Empower-ed.

Today, I'd like to empower you.

Always wanted to write a book?  Put pen to paper.  Right now.
Dreaming of moving to Paris?  Start a job search (and maybe learn a few French phrases).  Today.
Have an idea for a new business?  Author a plan.  Now.

Unless we reach for our goals, they'll always remain just that - goals.

Where is this urgency coming from?  I just finished A Thousand Hills to Heaven, a novel recommended by my book club, that tells the tale of a young couple who move to Rwanda to further humanitarian efforts fighting poverty in the rural areas of the country.  "Heaven" in the title is actually an allusion to the first-class restaurant they start in Kigali, where they created jobs for young Rwandans, while also teaching skills not yet available elsewhere in the country. While they certainly experienced setbacks, heartaches and doubts, they continued to reach for their goals.  And, best of all, made the world a slightly better place because they kept at it.

It is hard not to be inspired by their story.  In fact, the boyfriend has now heard many versions of my plan to "save the world" as a result.  But, I think that is important: to want to save the world.   Even more significant is the reminder that sometimes it is possible.  If only we start today.

Are you inspir-ed yet?

Let's start where it begins: inspiration.

Nothing was ever created without that first spark of ingenuity.  For creation to take place, not only do we have to have the idea of what to create in mind, but we have to have the inspiration and energy to make it happen.

For me, inspiration hides in many things:

• An afternoon in the kitchen
• A bright day in the great outdoors
• Conversation over that second glass of wine
• Others passionate response to a cause
• Personal reflection; re-reading that half-filled journal from 3 years ago
• Positive reinforcement; the pep talk from a best friend
• Broadening horizons; visiting somewhere new; travel
• Breaking routine; pushing through boredom; finding something new in a familiar place

Help me create an even better list.  What inspires you?

What have I creat-ed today?

It is the blessing and curse of existing - that we humans are conscious of our existence.  Naturally, as thinking beings, the greatest human question is why?  Why do we exist? Why were we created?

While the more existential question of why does the human race exist is a more complicated question to answer, the natural progression of human thought can, in a way, reason why we, individually exist.  Why was I, Tori, created?

The human hope is this: we were created on purpose.  We were created because we're part of a bigger plan, we were created because we each have something unique to bring to the world.

Sitting on my couch on a January Sunday afternoon, I realized that I have not created or changed anything as of late.  If we really were created for a reason, then I'd like to try harder to find mine.

From the very beginning, this blog was created to inspire others that the -ed is out there, whatever the -ed is to you.  I'm going to spend some more time looking for my -ed this year and I hope you'll join me on the journey.

Ask yourself this: what have I created today? what have I done with my last 24 hours of existence?

Today, my answer is a lentil soup and this blog post.  It's a start.