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regret

regret

I made this quote montage yesterday for another online network I am a part of Kinwomen. This quote has haunted me ever since. It is powerful.

The revelation I have been getting from this quote is about regret.

How often do we spend our days trying to change, manipulate and make pretty our ugly moments?

Rather than changing the core reason why those low points surfaced anyway.

Imagine if we put more effort into character development, rather than crisis management and public relations.

At the end of my days, I want to be known for my character.

That I am changing.

That I am growing.

I disagree with the old wives tale that says ‘A leopard can’t change its spots.’

I understand where it has come from, because many times I watch and yes some people don’t learn from their disasters.

There are some who do though,

There are those who grow.

There are those who open their lives with accountability and humility.

Allowing friends to help and shape.

Allowing God to mould and design.

Letting go with humility of the moments we got it wrong and learning from them and changing for the better.

My life is far from perfect, but my desire is to make the whole beautiful and learn from the ugly.

How about you?

A

 

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far and away

andrea

(artwork by Andrea Howey)

Today my dear friend that I wrote about here she is honestly one of the most faithful and inspiring people you will ever meet. Today is the day that we now fight for her and her baby with purpose.

I know today will be a distracted one.

I start the first day of my creative internships today, but my heart and thoughts will be overseas.

praying

It is one of the most awful feelings to be far and away.

So what can you do in these times?

Pray,

Hope,

Believe,

Trust,

Fight for the future.

ruthee 2

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

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Stuck

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I had a dream last night that I was frozen in an icey pole.

Hilarious.

Yes.

Scary.

Overwhelmingly so.

The subtle nature of our psyche cracks me up though.

My new health regime means no icey poles or sugar for this junkie, but at the same time my heart constantly longs for freedom.

Waking up feeling stuck was the most awful feeling.

I was freaked out.

How about you? Do you stop change in it’s infancy stages because of fear of lack of freedom?

Do you feel stuck?

It’s funny the things that hold us back from making changes, the little things that make us feel constrained, restricted and overwhelmed.

Stuck.

We can also get stuck in our creativity.

I had a pretty awful experience last week with this blog and despite my humility and recognition of fault, the person I was communicating with didn’t make the interaction very amicable.

It made me feel stuck.

It made me feel like never opening myself to vulnerability and creating again.

Quickly though I realized that we are never going to be able to please everyone, we all make mistakes and we were not created to live in a stuck place.

This new health regime is going to bring freedom not rules, it’s just the way I look at it.

This scripture sums it up for me at the moment.

Psalm 119:

45 And I’ll stride freely through wide open spaces as I look for your truth and your wisdom; 46 Then I’ll tell the world what I find, speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.

Here’s a toast to wide open spaces dear friends.

Life lived where the icey poles melt around us and that which has kept us contained melts away.

Stay true to your commitments.

Bring changes that will set you free.

Amanda

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30 days

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I often have people ask; How did you write your first book. ‘Capture 30 days of inspiration.’

The truth is I decided one day in December and then on the 1st of January I wrote a chapter everyday for 3o days.

It was as simple as that.

I asked a friend to take a photo every day for the 30 days and then the project began.

Then book 2, in October a few years later, I did the same. Half in Australia, Half in Thailand. Exploring the concept of poverty and creativity.

That was how this website and my writing obsession began.

In 30 days.

I didn’t go to a conference and get the t-shirt and the hat.

I didn’t go to a writers workshop and get all the ins and outs.

I just had a go.

My first book was published in 2007 and a few years later the whole 30 day concept became a FAD. (Not one that I started but the same principle anyways)

If you repetitively do the same thing for a whole month, say 30 days, the new habit will stick. Every day. Not one missed. Repetition.

This year I have committed to writing on this blog and drawing in my visual diary every day. 365 days.

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Committing to a whole year for the #inspire14 project might be too overwhelming but what about one month.

Break it down even more, what about 30 days.

In 2009, Matt Cutts, an American engineer who works for Google, felt he was ”stuck in a rut”, so he set himself a 30-day challenge. He vowed to walk 10,000 steps every day for a month – and he accomplished it.

”It turns out, 30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit or subtract one,” Cutts says. ”I noticed, as I started to do harder challenges, that my self-confidence grew. I went from a desk-dwelling computer nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to work for fun.” (reference: this Article)

Here is his 3 minute TED talk: Have a watch, I think you will be inspired.

What can you commit to for the month of March?

30 days.

Imagine.

Amanda

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Sore feet and happy heart

20140203-210355.jpgDay one of my new health regime, Day 34 of my #inspire14 project  and I sit here with very sore feet and a happy heart.

Watching all the pictures of the little ones going off to school today made me smile, but I felt like I had my own first day today, getting back on the exercise/ healthy eating wagon.

Why does it take so much effort to do the things that make a massive difference?

When I exercise, I feel amazing after.

When I eat well, I feel clearer and more inspired.

Entropy happens though and those chips at my friends house, the bar of chocolate, the lure of the couch, they  all win the battle.

I know it is only day one but I am hoping the sore feet and the happy heart last.

What is it that you have been putting off?

What do you need to live inspired in 2014?

Write it below and maybe this first step will lead you towards accountability and the first baby step towards making the change tomorrow.

Amanda