Image courtesy of markuso, published on 27 March 2012 Stock Photo – image ID: 10078194, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net.

The root word of desperation is despair, which is defined as “to lose all hope.” The root word of inspiration is inspire, which also means, “in spirit.” Ask yourself today, where are your desires coming from?

I was listening to June 20th’s Rae Zander’s Everyday Attraction podcast and she played a snippet of Abraham by way of Esther Hicks, where Abraham asked the person in the hot seat whether they were motivated by desperation or inspiration. I realized that if I looked back on some of my “desires,” many of them may not have been coming from an “in spirit” or inspired place, but rather a place of desperation.

When I sat down four years ago to write my desires for my life, I was in a rough, desperate place. I was in a very stressful job, I was overwhelmed with a mortgage payment and single parenthood, and I was in anxiety mode all the time. Sure, I manifested some of my desires, but to this day, some still elude me.

When I asked for six figures to plop into my life, that came with a conflicting belief that I was not going to get it – no matter how much I thought I desired it. Not only was it not a comfortable desire for me to embrace, it was not coming from inspiration.

I had to look at why I wanted a six figure salary – was it to bring happiness? Security? Happiness and security comes in many forms and blessedly not just through having lots of money.

I was inspired and guided by my Inner Spirit to soul search what made me happy about my stressful job, and I was able to identify qualities that I enjoyed, like writing. In my stressful job, there was minimal writing in my everyday routine. From there, I found out that in the company I worked for, there was a job that encompassed my desire to write all day. I was led by Spirit to prepare and apply for that job. Now, I am very happy and successful in my current role for the same company where I was stressed out just four short years ago. See the difference between inspiration and desperation? Desperation had me going after any job (including similar ones to the stressful one I was trying to leave), whereas inspiration led me to where I truly wanted to be. Thankfully the jobs that I was searching for out of desperation never panned out.

We often ask for lofty desires because we think it will bring us happiness. Instead, we have to start from a happy place and sometimes it could be as basic as we’re happy to be alive and loved by family. From there, inspiration and creativity grows.

When your desires are aligned with your true values, creativity can flow easily to and from you. It is your creativity and inspired desires that bears the fruit of abundance. Your abundance comes as a result of following your true desires.

If our desire is not rooted in our unique values, what we want will have a hard time manifesting. We have to examine why we desire a particular thing and ensure that it is coming from your Spirit and not just ego.

Examples:

• Is wanting lots of money another way of saying you want to feel secure and worry free? You can enjoy being worry free today – without having millions in the bank. A decision to feel abundant with what you do have, creating a realistic budget, finding time to seed and grow your dreams (baby to big step), all could help you feel secure. Gratitude for what you do have goes a long way.
• Is finding a soul mate to marry another way of asking the Universe you’d like companionship? Then take it a step further, and find yourself being content with being your own best friend and cultivate your talents and interests. The loneliness begins to dissolve, making room for more companionship from others and eventually your mate.

Do not limit or underestimate the power of God and your creative God in you. All you have to do is know what your values are, stick to them, and pay attention to where a desire originates and whether it represents something else entirely that you probably already have access to.

When we are manifesting, we have to ask ourselves where are our desires really coming from. Is it out of desperation? If so, we need to look at the essence of that desire and find what it is we are truly looking for.

The truth is, when we clear space in our hearts and minds for love and happiness, creativity flows easily and then abundance follows. When we desire material things first, it is not coming from a sustainable place. But, your boundless creativity is and does sustain forever.

The source of our desires holds the key to our ability to manifest them. Be sure your desires are not coming from a lack-filled, desperate place and begin to focus on desires that are truly inspired by the essence of who you really are.

~Your Curator of All Things Inspirational, Kimberly Jo Cooley