You are Not Alone #MotivationMonday

Motivation Monday

As Monday rolls around again, I'm tasked with giving you advice to motivate you; however, I'm struggling with motivation myself. There is so much trauma in today's world that many of us have a hard time focusing on what needs to be done. My post today is to tell you, that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

I've seen people discussing failures in my health journey group as well as various

Art by Ron Leishman

other groups such as focusing in business and work. There are so many difficult situations reported in the news, and I confess to being a news junkie who listens to it all.

An analysis of today shows us that we are reliving not one but three difficult historical times, all at once. First off, we are flashed back to the 1960s. This was a time of racial turmoil when individuals fought for black rights. I have to wonder, are we any better than we were in the 1960s? I hope so. For one, many people of a variety of races in cities around the world have joined together as one voice. This is huge since the mistreated people are no longer alone in their protests. But we have serious trouble with police violence toward black people. Sensitivity training, social workers helping people in trouble, or something else must be done! Twelve nights of protests have brought about some change, but we have so much further to go. How do we get motivated to do anything with these bigger concerns? I don't know.

We also have many living like post 1929. This was a time when many have found themselves out of work or struggling to make ends meet. People who have never sought out help or thought they would ever join a food line have come forth for a bag or groceries or a bite to eat. Furthermore, our government sent one bailout check to Americans in need. But for many, this is not nearly enough. If you don't know how to pay your bills, you're probably not motivated. I understand.

Art by Ron Leishman

We are also fighting a pandemic, just as our grandparents or great grandparents fought in 1918. True that COVID-19 is different than the Spanish flu, but horrible, nonetheless. A main difference is the attitude about the disease that has killed over 110,000 people in our country. Many do not take this seriously because they do not believe the numbers are accurate or are convinced it is not a problem for them.

If you have no one close to you who has had the disease and hear only 1% or 2% of people die, maybe you think this is media hype, too. Please believe that being among the 20% with symptoms, and maybe even surviving, is no picnic, either. Back in March, my sister was sicker than she'd ever been in her life. We worried about her daily and wanted that text message or call telling us she was okay; however, there were some days when she was too weak to let us know about her health. Although  she recovered from the disease after over two weeks, her cough lingered. She also had trouble regaining her sense of smell. Even in her days of recovery, she felt like she had just finished a marathon. If someone you care about is ill, or you worry about people who are compromised, it's tough to be motivated to do anything.

For these reasons, it's hard for me to get motivated to do anything. Hopefully, you have more motivation than me. Also, please understand that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Monday Music Moves Me

The theme for this week's Monday Music Moves Me is songs that start with /J/. One song immediately came to my mind, especially in light of how the world is today and what we need. We actually saw these old men perform in Tunica, Mississippi several months back.

Here is "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. Did you know that a three dog night is a night that is so cold that you have to sleep with three dogs to stay warm?

Next up is "Jaded" by Aerosmith. People become jaded when bored or annoyed, which seems to fit a lot of us these days. We have had too much bad news, so here is "Jaded."

Finally, here is a song by the Eagles called, "James Dean." Dean was an actor, known as a rebel, who tragically died way too young in a car wreck. Since so many are feeling rebellious, I saw this J song as fitting with my theme.