10 Motivational Songs to Keep You Moving

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. – Maya Angelou

Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook.

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Songs can evoke feelings and emotions like no other medium. Songs are played at weddings, graduations, life-changing celebrations and funerals to connect better our feelings to the circumstance. When we need a charge, a pick-me-up, we often turn to music and song to find the motivation to keep us moving.

Certain songs have touched me. They have provided the needed motivation, and inspiration, to spark the fire inside of me when it has been extinguished.

Whether I’m looking for a song to help get me through a workout or get me through a trying circumstance, I listen to the following songs when I need to be filled-up again with their energy and their messages of healing, celebration and hope.

Healing

It’s My Life

It’s my life, And it’s now or never. ‘Cause I ain’t gonna live forever. I just want to live while I’m alive. - Bon Jovi

Many of us have experienced, or will experience, a watershed time in our lives – a time when we have “gotten it,” when an answer to a lingering, and sometimes painful question begins to reveal itself and we start the process of changing, growing and healing.

Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life, reminds me I do indeed own my life. There is still plenty of time and there is still plenty of hope and fight left in me to have the life I want.


Hero

So when you feel like hope is gone. Look inside and you will be strong and you finally see the truth that a hero lies in you. - Mariah Carey

Not all heroes wear capes or have superhuman strength. There is some hero in me and there is some hero in you when we reach into our souls and know the pain and sorrow will soon melt away and the healing will begin very soon.

Mariah Carey’s Hero reminds us that we can always find hope for healing when we rely on our faith and on our own brand of heroic strength to do so.

Climb

Ain’t about how fast I get there. Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb. - Miley Cyrus

It is often the challenging times we remember the most because these are the moments we become aware of our strength to keep going – to keep climbing, not matter the obstacles.

Climb, performed by Miley Cyrus, is a good reminder there is always value in our effort regardless of the outcome.

The Storm is Over Now

The storm is over now. And I can see the sunshine. I can feel Heaven. Heaven is over me. - R. Kelly

The storms in our lives do subside. Although difficult and painful at times, when we keep our faith we can begin to feel the healing push away the clouds to reveal the sunshine.

The Storm is Over, by R. Kelly, is a song of hope that tells us light will eventually replace darkness.

Celebration

Defying Gravity

Everyone deserves the chance to fly. And if I’m flying solo at least I’m flying free. – from the musical Wicked.

The only limits we have are the ones we placed on ourselves. We have the opportunity to be who we want to be and to do whatever fulfills our life’s purpose.

Having the courage to fly solo, as Elpheba exclaims in Defying Gravity, means we can be free to live the life we choose.

Lose Yourself

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime. You can do anything you set your mind to. - Eminem

Poets come in all forms and in different voices. Successful poets have the ability to speak to their generation and reach them at the core. Eminem is reaching his generation with his compelling and honest lyrics which are filled with important life lessons. So, just in case you are not a fan of Rap music, I invite you to take a step outside of your comfort zone and listen.

Lose Yourself asks if we will be ready when opportunity presents itself in our life. The song ends with a positive reminder that we can do anything we set our minds and hearts to doing.

We Will Rock You | We Are the Champions

But it’s been no bed of roses. No pleasure cruise – I consider it a challenge before the whole human race. And I ain’t gonna lose. - Queen

No matter what life throws at us, we have the choice to give in or to dig in and refuse to lose.

Queen’s We Will Rock You | We Are the Champions is an anthem that proclaims our determination to keep moving – to keep rocking, in spite of what’s in our way.

Gonna Fly Now

Trying hard now, it’s so hard now, trying hard now. Getting strong now, won’t be long now, getting strong now, Gonna fly now. - Bill Conti

Rocky isn’t a boxer, he is a winner. He wins by not giving up no matter the amount of pain he is experiencing. Rocky celebrates the best in all of us when we make the decision to answer the final bell and stay on our feet, too.

My favorite line from the movie series is in Rocky when Rocky meets Apollo Creed at center ring to touch gloves before the 15th and final round. Apollo glares at Rocky and says, “You are going down.”

Rocky, looks up and replies, “No. No way.”

Hope

Seasons of Love

How do you measure a year in the life? How about love? Measure in love. - Jonathan Larson from the musical Rent

The musical Rent focuses on a group on young artists trying to survive in the face of AIDS during the late 1990s in New York City’s Lower East Side. The rock opera follows this group of friends over the course of one year.

A compelling question asked in the musical is, “How do you measure a year?” The answer lies in hope. The answer lies in love.

Awesome God

Mercy and grace, He gave us at the cross. I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that our God is an awesome God. - Michael W. Smith

Everything we have in this world we have because of Him. He gives us the faith, inspiration and motivation to keep moving forward.

In the busyness of our lives it may be easy to forget where our source of life comes from. Michael W. Smith’s Awesome God provides a needed prompt when I forget why I am here.

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Comments

8 Responses to “10 Motivational Songs to Keep You Moving”

  1. Andrew on March 3rd, 2009 6:54 am

    Alex,

    Just love Lose Yourself by Eminem.

    My personal fav group of all time is EW&F, so I am biased. I do like ‘Keep Your Head To The Sky’ which includes the lyrics:

    “Master told me one day
    Id find peace in every way”

    http://www.greatmanagement.org/blogs/180/Keep-Your-Head-To-The-Sky.html

    Andrew

  2. Coryelle Kramer~Animal Communicator on March 4th, 2009 1:31 pm

    Hi Alex, very cool post! Music is such a powerful motivator and for me quick and wonderful way to raise up my creative vibration. My personal favorite, a song that I had a spiritual awakening with is
    “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper. It happened over 18 years ago and to this day I still cannot hear that song without getting teary and getting a surge of appreciation for my path that I am on today. Thank you for reminding me the power in songs.

  3. Lieder für die Motivation | Hilfe beim Leben on March 5th, 2009 9:07 am

    [...] Lieder, die einen von dem einen auf den anderen Moment anders “fühlen” lassen? The BridgeMaker hat eine mögliche Antwort: Certain songs have touched me. They have provided the needed [...]

  4. casting on March 9th, 2009 5:52 am

    very cool post! Music is such a powerful motivator and for me quick and wonderful way to raise up my creative vibration.

  5. Blair on August 16th, 2009 12:03 am

    Great List but how’d you miss Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

  6. Abhijeet on October 15th, 2009 6:34 am

    Thank you so much for these lovely songs!!!

  7. Asian dating on October 26th, 2009 2:18 am

    Thank you for sharing this beautiful and inspiring songs. It will surely lift someone’s spirits when they are down and blue. Great collections!

  8. Terry Alternam on February 4th, 2010 11:04 pm

    There’s a song I’d like to suggest that hasn’t quite seen the popularity yet that I think it deserves. It’s called “You’re the Best!!!” by a band called The Best.

    It’s full of positive energy, inspiration and hope.

    They have it up on their sites for free download: http://www.motivationalrock.com and http://www.facebook.com/motivationalrock

    Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

    -Terry

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