Inspire — Chapter 7 in Aspire
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.” —Albert Schweitzer
Today we are featuring an excerpt in Chapter 7 from Afternoons with Arthur:
Arthur took a deep breath. Then he held it in. I wasn’t sure what point he was trying to get across, but I was relieved when he exhaled and started breathing normally.
He was teaching me the meaning of the word “inspire,” which comes from the Latin “inspirare.” “Spirare,” he instructed, means to breathe, and “in” implies “into.” To inspire is to breathe into.
The Master of Words explained that when we breathe life into another, we inspire their hopes, goals, and dreams. We breathe life into them, just as our Creator first breathed life into our spirit.
But when we take the air out of another, we expire their hopes, goals, and dreams.
So we can breathe life in or suck life out—inspire or expire, the choice is ours.
Think back to a time when someone breathed life into you. Do you remember how it felt? For many of us, we can attest to the impact it makes in our life when we are reminded to “breathe life in.”
We are able to resonate with the journey of another that gives us a sense of hope, uplifts our spirits, and tells us what we know inside, “I can do this too!”
In this chapter, Kevin talks about the meaning of encouragement, praise, and the true power of our words. They have tremendous power for good or for ill. They can inspire or expire. The choice is ours. We can:
- Choose to heal or choose to wound.
- Choose to affirm or choose to reject.
- Choose to praise or choose to criticize.
- Choose to appreciate or choose to depreciate.
- Choose to encourage or choose to discourage.
- Choose to focus on opportunities or choose to focus on problems.
Using words and language that life the human spirit creates a new paradigm in thinking. Instead of “What can I get? our mentality shifts to “What can I give?”
Read more in Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through The Power of Words