Author: Amanda Viviers

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the art of thankyou

There is an art to thank you, and it is one that doesn’t come easily. It is not a polite nod of our heads, with an internal scowl in the mind. It is the “thank you’ that comes from a deep place of satisfaction rather than one from obligation.

Lately, I have found myself uncomfortable the art of thank you.

I’m not sure about you, but often an encouraging conversation or an email that comes to bring life through words leaves me a little unsure about how to respond. The walk of not being too much but shying from the seat of the insecure critic has me dancing about in the land of unsure.

Do you sometimes struggle to step into an opportunity because of the discomfort of feeling misunderstood?

Do you sometimes shrink back from speaking out your truth because you don’t want to be seen as full of it?

I understand.

This I am finding is the art of thank you.

When you feel unsure of what to say when someone gives you an encouraging word, just smile and breathe softly and say a slow;

Thank you.

Feel the discomfort, but allow yourself to accept the kind words in their simplicity.

When you are offered an opportunity that takes you out of your comfort zone, and inside you are exploding with all the fear and failure of days gone by, just smile, stretch out your faith and say;

Thank you.

There is something profound in the simplicity of just accepting what is presented to you. When we overthink, doubt and retreat, we move backwards rather than into our greater tomorrow.

When you look into someone’s eyes, and they see your truth, rather than diverting our eyes in discomfort, just say;

Thank you.

Nothing else.

Nothing more.

Just sit in the present moment and breathe in the possibility of tomorrow.

Thank you for seeing me.

Thank you for reaching out and participating in my now.

Thank you for extending a branch into my tomorrow.

Thank you.

And move forward from this moment of in-between.

As our eyes close at the end of the day and we struggle to let go of the tapes that play over and over, grounding us in the feelings of not enough. Take a deep breathe and acknowledge the privilege of the present and say;

Thank you.

Thank you for life, thank you for grace and most of all thank you for breath.

Sometimes the most magnificent achievements we make are the moments when we allow goodness to brew possibility in our today.

Instead of blocking momentum by fear.

Why don’t we agree to say thank you together and see where the glimpses of possibility take us.

Amanda

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5 steps to find clarity and to reset

How is the middle of the year treating you?

I know the months between May and August can trip me up with confusion and lack of clarity.

There is a part of my heart that knows I don’t have to wait till Monday to begin again. I also know that failure is a big part of living a life on purpose. However, we all need reminders that every day is a new beginning, take a deep breath, reset and begin again.

I was sitting with a colleague yesterday, and she was telling  me that her email box, was sending her messages “Warning, Warning, your email box is blocked because it has too many messages.”

I smiled because it felt like my mind right at that present moment. Warning alarms were telling me it was time to reset. I said to her quietly, “First of all you need to arrange your email box in such a way that all the emails with attachments come to the top of your inbox. Secondly, you need to delete all of the emails. Thirdly, turn your computer off and restart it again.”

Our hearts, lives and especially minds can get full of extra attachments, and we need to find a way to reboot, to begin again.

Here are five ways that you can do an internal reset to find clarity

How hopeful do you feel?

Hope is something straightforward, but it can change everything. When our mind overloads, it can be difficult to find hope. One of my favourite proverbs says this;

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick” Proverbs 13:12

We all have a little hope in our hearts. Even that small voice that says “go on you should try again”. Maybe hope frustrates us because we have tried over and over. With failure and unmet expectations. As you retreat this winter with these reset pages, allow hope again to arise. Remind yourself of how you have grown with renewed hope.

How does faith impact your decisions?

Faith is the capacity to believe that there is help outside of your self. It’s not that popular to talk about faith these days, but my faith that there is a plan beyond my perspective. That there is an opportunity to partner with greater power, that I believe is good and cares for my journey, changes everything. The partnership of purpose impacts everything decision I make. How does faith impact your decisions? Do you believe that everything is meaningless? Do you struggle to find meaning in the midst of adversity?

As you retreat this winter with these reset pages, allow faith to inform your decisions and see whether clarity comes again.

What gratitude practise do you have in your daily routine?

Gratitude changes everything. When we acknowledge what is going right in our lives, even though we may not see the significant changes we are looking for, you are more capable of seeing change come. As a family, we try to do “High Points and Low Points” over each meal we have around our table. Our three-year-old is learning to acknowledge the little things, which build gratitude into her daily framework. One of the activities from the reset pages is to celebrate what small things you have achieved this year so far. Failure tries to trick us into thinking we haven’t moved at all, when sometimes the goal posts just shift. Take the time this winter to reset, and one great way you can do this is by creating a gratitude practice.

Who can you be kind to this week?

Generosity and kindness change us. We may think that it is about the person receiving the gift, the encouragement or the opportunity but it changes us. If you are in a mid-year slump, why don’t you make a plan of action to be kind to someone? As you extend your hand of generosity to another, it grows you. Every single time we encourage someone, it will always bring back life and courage to our own. Every time we are kind, instead of mean-spirited it changes us and brings all those good pheromones. What if you were kind today? As you retreat and take the time to reset this July, this is an act of kindness to ourselves.

What area do I need to step out in courage?

As we move towards the end of another year, we all know there are areas that we need to move forward with courage in. Those big, crazy goals, that remain unfulfilled. When we move forward with courage, there is something profound that happens in us. It is like a light of deep satisfaction goes on and warms our heart from inside. Courage brings great satisfaction. Although fear tells us we cant. Courage tells us we can. Write a list of things that you need to do with courage this July. Take the time to find perspective with this reset daybook.

Who is ready for an internal reboot?

Tell me when you are going to retreat below…

I’d love to follow your story and revelations through this hashtag #resetdaybook

Happy Days creative truth seekers.

Amanda

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look upon the horizon

We walked out the front door, and he turned to me in excitement. “Look, Mummy, our neighbour, has a new house” I looked out from the vista of where we stood on the porch, and I was puzzled as I couldn’t see what he was seeing.

“Not sure what you mean mate,” I replied with curiosity, and he replied with frustration. “Look, Mum, look, can’t you see it? our neighbour has a new house.”

Puzzled I got into the car, and he shook his head knowing that I couldn’t see what he saw.

The next day, as the sun rose, we stood and watched the cloud rise and the view on the horizon say hello to a new day. He stood by my side and repeated it.

“Mummy can you see the beautiful new blue house that our neighbours have built. It’s a double-decker one, and it is so beautiful.”

Ever since my little man could talk, he loved houses that have a second storey. He believes the higher the house, the greater the view. He likes to see the world at a distance.

I stood there perplexed as I could not get my eyes to see what he saw. I breathed in deep and begged my eyes to see.

Have you ever struggled to perceive something that everyone else is seeing?

It is like your sitting at a table, trying to talk to someone, both of you experiencing the same circumstances, yet each coming up with entirely different outcomes.

As we walk towards a horizon together, trying to find clarity can be difficult and confusing. Irritation can stop us from seeing opportunities right in front of our eyes. We need help sometimes to elucidate the horizon, so we can walk towards the new with courage.

The next morning as we walked towards the car, my little man pointed to the horizon again. “Mum can you see the new house our neighbours have built, it’s blue, it’s a double-decker house, and it’s so wonderful.”

And then in the midst of the very ordinary, I saw and perceived what he was trying to show me Through the cracks of houses across the horizon, in a space previous, now was the most beautiful brand spanking new, blue two-storey house.

A house has been built in front of our yard, straight across the road, albeit behind the house in front, but we had not seen its construction at all.

Every day, I look upon that vista. I walk outside, and I water the plants, I look longingly out to the horizon. I search for the sun setting. Waiting and watching, wondering if rain is going to fall. But I missed a whole house being built in the foreground because I was so focused on the horizon.

My little perceiver, however, danced with delight when he saw our new neighbours abode rise in the distance. He desperately wanted to help me see what he saw.

This story reminds me of how we get stuck in our everyday. We can easily miss what is happening right before our eyes because we are so concerned with the present or our eyes lost in the allure of the future.

Right in the middle, opportunities and houses are being built for occupation, right ahead of our very eyes.

Reflections about perceiving

  1. Often someone in your life can see more about what is happening on your horizon, but it takes humility to stop and listen, allowing them to help you to understand.
  2. Sometimes we can get stuck handling the affairs of the day, the chores and the mundane that we forget to look up and take the time to perceive.
  3. Also, we can be so lost looking out into the horizon, the greater tomorrow, our dreams and goals, that we don’t perceive or see the buildings that are happening in the foreground, inviting us into our next opportunity for tomorrow.
  4. And lastly, we need to take the time to listen, slow and hear what is being constructed right before our eyes, because it may just be the answer our eyes have been searching for.

Matthew 6:22

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.”

Look upon the horizon my friend, there may be something surprising in the foreground, building and you just haven’t seen it yet.

Amanda

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A word for the poets, writers and prophets

“All ye writers and critics who prophesy with their pen. Keep your eyes wide as the time won’t come again”

Bob Dylan

I woke up with a dream of reading glasses being cleaned. A cold morning with a mist of opportunity awaiting the presentness of the day. An old soul picked up a pair of tiger rimmed glasses and breathed heavily on the lens.

A heave of air blurred the looking glass so that a mist of grey filled the glass. Then with ease of knowing the sleeve, soiled with a touch of breakfast, found a clean cloth from his clothing and rubbed the glass clean.

In that one moment, I saw a movement of clarity coming across the seekers on the earth. Moments of presence, opportunities captured and the writers, the critics, the seers and mystics they arose.

“All ye writers and critics who prophesy with their pen. Keep your eyes wide as the time won’t come again.” Bob Dylan

There is something special in this present moment in history. My dream bought such deep inspiration as I awoke from my slumber.

Clarity is coming, my creative friend. Vision to see what has been hidden. Moments of awakening that were designed for those who see. Those who are walking around lost in their thoughts. Moments of perfect synergy, where the words you have been hoping will come, will flood like a waterfall from another place. Another time.

“Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised [Jesus].”

Luke 24:31

An awakening of words and purpose.

A filling of direction and moments of courage that will never come again.

So gather the prophets, the writers and those who long to see again.

Clarity is coming, in fact, she is already here.

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3am poets

I’ve struggled to shake off a shame this week that has left me sitting on the edge of desperation. Something so small, but it has unleashed a deep grief that I didn’t realise had been waiting to erupt.

If you ask anyone who knows me, I lose things all the time. I’m that person who leaves her passport on the shelf in the airport while spraying myself with tester perfumes. I am the girl who goes to pick up the plate I bought to a party and in the next breath gets lost in a conversation with someone, walking out the door without it again.

Leaving things, losing things has been a part of my life for a long time. Words consume me and stories tempt me away from the present.

The thing about Motherhood is that I am constantly juggling the needs of two little hearts, that more than ever my own needs get left on the bathroom floor.

The shame that came to haunt me again this week was those feelings of not “enoughness” and questioning whether I really can do all that I have put my hands up to do.

A simple answer would be to stop doing some things. It seems like an easy fix, but the things I do outside of my home breathe life in a season of so much surrender.

I long for an office, that I can escape to and allow thoughts to flow freely. I long for a handbag that fits everything a writer longs for, without my life toppling out of it. I long for a day when the only person I have to look after is me.

And then when I start to enter this rabbit hole, I feel guilt, shame and selfishness rise to meet me present again.

So here I am again, redefining my not enoughness and rediscovering strength found in the midst of weakness and hoping for a miracle where all the lost things find their way home. Again.

So I wrote a little something for those who maybe feel the complexity of dreams realised like I do…

Hope this finds you smiling and that you skip lightly down the aisle of a shopping mall sometime soon, even if it is for a late night toilet paper run, whilst your littles sleep safely in their beds.

To the 3 am poets

To the 3 am poets and the washing line philosophers. The half-asleep business owners and the miracle making bookkeepers.

To the leaders just having a go and the makers fielding their next mistake. To the artists looking for their possessions because they were lost in their heads. To those who are burdened by the weights of responsibility and the Mums desperate for one moment of peace.

To those longing for a clean house if only in their minds and those who have become parents again to their parents. May inspiration be found waiting in the bottomless hope of your coffee cup.

And a moment of freedom found as you walk the shopping aisle late at night. May your internet speed be ever flowing and your hearts full of wonder, that sometimes the greatest seasons of growth are found in the awakening of imperfection.

Amanda