I was reading an article in my favorite magazine, Spirituality and Health (August 2006 edition), on leadership and in it the author, Lance Secretan, talks about the difference between motivating people and inspiring people. He talks about how powerful it is to know what’s important to each of us, and then to live from that place. To quote from his article: “My issues are violence of all kinds – toward children, women, countries, minorities, the earth, trees, the atmosphere – and degradation of the earth, caused by the way we live today.” He goes on to say that when he looks for the opposite of violence and degradation of the environment, he finds himself connected to love and sustainability. He then says, “In my work, if I can help someone see the sacredness in another person, a tree, or a country, then maybe they won’t destroy it. We aren’t violent toward things we hold sacred, and we might treat the world with more love. If I inch the world forward in this way, that moves me toward meeting my destiny.” (The article goes on to offer steps by which we can actively bring what we care about into our daily lives. For further information about Spirituality and Health, log on to www.SpiritualityHealth.com.)

Lance’s words got me to thinking about how we can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world’s problems, and even by the challenges in our personal lives. I like the way he talks about “inching” the world forward. And so, for this week’s experiment, I invite you to take some time to articulate for yourself – if you haven’t already – your particular passion and destiny. Take some time to be in touch with what really matters to you and then – using Lance’s process of looking for the solution to the issue, or identifying its opposite – become more aware of how you can bring that opposite quality into your daily life.

There are two main tracks for this experiment. The first is to become even more familiar with your passion and your sense of destiny – what you can give to the world. The second is that small actions and moments make a difference, that we can offer our contribution to “inching” things toward a healed outcome, whatever that may be for you.

Let’s say that you choose love, or a sense of connection, as the quality you want to inspire in others. Then, as you move through the day, you have an opportunity to attune yourself to those moments when you can inject your experience with love and connection. For example, and this is a very small, mundane example, let’s say you’re in a crowd of people and your cell phone rings. If you are conscious of embodying a sense of connection with people, you may find yourself noticing the tone and volume of your voice as you talk on your cell phone, being mindful of the people around you. Your sense of connection prompts you to be more careful about intruding on their personal space with your conversation.

The powerful opportunity with this kind of experiment is that you have a chance to strengthen your capacity to embody what you believe. You have a chance to “walk the talk” and express in your way of being the quality you want to see manifest more strongly in your world, whatever that may be. And so, I invite you, also, to bring your awareness to those times when you are at one with your passion, inching the world forward with your expression of it.