personal growth

A Letter from the Future

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 16 Conversations

 

Dear One,

Watching you the past few months brings up tears of happiness and pride.

And I am proud of you, for it would have been much easier to quit.

outdoor market area, Santa Fe, New Mexico

You, however, are not a quitter.

You persist.

“Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

You commit with your whole heart and then do what it takes to follow through.

Just one of the many things I love about you.

Your passion and persistence are like arrows to my heart.

The way you weave your feelings into words. . .well, just slay me now.

I’m crushing on you.

Lovin’ you up, all the way from the future.

xo

Sandi Amorim signature

 

 

What You Can Be, You Must Be

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 35 Conversations

 

“What one can be, one must be.” – Abraham Maslow

What one can be, one must be. - Abraham Maslow

Imagine your life growing from a seed; one seed uniquely, divinely you, growing roots as an expression of you.

In a world driven by goals and results, it’s much too easy to forget that what there is to do is BE yourself.

What if that is your life’s purpose? Wouldn’t it be a relief to stop trying so hard?

What you can be, you must be. You cannot change your roots.

An acorn must become an oak tree, and you must become you.

When you resist, you kick the door open to suffering.

What if the only resolution you ever need to make ever in life is this. . .

“I resolve to become more fully myself.”

Say it out loud.

Write it on your bathroom mirror.

Your roots, like the roots of any tree, need care and nourishment to grow and bear fruit, and now is the best time to begin.

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A Love Affair with Yourself

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 10 Conversations

 

Imagine a love affair with yourself…

“Suddenly, and for the first time, she was at the center of her own life, living it and loving it.” – Mary Balogh

You, at the centre,
a full-blown love affair with yourself.

That luscious, heady feeling…all for you.

Murmured words of love,
a tender gaze…just for you.

Imagine…

“If we listened to our intellect we’d never have a love affair.” – Ray Bradbury

For now, give your intellect a rest.

Listen only to your heart,
let it bask in your fullest attention.

Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Your soul yearns
to be acknowledged,

a willing lover
whispering,
waiting for your embrace.

Wrap your arms around it.
And hold on for dear life.

Fire burns in your belly.

Your most desired feelings,
like lava, burning to flow freely.

Unleash their fullest expression.

Goddess sculpture, head back, arms up and open

Look back and remember.
There have been times you knew this love.

See it, hear it, feel it,
in that deepest part of you. . .
no one ever sees.

“Love affairs, in their beginnings, are all about the present.” – Kate Morton

The present, a most precious gift.

Breathe it in like a lover’s scent.
Not yesterday, not tomorrow,

only now.

And take heart…

“Courage Is a Love Affair with the Unknown” – Osho

Trust that you are up to the task.

 

How to Use Your Values to Thrive in Life & Business

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 17 Conversations

 

Values are underrated.

Underrated and underused, even in the world of personal development.

You might find people talking about them, but do they give you practical ways to use them in your day-to-day life?

The key is to work with your values often, not just as a once-through exercise, but as an ongoing practice to impact the quality of your life.

Not satisfied? ==> Check in with your values.

Work not fulfilling? ==> Check in with your values.

Relationship in a rut? ==> Check in with your values.

But it’s not enough to know what they are; like any knowledge or tool, you have to use your values to get the full benefit.

Like an internal compass, your values keep you aligned with what you say is important in your life, and can boost any goal or intention you have, making it much more effective and way more enjoyable.

“One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

how to use your values to thrive in life and business

Values help you stand out from the crowd, and make your life and business hum with an inner confidence that is compelling.

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An Invitation to the Bold Life

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 10 Conversations

 

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

Be bold, be brave and move forward with a peaceful and loving heart. Make your life matter!

Now that is a call to action that stirs the soul and I’m not surprised to find it on Tess Marshall’s About page!

Tess is all about facing down your fears and living a bold life. Her passion and integrity inspire, as does her willingness to share her experience generously through her work and her writing.

She is a writer, speaker, and courage coach with a master’s degree in counseling psychology, but she’s also a down-to-earth woman with a welcoming smile and a great laugh. I had the good fortune to meet Tess in person last year and she’s become a trusted online friend.

It’s been awhile since my last spotlight, but when I heard Tess was launching a new program, 30 Days of Bold, I knew right away I had to get her here. When you read her writing, her passion for supporting people in overcoming their fears and living out loud is palpable.

Tess believes, “It’s our responsibility to acknowledge, face, and dissolve our fear.”

In her own life she’s walked the talk dealing with challenges she faced, using them as fuel to create an awesome life for herself, and anyone around her.

I’m delighted to shine the light on Tess Marshall and her passion for The Bold Life.

 

1. Why are you here?

My primary reason for being here is to learn how to love unconditionally.

I can judge how I’m doing by my own peace of Tess Marshall headshotmind and the state of my relationships. Everyone here is my teacher: my family, friends, clients, community, and the entire world.

The love that I have and the love that I give will make the world a better place to be.

2. What is your future calling you to do?

My future self is calling me to play bigger.

Be bolder. Experience more joy. Dissolve fear faster.

And to continue to help others do the same!

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Myth Busting and the Key to Happiness

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 22 Conversations

 

“The key to happiness and health (and to all their auspicious by-products) is not how intensely happy we feel, but how often we feel positive or happy.” – Sonja Lyubomirsky

The Myths of Happiness, book cover

You know those times in life that rock your foundation?

In her book The Myths of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky calls them crisis points.

They’re the kind of events that leave you feeling like things will never be the same. And love them or hate them, they happen to everyone.

These crisis points can be times of renewal and growth, but let’s keep it real – we rarely seem to view them as such when we’re going through them.

Therein lies the key – how do you deal with them.

Myths is about identifying the steps that will work for you, and as in any area of life, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

I recently asked,

If happiness is a choice, why don’t we always choose it?

I wasn’t surprised to find that most people believe it is a choice, but the question remains,

Why don’t we always choose it? 

That’s the question I had in mind as I began reading the book.

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Weep and Set Yourself Free

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 21 Conversations

 

What is it you want to change?
Your hair, your face, your body?
Why?

For God is in love with all those things
and he might weep when they are gone.

~ St. Catherine of Sienna

Dr. Sun Yat Sen garden, Vancouver, BC

Weep…

for what you’ve judged
and  made so very wrong.

Weep…

for all that you’ve lost,
that can never be regained.

Weep…

let go, and
release what’s been held.

Allow what is,
and accept what is not.

Weep…

forgive,
and set yourself free.

 

 

I Dream, Therefore I Am

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 12 Conversations

It’s time to dream. . .

It’s time to dream.

collage of dreamlike image

“I have a dream…” – Martin Luther King Jr.

1.  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do… Explore. Dream. Discover.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

  • This quote screams of regrets and someday thinking. Take a chance, swing out and be honest about what you want.

2.  “Dreams are THE BEST! The DayDreams, the Secret Wishes, THOSE Dreams we keep and cherish, hidden in the spaces between our heartbeats.” – Bif Naked

3.  “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho

  • It’s the possibility, anticipation and taking action on the dream that provides a fulfilling experience, sometimes more than having the dream itself materialize. When your values are guiding you, satisfaction is pretty much guaranteed.

4.  “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

  • I’ve been working on my 50 For 50 list, things I’m going to do during my 50th year. It’s inspiring and kind of awesome to inspire yourself in this way, especially when you start early and have a breakthrough like I did recently!

5.  “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” – John Lennon

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What It Takes to Nourish the Soul

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 25 Conversations

 

“Amidst life’s busyness, we need ways to slow down, turn our attention within, and reconnect with ourselves.” – Karen Horneffer-Ginter

Self-care, for almost everyone I’ve worked with in over a decade, is an ongoing challenge. For the purpose of this post I use the term self-care to refer to the care of mind, body and spirit.

For many, the challenge is obvious, showing up in the physical: do they get enough sleep, does their diet nourish them, etc.

For others, the majority it often seems, the challenge reveals itself in the emotional or spiritual realms, which is not as easily seen or remedied.

Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit is a book that speaks directly to this challenge.

book cover Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit

Written by Karen Horneffer-Ginter, it touches on the most personal and challenging aspects of self-care in a world that often has us running like a hamster on a wheel.

“We live in a world of constant movement, and our day-to-day lives seem to get busier by the hour. Our days are full of information, full of obligations, full of friends and family, full of everything…except fulfillment.”

This statement is true for far too many people. The busyness and stressors of daily life can easily become overwhelming, and self-care is usually the first thing to go when faced with a time or energy crunch.

So, how do you deal with this challenge?

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