What Inspires You?

I don't know about you, but some days, I need all the inspiration I can get just to drag my fingers across the keyboard. It's not so much the volume of items on our to-do lists but the speed with which everyone expects us to do them. You can track anyone down 24/7 by cell phone, emails must be instantaneously answered, and if that's not fast enough, Twitter sets land speed records on a regular basis. Our apparently irresistible need to post everything about our lives on Facebook or Instagram ensure that we don't take a step without at least a few hundred people knowing about it. With that kind of round-the-clock access to each other, the concept of "recharging batteries" seems as archaic as the 8-track tape (and if you don't even know what that is, just Google it - asking me will only make me depressed that I'm old enough to remember them and you aren't).

So if we're constantly going and doing and working, how do we not all end up in the fetal position under our desks? (More than a couple times a week, anyway.) Beyond intensive therapy and/or stacks of things smothered in chocolate (is that just me?), we find something that inspires us. Maybe it's a photo of the dream home you're diligently saving for, a photo of your family, or a special book that your mentor gave you - whatever it is, it's the thing that gives you that little lift when you're buried in work and burdened with tough choices.

My little slice of inspiration is a note one of my daughters wrote me after a marathon viewing of "Finding Nemo" (because my children think watching the same movie 674 times in a row is fun). On the surface, it's a cute saying, but drawn and written by my child, it's a powerful encouragement and reminder of why I do what I do, first as a Christian, then as a mom, and finally as an entrepreneur. I run the race marked out especially for me to honor the One who has blessed me with three precious children, a loving husband, and a beautiful group of friends and clients. Do I get tired and discouraged at times? Absolutely - but that little scrap of paper, created with such love, inspires me and reminds me of how blessed I am and how much of a waste of blessings it would be to quit.

So what's your "Dori quote"? What sits on your desk or in your office that, with just one glance, inspires you to get your day back on track?