Visioform Personal Growth Resources

It suddenly struck me
that that tiny pea, pretty and blue,
was the Earth.

I put up my thumb and shut one eye,
and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth.
I didn’t feel like a giant.
I felt very, very small.

- Neil Armstrong

Expect the best,
plan for the worst,
and prepare to be surprised.

Denis Waitley

The danger of the past was
that men became slaves.
The danger of the future is
that men may become robots.

Eric Fromm

There are people
who put their dreams in a little box
and say, Yes, I’ve got dreams,
of course I’ve got dreams.

Then they put the box away
and bring it out once in awhile
to look in it,
and yep, they’re still there.

Erma Louise Bombeck, 1927 - 1996

To create a garden is to search for a better world.
In our effort to improve on nature,
we are guided by a vision of paradise.
Whether the result is a horticultural masterpiece
or only a modest vegetable patch,
it is based on the expectation of a glorious future.
This hope for the future is
at the heart of all gardening.

Marina Schinz

The difference between
what the most and the least
learned people know
is inexpressibly trivial
in relation to that
which is unknown.

Albert Einstein, 1879 - 1955

Life is the soul’s nursery -
its training place
for the destinies of eternity.

William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811 - 1863, was born at Calcutta in 1811. His father worked there for the East India Company.

After his father’s death, the family returned to England and William was educated at Charterhouse at London and Trinity College, Cambridge, although he never completed a degree. He studied law for two years, but never practiced, then studied art at Paris before finally settling in as a journalist and novelist.

He wrote prolifically, under his own name as well as such charming pseudonyms as Charles James Yellowplush, Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and George Savage FitzBoodle. Like his friend and rival Charles Dickens, he gained popularity with his novels running as serials in the newspapers. Much of his work accurately depicted, and viciously skewered, the upper class of Victorian England.

Constant kindness can accomplish much.
As the sun makes ice melt,
kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility
to evaporate.

Albert Schweitzer

1. Live with a light heart.

The things that matter least are usually the
things that are causing you the most grief.

2. Smile often, even if you don’t feel like it.

The physical act of smiling releases those
delightful endorphines and serotonins,
neuro-chemicals you produce internally
designed to elevate your mood and reduce
your pain, in minutes.

3. Choose love at every opportunity.

Heard that before, but another feeling is
getting in the way? Do this. Any time you are
choosing a feeling other than love, ask yourself
what the payoff is for that behavior. Then ask
yourself if the pain it is causing is worth it.
If you don’t like living with the pain, then
re-consider your initial response, and choose
love.

4. Be fully present in every interaction.

This is especially true when you interact with
your kids. It helps to talk less, and listen
carefully to the other person.

5. React with softness.

Know that if you offer resistance, people will
push against it. When there is nothing to push
against, the argument/conflict/disagreement is
over, often before it has even begun.

6. Don’t try. Do.

Know what you want in life and take action. Set
a course that will give you the best life
possible. Then move in the direction that best
serves you. When you get there, great. Do it all
over again. If it doesn’t happen, then it wasn’t
supposed to happen, so move on. Remember – the
‘journey’ needs to be the fun part, so live for
each moment and enjoy the trip.

7. Accept the present moment as if you have
chosen it.

It is as it is. Of course – have the
courage to change what should be changed, but
always accept the present. If you are living
with regret, resentment or guilt, you are living
in the past. If you are living with worry and
anxiety, then you are living in the future.

The past is done, the future is nothing. ‘Now’
is the only time you will ever have.

8. Surround yourself with positive people and
music.

Choose music with uplifting lyrics. And choose
people with the same. Be an up-lifter, a
positive person. You can focus on all the
intense and abundant beauty this world offers,
as well as the opportunity this life presents.

9. Breathe.

Take in enough oxygen, more than just enough to
survive. Get oxygen greedy. Take regular deep
breaths. Find a tool like tai chi to learn how
to breath. Soon you will find yourself
breathing with greater ease, and more often.
Then you will begin to thrive!

10. Sleep well and often.

Little cat naps earlier in the day can bring vitality to a
tired body and mind.

Learn more ways using the offer of free courses

There are no secrets to success.
It is the result of preparation,
hard work,
and learning from failure.

Colin Powell

Freedom hath a thousand charms to show,
That slaves however contented never know.

- William Cowper, 1731 - 1800

There are two ways of spreading light;
to be the candle or
the mirror that reflects it.

- Edith Wharton, 1862 - 1937

Blessed is he
who has learned to admire but not envy,
to follow but not imitate,
to praise but not flatter,
and to lead but not manipulate.

- William Arthur Ward, 1921 - 1994

How is it
that we remember
the least triviality
that happens to us,
and yet not remember
how often we have recounted it
to the same person?

François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, 1613 - 1680

People travel to wonder at the height of mountains,
at the huge waves of the sea,
at the long courses of rivers,
at the vast compass of the ocean,
at the circular motion of the stars;
and they pass by themselves without wondering.

Augustine of Hippo, 354 - 430

There are people
who put their dreams
in a little box and say,
Yes, I’ve got dreams,
of course I’ve got dreams.
Then they put the box away
and bring it out once in awhile
to look in it, and yep,
they’re still there.

Erma Louise Bombeck, 1927 - 1996

Every time
I’ve done something
that doesn’t feel right,
it’s ended up
not being right.

Mario Cuomo

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room,
drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.

Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk
through the rooms of our lives … not looking for flaws, but
for potential.

- Ellen Goodman

If you want to unfold your potential this year, here is your a range of support to get there:

Get the free course on how to improve your self-esteem.

If you love to learn through books, here are two choices

The pocket book version: Growing through Joy
The ebook version: Beyond Suffering

The danger of the past was
that men became slaves.
The danger of the future is
that men may become robots.

Eric Fromm

May you live each day of this year full of conscious and vibrating joy, even in uncertain times

With best wishes
Ulla Sebastian

I wanted a perfect ending.
Now I’ve learned, the hard way,
that some poems don’t rhyme,
and some stories don’t have a
clear beginning, middle, and end.

Life is about not knowing,
having to change,
taking the moment and
making the best of it,
without knowing what’s going to happen next.
Delicious ambiguity.

Gilda Radner

I wish you a stable, safe and joyful year 2009