagues, I am inspired to be a writer.

Her journey is incredible — from a corporate lady to a successful writer. Her success story inspires me to leave my footprint in the writing world as I also left my corporate job and love writing, pouring my heart into pen and paper.

A daily dose of inspiration.

A. Motivational quotes

Apart from real-life stories, simple motivational quotes or short motivational stories also act like a daily charger for me. I have subscribed daily dose of motivation as this works for me. The crafting of words touches my soul directly.

A few favorite quotes that inspire that empower me and inspire me to leave my footprint in this beautiful world are:

· “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.”- Rumi.

· “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” — Confucius.

· “The secret of getting ahead is getting started” — Mark Twain

· The secret of your success is found in your daily routine” — John C. Maxwell

· “Dream big and dare to fail” — Norman Vaughan

B. The divine source of inspiration

As a believer, mostly, I get inspiration from the Holy Book and the biography of our prophet (S.W.) Being a practicing Muslim, my day starts with prayers which help me to inspire myself spiritually. As the day progresses, I have to pray five times, which connects me with the Almighty. It helps me to remove all the negativity from my mind and recharge my positive energy.

So, there are diverse sources of inspiration, from a simple conversation to the divine message from the Almighty. It depends on your receptivity to spark your enthusiasm to dream big and achieve meaningful things.

Our Previous book together by 21 amazing authors

Some of the inspiring stories :

An inspiring story on writing by the brilliant Yousuf Rafi

Another beautiful writing by Arbab Z.

I am grateful to my readers.

Umme

--

--