Where are We Hiding our Courage?

I have seen far greater courage in children than I have seen in adults. What's wrong with this picture? Isn't it up to us to teach children by example?

I have had many opportunities to visit the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where suffering and courage are permanent visitors. I have been forever changed by the brave faces of children of all ages, submitting to testing and treatment, some with little hope of a happy outcome. The stories of fear and disillusionment are shadowed on their perfect little faces, but what shakes me to my very core are their eyes - they are the bright eyes of courageous, hopeful, loving little soldiers, who bravely accept what must happen and look for opportunities for happy moments and laughter.

They are what courage should look like.

When I am in a quandary about something - when I am dealing with an issue and feel less brave than I should about confronting it and solving it - I only have to think back to my visits to those wonderful children, and I find my courage again. For, if those magnificent little people can summon their courage during times of enormous stress and uncertainty, who on Earth am I not to summon mine?

Imagine What You Want - Then Create It !

When you sleep, dream of that which awakens and fires your heart. When you are awake, live your dream...

This sounds too easy, doesn't it? It really isn't that hard -

All people who have achieved their definition of success have at least two things in common: First, they imagined what it was that they wanted. Money, a great relationship, a new job, a vacation home - whatever it was, they first decided what it was they were seeking. Then they set achievable goals to get there. Some did it in a few short steps; others chose to get there more slowly, but eventually, they all got what they had chosen to go after. How can YOU do this?

1) Choose your dream !

2) Set your goals - there is a wonderfully easy template found in my book, "Getting It Right: Cutting to the Chase and Creating The Life You Want",

http://www.volumesdirect.com/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=Getting%20it%20Right

This template will guide you through each step, from creating your dream/goal, to realizing your reward. You can achieve just about anything, if you set yourself a goal, and systematically follow through with its application and execution. So dream big ! And watch what comes your way....

Blessings,
Sandra
http://www.lewislifecoach.com/

Get it in Gear !

Hope is an action verb, not a noun!

Hope, described as a desire for something, with an attached expectation, is an emotional investment.
Therefore, with hope, comes the risk of pain.

How big is YOUR risk? That’s largely up to you!

Look at whatever it is that you are hoping or wishing for, and determine what role you could be playing in securing a positive result. Hoping passively will not bring the same likelihood of success as hoping proactively. List what steps are necessary to get what you are hoping for. How can you achieve these steps - and is there anyone you should be enlisting to help? Get behind the wheel and drive your dreams to meet their happy reality, and shift the gear from “hope” to “happening” !

What are We Aiming For?

I don't believe Happiness is a Goal - I think it is the Journey. How often have you heard someone say, "If only I had ......., THEN I would be happy. If reaching "the goal" is the creation of happiness, how much of our lives is lost in the wait? Goals are very important - they are the stepping stones of our evolution. But surely the "travel time" has great,if not greater, significance? For although reached goals are admirable milestones, what we learn about ourselves, and who we become on that Journey of learning, determine whether or not the Ultimate Goal is our true reflection, or just an hypothesis that proved inaccurate? The journey gives us time and experience to better hone just what the Goal should be. And it is in this process of accelerated Wisdom, that we better understand our values, our priorities, and our true "Goals". Long may the Journey last!
Blessings !
www.lewislifecoach.com

Finding and Keeping Joy !

There are happy people with no apparent reason for it. There are miserable people whom others would think have every reason to feel joy. And there is everyone else in between. Clearly, your ability to feel joy is not proportional to what you have. Yet some people still think, "If I could only have/be this or that, then I could be happy."

Joy cannot be bought; it doesn't come in the form of something or someone. It lives in all of us, regardless of our life situations, and it can be tapped into anywhere, anytime. It makes itself known to you when you think about your blessings, however small they may seem. It reveals itself when you are true to yourself and your values, when you live in the present moment, give your best to all you do, and when you seek out ways to help others who have not been as fortunate as you. Thinking outside your own life, and improving someone else's, brings you joy that is unmatched by material gain or other forms of recognition or reward. Sound corny? Try it, and see for yourself !
-excerpt from my book, "Getting It Right: Cutting to the Chase and Creating The Life You Want"
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search?keywords=Getting%20It%20Right%3A%20Cutting%20to%20the%20chase%20and%20creating%20the%20life%20you%20want&pageSize=10

Starting out Right !

Let every breath carry a whisper of laughter, and every thought the beginnings of joy. I posted this thought on my Facebook page today. Great possibilites for joy and for positive change exist in every breath we take. With each breath, and an open mind and generous heart, we have the opportunity to enhance our relationships, alter the course of life's events, gather new experiences and fortunes into our realm, and enjoy a heightened sense of who we are and where we belong. Allowing just a whisper of laughter and joy into your breathing and your thinking expands your consciousness and your self-belief, and life's possibilities can become infinite.
Blessings, Sandra
www.lewislifecoach.com

Happiness - Not as Elusive as You May Think !

Good day, and welcome to a few ramblings that might carry you more successfully through the day -

Part of the secret to happiness, I believe, lies in abandoning the search for approval, control and something to criticise or judge.

Whatever you choose to believe about yourself is just who you will be. There is no approval worth seeking other than your own - what you decide to believe about yourself, and how you “speak” to yourself will greatly determine how each day “goes” and how the rest of your life follows after that. When you live your truth, and when you decide to like and support who you are, you won’t covet others’ approval. Someone once pointed out the importance of being who you truly are, and saying and feeling what you really feel, because “the people who matter don’t mind, and the people who mind don’t matter”.
This is a wonderful phrase to remember, as you navigate the direction you choose your day to take. Blessings !

www.lewislifecoach.com

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained !

"The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore." ~ Dale Carnegie

Growth and enhancement of the many areas of your existence require a willingness and desire to move past your usual efforts, and think outside the box. Your mind is an amazing tool. Use it to stretch beyond what it did for you yesterday, and create a plan to move forward in just one facet of your life. Push pass any self-limiting beliefs, and, just for today, demand a little bit more of yourself and your abilities. You will be very happy with the results, and perhaps even completely amazed. Once you have stepped outside and tasted this new power, you will feel the urge to test it on other issues and areas in your life.

Take it for a test run - and see just what a difference you can make today !

www.lewislifecoach.com

Are You Closer to Knowing Who You Are?

Every day we experiment with who we are, through the choices we will make, the decisions we will act on, the people with whom we will interact - and the manner in which we will choose to connect with them.

What will we learn through our "experiments" today? And how will those lessons influence our "experiments" of tomorrow?

Enjoy today's adventures !