“So let us not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.” ~ Galatians 6:9
We ALL have days where we trip and fall, making us feel discouraged. In fact, I can guarantee that every person has days where they simply lack the motivation to keep pushing forward towards their goals.
I, too, have plenty of days where I am discouraged, overwhelmed, or unmotivated to press on towards my goals with stamina and vigor!
So, the question is... on days like these, how do we stay motivated?!?
Well, to put it simply, we can't... (Don't worry, I'm going somewhere positive with this!)
The reason being is that motivation is an emotion, and like all emotions, they are fickle. They are up one day and down the next.
Let me give you a real life example of this (and I know that almost every man /woman can agree with me on this one). One day I can wake up and feel like I'm on top of the world and the very next day I may wake up and feel terrible! This one example alone goes to show that emotions can not be trusted and they are certainly not stable.
It is for that very reason that we can't base our decisions off of emotions. This includes the emotion of 'motivation'. If we relied on motivation to finish everything, we wouldn't end up finishing most things we started...and even if we did, things would turn out very different than how we imagined.
You see... when we begin something, we often have a great sense of determination and motivation. We have a goal set in our mind and we pump ourselves up so much that we can almost taste the victory! Fast forward a couple of weeks and here comes that all too familiar lack of drive, (aka lack of motivation). This change in emotions can be attributed to many different reasons; a lack of results, increased stress, or a realization that the process is harder than we originally expected.