Tag Archives: inspiration

A letter of inspiration

30 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by in Advice, Anxiety, Creativity, Projects, Stress

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I want you to do this:
When you are not feeling too stressed or sad and not anxious at all, and hopefully feeling pretty good about yourself, I want you to write a letter of encouragement to yourself that goes something like this:

Dear (me, your name, wonderful person….)
You are an amazing, strong survivor.
You might feel bad right now but that is just how you feel right now.  Your emotion does not define the person that you are – the person who is resilient and has been through this pain before.  The person who is going to make it.
This is why you are brilliant………….
This is what you are going to do to be amazing……….
This is why you are special……………
This is what you are thankful for…………

(Add anything else that you would like to say to yourself that is positive and motivational)

You can do this and you will do this!

I know that we live in the digital age but write the letter on a piece of lovely paper (or on a boring piece of paper that has been lovingly decorated or illustrated).
Add a picture of yourself that makes you feel good about yourself.  If that is really pushing it then add a picture of something (or someone) that makes you smile.
Now put it in an envelope (you remember those things that look like the mail icon on your phone) and write a message on the envelope like “open when you are feeling sad” or “a message for an anxious kind of day” and put it in a safe place or stick it into your journal for exactly that kind of day.


Read whenever necessary.
Repeat as often as needed.

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Thank you for being an inspiration

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Being brave, Depression, Fear, Positivity

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Here’s to the brave ones:
The people that are brave enough to say no.
Who don’t stand for being treated badly or unfairly.
The people who do something about their problems rather than hiding away from them.
Those who are able to say “I am fine with being myself – don’t try to change me”

I hate the fact that I even have to use the word brave.  You shouldn’t have to be brave to be different.  You shouldn’t have to be brave to stand up for what you believe or to say how you are feeling.
Unfortunately, it has become difficult for people to say out loud how they really feel.  Because it is difficult to feel like you are different from everyone else.
The truth is that you are not different from everyone else – there are a lot of people going through hardships who also don’t want anyone to know or who see it as a sign of weakness to talk about their pain.
So what happens is you get a lot of people (apparently close to 40% of the population – although I think it is a higher number) who are all not feeling good and most of them put on a “mask”.  Then everybody thinks that everybody else is okay.

I am constantly inspired by the people who are prepared to drop the mask.  They are the people who say that they feel depressed, some that will admit that they are disappointed, those who say they are not sure if they were born in the right body, that they don’t want to follow the career that they were ‘meant’ to follow,  that maybe they married the wrong person…. The list is endless and there are people who speak up. They are the brave and inspiring ones.
I really hope that you are one of them.  Or that you plan to become one of them.
We need more people in the world like you!
Thank you for being an inspiration!

I did it all

19 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by in Attitude, Being brave, Depression, Fear, Life Lessons, Positivity

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One Republic has an amazing song called “I lived”.
The lyrics are so inspiring –

Hope when you take that jump, you don’t fear the fall
Hope when the water rises, you built a wall
Hope when the crowd screams out, they’re screaming your name
Hope if everybody runs, you choose to stay

Hope that you fall in love, and it hurts so bad
The only way you can know is give it all you have
And I hope that you don’t suffer but take the pain
Hope when the moment comes, you’ll say…

I, I did it all
I, I did it all
I owned every second that this world could give
I saw so many places, the things that I did
With every broken bone, I swear I lived

Hope that you spend your days, but they all add up
And when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup
Oh, I wish that I could witness all your joy and all your pain
But until my moment comes, I’ll say…
I, I did it all

Not only are the words inspiring but the song is dedicated to one of their fans, Bryan Warnecke who battles with Cystic Fibrosis.  Yet, he does it all and lives for every moment.

So who are we to live our lives always fearing the future?
In my opinion, there is no difference between a physical illness and a mental illness.
If somebody with a physical illness can say that they “owned every second”, we should be able to do that too.
Do not allow Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Bipolar Mood Disorder or any other diagnosis to be in control of you.
It may be your illness but it should not be the manager of your life.
We spend so many moments waiting to get better or waiting for life to be better rather than making the most of that precious moment that we are living.

Be awesome, live with courage, have faith, embrace life so that you too can say, “I did it all”!

This week’s blog is dedicated to my friend, mentor and inspiration David who really does it all despite everything.

Living Passionately

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Advice, Attitude, Creativity

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I don’t have a lot to say today.
Well, actually I have a LOT to say but saying it won’t do anybody any good because I am really sad that South Africa have lost the semi-final of the Cricket World Cup and it seems that I am not their coach, captain or umpire – as much as I fancy myself having any of those jobs. (Watch out cricketing world!)
No matter who wins or loses, the passion of the players in this World Cup has been inspiring.

On Sunday night, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a Michael Buble concert.  Of course I loved the concert because I love Michael Buble, but once again, I was really inspired by the passion of every one of those musicians on the stage with him.
When he introduced each musician, it was amazing to have the opportunity to see how long each person had been playing music with Michael Buble and also where they had studied music.
Studied music!
For a lot of people, doing something creative is just a dream or a hobby and they would not even consider creating an entire career out of something that they love.  Often this is because they are afraid, or feel pressured into doing something “normal” with their lives.
I know that when I was considering career options, one of the things that I seriously considered was going into the artistic field.  I can’t even remember how many people told me not to do it because apparently the art world is a tough one – and somebody even told me that they didn’t think that I was tough enough to survive in that world!
Funny that I should end up spending part of my working day in a lock up psychiatric ward…. But art is tough!
I have absolutely no regrets about deciding to make a career in therapy because I am passionate what I do and I make it my mission to find ways to constantly create opportunities to be creative or artistic in my therapy.

Nobody should ever be afraid of their passion!
You should do what makes you passionate.  It may not be an entire career but you should be finding ways of being more passionate about what things that you do in your life and your day to day living.
And if you are unsure of your passion, find people who are passionate about what they do and spend time in their presence.  Their inspiration will rub off on you.

Surround yourself with art, music, colours and textures that make you happy.  Surround yourself with people and objects that make you smile.
Don’t be afraid to be different and don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe in.
Imagine a world where people did things because they wanted to and not because they had to.
That would be an amazing place to be!

World Aids Day

01 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in HIV

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World HIV day… what can I say? I honour the memory of all of the amazing, special people that I have known that have lost their lives as a result of HIV.
And even more importantly to the incredible inspirational people that keep going, no matter what – who are positively positive, who teach me new things every day, who are prepared to listen to me and my views and who keep me motivated to continue working passionately where some people fear to tread.
Thank you one and all!

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