Pocket full of diamonds

I have been trying hard to find something that can be elusive when you need it and powerful when you have it.  It can sometimes make the difference between giving up or mustering up enough to keep going.  It can apply to simple tasks or difficult undertakings.  It's motivation.
For a while I seemed to have misplaced mine somewhere.  It had fallen away and I didn't know where to look for it.  Maybe I thought I didn't need it.  Maybe I had taken it for granted and when I thought I could just pull it out like spare change it just wasn't there anymore.  I struggled.  But I wouldn't let it go.  I couldn't.
I read articles, I took surveys, I narrowed down what I was trying to do.  I zeroed in on what it was I wanted to accomplish.  I found when you are just starting something and because of the unknown there can be quite a lot of information that can motive you to get started.  The old saying of 'every journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step' can truly help put things into perspective.  But what if it isn't your first step?  What if you are 1500 or 3000 or 10000 steps into your journey?  What if you are 1400 miles into your journey?  While I was looking it seemed as if I found myself standing in the middle of the trail looking forward down the path and then looking back from where I came.  There was no one up ahead and no one back behind.  I was standing in the center all alone.  Why was I there?  As I stood there with my hands in my pockets the sun shifted ever so slightly.  It shone down on the dusty, uneven trail where I was standing and exposed small glimmers shining from places hidden all around.  They were like diamonds winking at me from behind and ahead.  I pulled my hand out of my pocket and uncurled my fist to find a few small gems gleaming there.  Small prizes I had picked up along the way and forgotten.  But some I had not picked up.  Some had been given to me.  Small gems of encouragement.  A question of interest, a sharing of experience, a simple word. 
Motivation is all around when you figure out what you need it for and recognize it when it's given.  It's like shining diamonds along the journeys trail.  They hide under the dust and in our own pockets when we don't know why we are there.  It sometimes just takes time to re-focus on what we are trying to accomplish to find it again.
When I did refocus I began to see the other footprints in that path where I stood in the middle looking back and forward.  I had pockets full of valuables that had been given to me when I thought I had been standing there alone.  It was that question someone asked, or the sharing of an experience, or the simple encouraging word someone gave to me.
Valuable stuff.
TT
----------------------------------
I really meant it about being 1400 miles into my journey...