emo/ thought provoking/ too much green tea – Page 5

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

Having courage to change the things we can…

Humans are beautiful, humans are complex, humans are brilliant.

Every person we meet, every story we encounter is bathed in the harsh reality of humanity.

We are a swarming mix of emotions, agendas, passions, beauty, innocence, detail, forgetfulness and desire.

When Reinhold wrote the Serenity Prayer I am sure he was deep in the mess of humanity.

I can see him at his desk, with his pen in hand and his heart reeling in his throat, at the pain of trying to make a difference with his life in the midst of human story.

What part of the human story holds you back from letting stuff go?

What part of the human story compels you to step forward into the new?

I have found as I sit and listen to peoples story, many of them hold onto the stuff that they cannot change and then struggle to have the courage to change that which they can.

We get so stuck.

Do you feel stuck?

I often do.

The one thing I have been trying to do of late though is to start living the life I have always imagined. I have been stuck before because I realised I was waiting for someone to create the safety net in case I fail.

The more I step out and start doing the things I dream of, the more I realise that failure is just part of the human story. The question of those who are living deeply fulfilling lives is not whether they failed, it is whether they used the emotions and lessons from those failures to begin again.

Failure brings either two things;

Belittlement. Where we allow the failure to define us.
Wisdom. Where we learn and grow, living a life that is defined by what we have learnt in the failure.

My prayer this September is this…

“courage to change the things I can”

What can you change?

Do you need to ask someone for help?

The life you have always imagined to live is on the other side of fear. Yes, the brokenness of humanity means that there are some things we can never change, but what if we changed, what we can.

You might not be able to change where you live, but you can change your perspective.

You might not be able to quit your job, but you can start to build something in your life that brings forth your passion.

You might not be able to launch that dream that has been in your heart forever, but you could sit with a coach or mentor and find baby steps to start your journey toward it.

What is something that you can change?

This week I emailed another magazine editor with one of my manuscripts, I took a deep breath and just had a go. I find often in my life, the courage builds as I just step out and do it.

Taking small steps towards the massive goals I have always dreamed of.

What are you going to change today, to bring forward something new in your tomorrow?

Posted on September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — 6 Comments

How to find serenity

If I was completely honest with you (yes, really), the last few weeks have carried with them many highs and lows. There has been no real reason for them, but I have been delving deeply into places, that are often swept under the carpet so that I can move forward into the new.

The dark night of the soul, is not something to be ashamed of I believe when we embrace it and learn from it we are able to step into our purpose with clarity.

Tonight as I was reflecting on some of the emotions that have bombarded me, I was reminded of a simple prayer that I told someone to pray everyday when they were going through a similar time.

I think it is now my turn.

This is the prayer that was made famous by Mother Teresa and I thought I would start a new series from it, going through it verse by verse, day by day. Its wisdom for my today is so timely.

It was written in the early 1900’s by Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

To accept the things I cannot change…

Often the things I worry about the most are actually the things I cannot change.

I cannot change someones beliefs.

I cannot change the way someone feels about me.

I cannot go back and change a situation.

I cannot make someone include me when they don’t want to.

I can’t change the past.

I can’t take back words that have been spoken.

This is life.

The things that plague me, are often those thing that my thoughts and worries will never change.

What I can do though is ask God to grant me the serenity (the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.) to accept these things.

To accept them.

To accept people.

To accept the past.

To accept words that have been spoken.

To accept that some people don’t see me.

To accept that there are days that my motive will be misunderstood.

To accept.

When we finally face those things in our days, that battle and wear us down, saying I cannot change these things and I will accept them.

I will not dwell on them.

I will forgive them.

I will look forward into the future.

I am thinking the days that I rely on God for these small victories, they will be fine days indeed.

These are the days I am bringing into my tomorrow.

Want to join me?

Let’s pray this prayer together each morning of this series through September.

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

embrace the good, the bad and the wonderful about you.

The last few days have been a sniffle fest at my abode, so I have locked my family away, with the heater on and chicken soup on the stove. My knitting needles have been clacking and pyjamas have become my home.

I have been playing around with Lisa Messengers Daring and Disruptive Playbook and a quote in the beginning of the book has captured my thoughts and attention.

Embrace the good, the bad and the wonderful that makes you, you.”

The reason why this quote arrested me, is that over on Kinwomen, our theme this month has been ‘Identity’ and after a very honest post over there, I have been in a vulnerability coma over here.

The truth is I know a lot about myself and I feel very sure about living a life of contribution and living beyond myself. The things I struggle with though, are those parts of me that just don’t make sense. The opposites that I wrestle with. Moments when I feel so sure and then a few days by myself and suddenly I’m not so sure anymore.

How about you?

Do you struggle to embrace those parts of yourself that don’t make sense?

Unfortunately when we ignore them and don’t make peace, they shout louder and louder, taking over our days anyway.

Every time we try to ignore the elephant in the room, it sneaks up and taps us on the shoulder and calls our bluff.

Making peace with our weird, is one of the hardest parts of being a creative.

Being okay with our normal is a huge part of being a woman and finding strength in who you really are.

As a writer, I spend a lot of time in my head, I think and think, I process and I process, then I come out the other side ready to try and explain what has been plaguing me.

Some days I am deep

Other days I am ridiculously shallow.

I am doing my best in this season to embrace the good, the bad and the wonderful in my inner being.

How about you?

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

she is free

Yesterday afternoon we sat together as group of girls, new friends, old friends, acquaintances, best friends and chatted together whilst watching the sun set over a wedding celebration.

These conversation made my day; new friends, stories swapped, difficulties shared.

Actually it has made my week.

How many times do we come away from a conversation with a group of women and feel anything but free?

Imagine this; a group of girls, glasses of wine in hand, chatting away and the result authentic stories filled with truth.

Gossip, criticism, comparison and competition doesn’t have to be the norm.

A group of women can listen, encourage, collaborate, plan, care, speak truth, share stories…

It is possible.

Freedom is at its best in my world when I am not comparing and competing with another.

My friend Karina you see, she is brilliant.

She is a leader, a wife, an outstanding program manager. She communicates fluently, she is innovative, she is wonderful. We spent the day together yesterday. Her man and mine. As couples we sat quietly reading, waiting, loving, chatting and not once did I feel inferior. Not once did I compare myself to her bright red dress and lips to match.

We are free.

Great, solid friends, where our time together is light, easy, fun.

We don’t live in each others pockets but we love to lead together.

Friendship filled with purpose.

The most beautiful reflection of how freedom can reign in friendships between women.

Have you ever felt really unsure about the whole friendship in the women zone?

I know it can be difficult.

I know you have probably been hurt.

I know we can do it better.

I know comparison and competition doesn’t need to be at the forefront of our conversations.

I know this, because I have seen it in action.

We can be free,

Posted on April 6, 2015April 6, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

People are often unreasonable

After spending the weekend at our family farm, with no shower, no toilet and lots of children, one would think we are all a little insane. My mums twin sister and her husband have bought a big piece of land and have just built a big farm house shed on it. It is still in its infancy stages, thus the humble start.

This Easter weekend was our families first time all staying there. We had eleven kids, thirteen adults and one puppy dog. It was crazy beautiful. Often people say I’m so lucky to have a family that gets along and doesn’t want to kill each other. They are wrong, we want to kill each other but we choose not too.

Our family is far from perfect and we annoy each other often but we choose to love deeply anyway. We have each other’s back, we create memories and traditions for our children to thrive in. We choose to dig deep and celebrate large because that truly makes life brilliant.

I have had this poem by Mother Teresa floating around my mind these last few days…it eloquently describes what I am trying to say.

Love them anyway.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

You know what people are often unreasonable. Love them anyway.

Happy Easter my inter-web friends.

Category: emo/ thought provoking/ too much green tea