If we wait till we feel inspired we will definitely wait indefinitely Gita 18.37

Transcript

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If we wait till we feel inspired, we will definitely wait indefinitely.
Suppose we want to develop a good habit. We want to do something creative or constructive such as exercise, meditate, study wisdom texts, journal. We may understand that such things are good for us.
But we may not feel inspired to do them. And we don’t feel inspired when we feel that even if I do it, I won’t be able to do it well. That’s why we may decide to wait till we feel inspired.
However, when we wait to be inspired, we set ourselves up for one definite result. Indefinite wait, indefinitely wait. Why? Because inspiration often depends on our mind’s moods.
And those moods often change wildly, abruptly, irrationally. The Bhagavad Gita states that the mind is fecklessly fickle. 634 states that So what do we do in the face of this restless mind? If we just keep waiting for inspiration, we don’t know when we will get it.
And if we are fortunate and we feel inspired soon, and we do that thing well, still after that we will be sentenced to another agonizing and paralyzing period of waiting. Is there a better way to function? Yes, definitely. Provided we understand how the mind works.
Everything we do creates an impression in our mind, which leads to a proposition to redo that action. And if we do a thing repeatedly, that reinforces the impression, which in turn leads to more forceful propositions. And these propositions make future iterations of that action much easier to do.
Thus things which were initially difficult to do become easier to do over time. But in actually the Bhagavad Gita states that that which tastes like poison in the beginning will taste like nectar in the end. That which is like nectar will become like nectar immediately, initially like poison.
That’s why we need to start working on the good habit in small steps, taken regularly. Even if such small steps don’t seem to lead to any significant or invisible change, we will actually cover much more ground in the long run by small steps taken steadily, then by long leaps taken sporadically. And more importantly, those regular small steps will create strong impressions in the mind, which will not only enable us to do more in the future, but they will also make us more receptive to inspiration, make us more inspired, and help us to do more, more joyfully.
Thank you.