What Motivates You?

     
Today's title begs the question "What Motivates You?" What makes you get up in the morning to do the things you do? What drives you to be the best you that you can be? What is that thing that causes you to make sacrifices, decisions, and choices each day? We make a plethora of decisions each day and you need to understand why you tend to lean one way or the other on the spectrum of what is the motivating force in your life.
      Are your decisions based on personal gain? Do you think about the impact on others in your world and how your decisions will impact them? What about your decisions to support a cause or to get involved in a program or group, what is that guiding force that moves you from sitting there thinking about it to the point that you actually get up and move towards action? Do you make your decisions based on a sense of responsibility? I'd say that's a move in the right direction, but is doing something only out of a sense of duty really enough?
      How about if your actions, choices, and decisions are driven by guilt, anger, or resentment? I guess my question for you if you just answered yes to that one would be, "How's that working for you?" If your life's motivation is founded on anything based in or associated with anger then my guess is you are living a pretty miserable life. You probably want to blame someone else for everything that is "wrong" in your life, and you more than likely can't see whether the glass is half full or half empty because you are too upset because the glass isn't as big as you wanted it to be in the first place. Sheez, get a grip! The life you are living isn't about you!
      The true litmus test for every choice, every decision, and every thought or deed that we think or do should center on whether the action is done out of love. I believe if we could create a Geiger counter that could measure all of our decisions on whether they were based on love for our fellow man, then we could solve a great deal of the problems in our own life and possibly see a drastic change in the way our world revolves around itself. It may sound simplistic, but I would counter and say to the cynic, what other deciding factor is more relevant and what other course of action in making decisions has a better potential to have a positive impact on your life, the lives of those around you, and even on society in general?
     Many of you may be familiar with I Corinthians 13 which is commonly called the "love" chapter in the new testament of the Holy Bible. The author, the Apostle Paul, makes the point that regardless of how much we donate to worthy causes, whether our decisions appear to be a sacrifice on our part, or even if our actions are worthy of being recognized, if the litmus test doesn't ultimately show our decision was founded in love then we are definitely off track. Paul goes on to describe what love is and how love acts providing an excellent guidebook for us all. Verses 4-7 paint a clear picture of what love looks like in our decision-making process. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." I firmly believe that if ALL people could measure their life's decisions against the standards listed above, then we would see a different mechanism driving the direction our lives, our country, and this world.
      This week, find a time each day to stop and reflect on your life. Look at the decisions you have made and point your love Geiger counter at them. What has driven your decisions? What has motivated you to get you to the place you are right now? Can you relate your life to a life of love for others? Do the choices you are living measure up to a life of love for others instead of love for yourself? Are the sacrifices you are making done out of love or done out of responsibility? My prayer is that each of us, self included, will take a deep look into who we are, what makes us who we are, and what drives the decisions and choices that we make each day. At the end of the love chapter in the Bible, the Apostle Paul states that "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." If love is the greatest quality of all then shouldn't it have the most prominent place in our hearts, minds, and souls?
May love be your driving force in life!
Coach Carter