Wherein lies your inspiration?

While on my walk I found myself pondering the difference between motivation and inspiration this week.

After googling for definitions and other’s thoughts on it I came up with this:

Inspiration is that which fills me with life, energy and passion.  It guides my decisions each day.  I would agree with most that it comes from outside of me.   Motivation comes from within me and is what moves me to action based on my inspirations.

I’m inspired by a vision of a healthy world, people living in balance with nature and each other.  To that end I am motivated to make healthy choices around food and activity.  It doesn’t mean that it’s always easy, we all have our days of being totally unmotivated.  When that happens I have to go back to my inspiration, my vision, and renew my commitment to the end goal.

If your inspiration is to live a long and healthy life here’s a little motivation for you:

Daily walking has the power to reduce symptoms of depression by 41%, chances of colon cancer by 31%, chances of coronary heart disease by 36%, chances of a stroke by 43%, chances of type 2 diabetes by 30% and chances of dementia and alzheimer’s by up to 27%.

You can replace walking with any other physical activity each day, allowing for a fun variety of options.  Biking, skiing, snowshoeing even playing at the park with your kids is an option, how fun would that be?

Be inspired by a vision of a strong and healthy body, mind and spirit, then be motivated by all the goodness of being outdoors.

Have fun out there!