Jenifer Zetlan - The Incredible Power of Inspiration: Creating the Life You Yearn For

Copyright 2017 Jenifer Zetlan

Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

Cover + Layout Design : Elina Diaz

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The Incredible Power of Inspiration: Creating the Life You Yearn For

Library of Congress Cataloging

ISBN: (print) 978-1-63353-627-2, (ebook) 978-1-63353-628-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017955627

BISAC category code: OCC010000, BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Mindfulness & Meditation

Printed in the United States of America

to

the memory of Ruth, the mother of my inspiration

and

Michael, the greatest seedling of all

Table of Contents

Introduction

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Antoine de Saint-Exupry , The Little Prince

Dont be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.

Roy T. Bennett , The Light in the Heart

Inspiration is a powerful thing. It drives us towards new ideas and new goals, and it helps us solve lifes mysteries. Many of us love a great mystery, one that begins with an inexplicable event that none of the characters can quite grasp but the Big Event leaves in its wake an equally Big Question. The question draws us forward in search of clues, and along that path we make discoveries large and small. Sometimes resolution resounds with a bang (for better or worse!), sometimes its a sleeper, and sometimes the resolution offers us a startling surprise that leads to a crescendo and a victorious end. You just never know, but the ride is fantastic!

When I was a young child, my father died inexplicably at the age of thirty-seven, leaving behind at least two Big Questions for me and my family. For my mother, her big question was: How do I raise two young children by myself? For my brother, it was: Will I also die young? For me, at the age of three, the Big Question was: What happened to Daddy?

Like all good mysteries, I couldnt understand why mortal illness struck my father down at such a young age. I began to follow the clues about wellness and about what may have happened to him. I employed my fathers premature death and my mothers pure grief and grit to propel me towards living a long, healthy, and vibrant life. I sought out heart-healthy distance running and the study of psychology I wanted to know why people are the way that they are, and how people may best reach their potentials. The study of psychology morphed into science, then into philosophy, and finally ripened into spirituality. Throughout my life, solving this mystery has been a propelling inspiration.

After four decades of study in psychology, philosophy, comparative religion, and health and wellness, I was inspired to deepen my knowledge and decided to study yoga. My yoga practice opened up many new mysteries that inspired me to seek further. Through my inquires into deepening yoga practice, I began to experience the linkages between diverse areas of our lives. I began to research Hindu texts from 1500 BC, Talmudic mystical teachings from the oral tradition from the early Common Era, and contemporary-inspired writings of Christianity. I studied physics and anatomy; I tasted biology and neuroscience I kept exploring different disciplines, finding strikingly similar patterns of questions, quests, and queries. A discovery in one field inspired more learning about ourselves and our world.

The authors I read continued to inspire me I saw them as lifes adventurers, forging new ground as they sought answers to their own Big Questions. They embarked upon quests and followed clues; they queried, then queried some more. Their lives were intensely infused with passion and curiosity. They often took the apparently mundane, taken-for-granted parts of their lives and turned them into something much bigger, more important one might even say more sacred phenomena. Mozart liked a good tune, Plato loved a good question, and modern day astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson loves to stargaze.

Looking through the rear-view mirror of inquiry over my lifetime (so far), I have come to believe that in the mysteries of our lives, there are two key elements which guide you: inspiration and wellness. Each discipline I studied, in whatever technical language that it was presented, delivered that message consistently: All of life is an evolving grand mystery, so do what inspires you and be fit, or well enough, to do it.

The Starting Point: Life is a Mystery. I am constantly humbled by the mystery that lies at the cutting edge of all things, the Big Questions that rest on their horizon, and the enfold-ment of what might emerge next. Early in my youth, people were the greatest mystery to me. We were all people, yet so different from one another. Why? What are feelings? Where do they come from? Why are weird people weird? Why are healthy people healthy? Then there was music. Where does music come from? How does someone hear music in their head and then compose a piece of music? In the world of work, how do companies work with so many (unique) people involved? In aerospace, how are ideas for spacecraft conceived? How do people manage their relationships to bring a design to life? How does a single inspiration alter the course of history?

We, the conceivers of our own reality, have always been, and will always be, the Greatest Mystery of all to me.

We each have our own Great Mysteries. Those things we yearn to know about and that we would love to dedicate much of our time to in exploration. What tickles your imagination? What calls you to action, to explore and expand?

The Constant: Do what inspires you. We are all aware of people who were inspired and changed the world. Einstein was inspired to explore the universe through thought experiments. Patanjali, a Hindu scholar circa 1500 BC, was inspired to explore the transience of objects like a clay pot or our own bodies. He urged us to conquer the mysteries of our mental flotsam in the depths of our own consciousness. Plato egged us on to look from within and set the model for the modern philosopher. Neil deGrasse Tyson was inspired to explore the mysteries of the universe and engages millions of people across the globe to do the same.

The message? Inspiration is for us all. When you uncover your mysteries, face them with compassion and curiosity, and ask your Big Questions. You will gain the freedom to explore, to engage your imagination to dance to the beat of your own drum, to laugh, and to grow as if no one is watchingand to always love. Do what inspires you; do what floats your boat; do it with abandon.

The Requirement: Wellness. There is only one requirement to delving into your greatest mystery and living an inspired life, and that is Wellness. We all yearn to live vibrant and meaningful lives, to embrace our own mysteries, but without wellness it is difficult, if not nearly impossible. When you are ensnared in the treacherous undertow of illness, or of grief, or of entrenched emotional habits, these become the focus of your life. Pain, struggle, and illness are the vacuous siphons of vitality. They drain our mental, emotional, and physical health, and direct our energy in negative directions into deeper downward spirals.