NUGGETS O' WISDOM FROM ROBERT HOLDEN'S "AUTHENTIC SUCCESS" - The 'Potential' Edition

You may remember that I posted the first chapter synopsis of Robert Holden's 'Authentic Success' a few weeks ago and that I promised I would be back soon to serve you up another inspirational chunk of meaty, quotey goodness. And this afternoon, as I lounged on our day bed with the spring sun shining on through the windows, I thought 'why the hell not share it on Fuzzy Friday?'. So here I am!

Potential

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+ Not in the clamour of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves are triumph and defeat

+ Every person in the custodian of a vast potential. Innate potential has two poles: heaven and hell, light and dark, joy and sorrow ...

+ Your goal is to find out who you are

+ Every successful person has been helped by someone who believed in his or her potential

+ The better you know yourself - what you value, what inspires you, what you are made of - the more effectively you will live, work and relate to others

+ Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom

+ The self principle states: the quality of your relationship with yourself determines the quality of your relationship with success, happiness, love, God, money, time, health, luck and everything

+ Success is a state of mind

+ What is possible and what is not? How do you know?

+ What you believe will be how you live.

+ Be careful what you choose to think, because you will not go higher than your thoughts

+ The most important conversations you hold in life are the ones you hold with yourself. Your own inner dialogue is an important key to success

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven"

John Milton

Blessings, post-it quotes and rays of spring sunshine x

FEATURE FRIDAY

Another fortnight, another two charities to feature! I am abso-positivie-lutely LOVING this new tradition and I think it's something I will adopt every Lenten period. For those who may not be familiar, when it came to choosing something to give up for Lent, I flipped the concept on its head and decided to take up something - that I would donate to a different charity every Friday during the Lenten period. Have a look back through the Feature Friday write ups to check out prior charities and maybe get a little inspired to add a piece of your own pie to an organisation that catches your eye (or your heart!).

Last week the charity of choice was the Make it Possible campaign. You may have seen the ads on the old talking picture box recently - it freakin' broke my heart. Gloomy lighting with caged animals singing to be free? Are you freakin' kidding me? I had no choice but to donate! Check out their website here. Their purpose in a nutshell? To end factory farming and to increase public awareness of the inhumane practices being carried out and the appalling treatment of animals nation wide. Since getting my little puppy, I must admit that I'm a lot more sensitive to the issues around the mistreatment of animals. The thought of these beautiful creatures, who cannot stand up for or defend themselves, being beaten, cut, sliced, caged and left to experience a final emotion of sheer terror ... it's almost paralysing. Here's how we end factory farming #makeitpossible.

I won't go into too much detail with this one because it's a widdle bit too personal and I don't really think this is the forum I want to discuss it out of respect to my family. My beautiful grandmother was affected by Alzheimer's and passed away within 5 years of diagnosis. The most gentle, beautiful and incredibly caring woman you will EVER meet - she has profoundly influenced my life and shaped the person I have become. I carry her around everywhere by wearing her ring and it helps me feel connected to her and know that she is still getting to experience everything with me. Note - we are both very excited and nervous about the big house move this weekend! Hehe. I chose to donate to Alzheimer's Australia in a hope to provide much needed funds to support research, advocacy and education. Check out Alzheimer's Australia's vision and mission statement here.

Blessings from my animal and nanny loving self x

FEATURE FRIDAY

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Oops missed this baby last week so you get a double feature today! I have two beautiful causes that I want to share with you this week and both are organisations that I have chosen to donate to within my Lenten donation plan! They are both quite different but each support a cause that is very near and dear to my heart so without further ado - let me shed light on some of the fantastic projects that are happening both in our local and global communities. 

1. Special Aussies Foundation
The Special Aussies Foundation is an Australian children’s charity and not-for-profit organisation founded in 2007 by Lee-Anne Heron and Charmaine White. Their mission is to ensure that children with special needs have access to the equipment, resources and information they need to actively experience their world and realise their full potential. Their aim is to support projects that better the health and well being of children with special needs and disabilities and promote their inclusion within the community in which they live, enabling them to live a life they love.

2. Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C)
I have donated money to 'Launch a Star' in honour of my darling grandfather (diagnosed with Leukaemia in 1998 and still living a wonderful life with my gorgeous grandmother!). The Constalation appeal involves purchasing a star (with monetary donations as little as $1!) in honour of a loved one, family memory, friend or colleague who has somehow been touched by cancer. All profits go towards scientific research and support the 'search for a cure' for cancer. I thought I'd share with you the SU2C Manifesto that encapsulates their mission and sentiment so perfectly:


We used to have such crazy dreams,
The kind of dreams that brought us together, made us not mere mortals, but a movement.
We used to dream we’d get to the moon.
And we were crazy enough, fanatical enough, relentless enough, to get there.

We dreamed we’d split the atom.
Make smallpox and polio whispers from forgotten history books.
Make technology infinite, individual.
Connect the world.

All the unbelievable and the impossible,
all the can’t do and the never will, we overwhelmed them, we overpowered them, we conquered them.
They said no and we, well,
We said yes.
We stood up.
We stood up and changed the world.

Stand up when everybody else sits down
Stand up when it’s easier to turn away
Stand up for everyone who can’t rise anymore

When the answer seems impossible, stand up
When the dream is right within our reach, stand up
When the powerful refuse your call, stand up

The moment is now and the time has come to stand up.
One out of every two men
One out of every three women
will face these diseases we call cancer.

Our sisters, our brothers, our fathers, our mothers,
our husbands, our wives, our children.
Our very best friends and those we’ve yet to meet.
One person every minute, one person in a moment gets lost, gets stolen, gets taken away.

We are a tapestry of lives touched and brought together by a terrorist we can actually find.
And in the time it’s taken to read this, three more Americans have died.

Unforgivable.

This is where the end of cancer begins.

When together we become a force unmistakable.
A movement undeniable.
A light that cannot dim.

When we take our wild impossible dreams
And make them possible
Make them true

When together we rise as one
When we stand up
When we Stand Up To Cancer.

Blessings from my ever grateful and ever loving corner of the world x

FEATURE FRIDAY

Bonus post - I have already posted below so you've had your Friday fill and a big ol' bowl of written chicken noodle soup for your soul but I'm sitting here brainstorming and scheming and I've had a sudden realisation...

I use this blog as an outlet to share all the things, big and small, that light my fire. My passions, interests, prerogatives and heart felt pursuits. But somehow I have missed an integral aspect of what I'm about - the random tidbits and things that I come across that grab my heart and tear me up and inspire me greatly.

Hence a new little segment on the blog - Feature Friday (an addition, not replacement to the Warm Fuzzy module my loves). I want to use this forum to share other messages and initiatives that have caught my eye during my day to day workings.

Maybe McQueen - A blog created and maintained by the Vashti Whitfield - wife of Andy Whitfield, an amazing actor who lost his battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2011. This beautiful, uplifting and incredibly soulful blog is her legacy to her beloved partner and is an absolute treasure trove of love and light. Do yourself a favour and spend five minutes looking over this site in your lunch break and smile. Vashti will encourage you to live your most grateful, meaningful and stunning life.

UNICEF - We all know a bit about this charitable organisation - advocates for child rights and targeting progress and awareness in the areas of education, child survival and development, child protection, HIV/AIDS, water and santitation, emergency response, sport for development and governance and policy. I've always known about this incredible organisation and kind of knew of the work they were doing but that's sadly where it ended. I never looked seriously into ongoing donations or offering my time or volunteer support. Well this morning that all changed. As I scoured the internet for my first lenten donation, UNICEF popped up and I spent a good chunk of the morning looking through their appeals and I knew I'd uncovered some amazing initiatives. Click here to see UNICEF's list of appeals that rely on one-off donations from its valued supporters. One that caught my eye was the Neonatal Health Appeal that 'had me at hello' with its astonishing and devastating headline - "Every year 4 million children die in the first 28 days of life due to largely preventable diseases such as measles and diarrhoea". Such an important message and initiative. Will keep you posted as I have a feeling my involvement with these guys may skyrocket because I've experienced a bit of an epiphanic wake up call! Check it out and spread the love.

Edgars Mission - I was stuck in a rut on the valentine's front and had no idea what to get David, since we had an unspoken agreement that we don't really do gifts AND that we would be apart for the day anyway due to the dreaded FIFO roster. But I wanted to get him a little somethin' somethin' (not at all intended to sound erotic...) that showed him a) I love him, b) he was my Valentine and c) I'd thought long and hard about something I thought he would like and appreciate. I came across Edgar's Mission through a post from the Wellness Warrior and fell.in.love. Ermagerd berby ernimals! I oo-ed and ahh-ed for close to an hour at all the animals and poured over countless images of the rescued critters. I decided that I'd sign my love up for the Best Buddy program, where the donation would be dedicated to the care and nourishment of one of the animals at the sanctuary. Have a looksie at this beautiful animal sanctuary located in Victoria, Australia. They welcome visitors and volunteers year round, you can sponsor a widdle piggy or you just peruse their pages and have a read about the kind work they are doing. And I thought I'd finish with this - the little cutie patootie I chose for David - Hansel the Cow.

Blessings from a super special, love filled, bonus post x