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Articles by Sandra Dawes

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29 articles by Sandra Dawes · showing 29

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By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Competition

Growing up, competition was considered a good thing, healthy even. As a visible minority I was told I had to be better than the rest, because nothing was going to come easy to me, and I was going to need the upper hand intellectually in order to achieve the success I wanted. To be honest, I used to categorize this “warning” as one of my parents rants on the importance of education and never took it too seriously. Thankfully, getting good grades was never a struggle for me, so I never saw myself as having to fight or compete with my peers in such a serious, life altering way.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

2,613 views3/5 (4)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Finding Your Voice

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where someone says or does something that you consider inappropriate and you fight the urge to say something? Or even worse, someone says something inappropriate or demeaning to you and you let it go, convincing yourself that they didn’t mean it or that he or she is “just having a bad day”? I’m not talking about being a spoiled sport; most of us intuitively know when someone’s being funny versus passive aggressive or just plain mean.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,467 views

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Taking things personally

The Four Agreements has given me a nice reminder about the importance of not taking things personally. It is something that I have gotten better about with time, but there is always room for improvement! The first time I was ever presented with the idea that peace of mind could come from not taking things personally was when I took a certificate course in dispute resolution years ago. In the book Getting to Yes, one of the recommended readings for the course, they speak about separating the person from the problem.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,612 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Resistance is Futile

It makes me giggle a little bit to type the title of this article. How many times have I heard this line quoted? A line made famous by the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation, it has taken me a long time to realize that it’s not just another cheesy quote, but a truism. Resistance truly is a futile action. How successful has anyone been in resisting and keeping the object of their opposition from their reality? I’ve heard it said that what we resist persists, and that has definitely been my experience.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,518 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Learning from our experiences

I almost entitled this article Learning from our mistakes, but I don’t want to refer to the opportunity to learn as a mistake. The title of one of Wayne Dyer’s books echoing in my head, Change your thoughts, change your life. Since changing my life for the better is a constant theme, then it is clear that changing the way I think is a necessity.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,412 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Dealing with our dark side

Between watching Star Wars for the millionth time and finishing the book The Shadow Effect, I have been in heavy contemplation about the dark side, more specifically, in terms of The Shadow Effect, my dark side. There was a time when I would have denied the existence of a dark side in me, the proverbial “good girl”, but I have experienced enough road rage and temper tantrums in my life to know my inner “Darth Vader” exists.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,491 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

A Course In Miracles - Year One

I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to start doing the daily lessons in my A Course in Miracles text. I had received the book in March 2010 and started reading the text shortly after. I’ve never been one to highlight textbooks in the past, but this book had so much information to digest that I was very tempted! Instead, I took to a notebook, jotting down quotes that resonated with me. After putting a pause on reading the text to focus on the daily lessons, I plan to return to the text and begin the lessons again in the New Year.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

3,192 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Surrender

I was reading Caroline Myss’ book Defy Gravity the other day and I came upon the word surrender. For some reason it gave me pause, and immediately I decided that it would be the subject of my next article. What is it about the word surrender? Why did it seem to be something I needed to give more thought to?

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,713 views5/5 (3)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Creating your legacy

I was doing a workshop at a youth shelter I volunteer at and the topic for the day was Values. One of the exercises was borrowed from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: write your obituary. The purpose of this exercise is to give you an opportunity to think about how you want to be remembered and to get you to think about whether or not the way you’re living your life today reflects that vision.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,663 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

What are you going to do differently this year?

I don’t know about you, but 2012 was quite an eventful year! Many things changed, but a lot remained the same. While I did accomplish a lot last year in terms of goals I had set at the beginning of the year, there are still a few things that I wanted to get done, that didn’t.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,384 views4.7/5 (3)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Maintaining Momentum

For many, the beginning of a new year brings promises of new positive habits and the release of old negative ones. While we start the year off motivated to make big changes in our lives, we often lose steam before the end of February. But what about those that actually do stick to their resolutions, what is their secret to success?

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,416 views4.5/5 (2)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Dealing with the rough patches

You’ve been doing your spiritual work; affirmations, visualization, meditations, and life is going pretty well. All of a sudden, something you perceive as negative pops up in your life and you are completely blown away! How did this happen? Negative experiences aren’t supposed to happen to someone surrounding themselves with positive energy, right?

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,540 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

The Danger in Assuming

We are all familiar with the saying “don’t assume because it makes an ass of you (u) and me”. While it may seem like an over-used cliché, I can’t help but reflect on the truth of this little quip. Haven’t we all gotten into trouble at one point or another for assuming things were one way when in fact that couldn’t have been further from the truth? It is no surprise that not assuming is one of the four agreements to finding peace and balanced outlined by Don Miguel Ruiz in his book The Four Agreements.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

4,404 views4.3/5 (4)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Lessons from the Wise Dog (aka Lulu)

I’ve had my dog Lulu in my life for 6 years and she has taught me quite a bit about myself and life in general. Before adopting Lulu, I had fish and rabbits as pets. I had never imagined the joy of having a dog! Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all kisses and tummy rubs, but even in her naughty moments, Lulu continues to be one of the most effective teachers I have ever had. Lesson #1: Patience

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,723 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Rediscovering your inner child

When was the last time you had a really good laugh? You know the kind I’m talking about – those laughing fits you get where you can’t stop laughing even though your stomach hurts and tears are rolling down your face and you can’t even speak. Those are the best laughs, and when you think of a situation that made you laugh like that, it can’t help but put a smile on your face.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,379 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

How Bad Do You Want It?

We all have goals and aspirations for the future. If someone were to ask you, for example, where you see yourself in 20 years, you may pause for a bit, but soon you would be able to come up with a list. The problem for many of us is that we haven’t given much thought as to how we are going to achieve the future we dream about. Most of us plan for the future financially, investing in retirement plans or mutual funds, but is that all we need?

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

2,071 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Walking the talk

I’ve read many inspirational and motivational books. I’ve gone to seminars and I’ve listened to CDs and mp3 recordings. If connecting to one’s higher self could be achieved by simple osmosis, I would be in a constant state of contentment. The reality, however, is that this is not the case.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,457 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Being Alone

As a woman in my mid-thirties, I feel a sense of urgency amongst my single friends. While it was perfectly fine to be single in our twenties, being single in our thirties, seems to be a place that no one really wants to find themselves. I know that I have that little voice that is constantly reminding me that the deeper I get into my thirties, the less likely it is that I will experience. Actually, more than a little voice, it is the voice of my doctor, my mother, and some of my friends!

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,911 views4/5 (2)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Setting Boundaries

Creating boundaries – it sounds like something you would hear in a therapy session or read about in a self-help book, but what does it really mean? For me, it means being self-aware, able to know and express to others what is acceptable in my life. This has not been an easy feat for me by any means! For the longest time the word “no” was simply not in my vocabulary. I was a chronic people pleaser who had no idea who I was or what I wanted.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,362 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

The Many Faces of Love

Love is a wonderful emotion that we all seek to experience. It comes in many forms; the love a parent has for a child, the love one feels for a romantic partner, or the love we have for friends and family. We have all said the words “I love you”, but have we really thought about what that means?

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,647 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Are you ready for extraordinary?

I’ve always considered my average. I never really thought that I was special in any particular way. Growing up, I think there were times I thought I was “less than”. I was a chubby, shy kid and school was all (I thought) I was good at. My parents couldn’t afford for me to wear the clothes or have the toys all the “cool” kids had and I was always yearning to fit in.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,451 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Recognizing the problem

I’m doing my second round of A Course in Miracles and the lesson that really struck a chord with me lately was: “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.” I immediately recognized the truth of this request. So often we think we know what the problem is, when clearly we don’t because our solutions don’t work!

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

2,626 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Neutralizing your triggers

Have you ever found yourself in a situation or conversation, which at the surface seems pretty ordinary, yet find yourself becoming strongly emotional in some way? For me, it is not something that happens very often, but when it does, especially these days, I am amazed at the power of my reaction to something so, for lack of a better term, “simple”. With the work that I have been doing in my journey to become more self aware, I have discovered that these situations are tied to unresolved issues of the past.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,483 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Following your intuition

“What does your gut tell you?” It’s often a question we are asked when we are struggling to make a decision. If you are anything like me (or my former self anyway), decision making is not your strong suit. Even on the simplest things, where the choice seemed obvious, I just couldn’t commit to anything, for fear of making the “wrong” choice.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,499 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Living a Conscious Life

Have you ever considered how you are living your life? Do you have goals and a plan to achieve those goals or does life seem to just happen to you? Are you proactive or reactive in life? When you haven’t made a plan to achieve your goals, they really end up just being dreams; things you’ve always wanted to do, be or have, but don’t see how they will ever manifest into reality.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,495 views5/5 (2)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

How much are you worth?

It’s easy to put a value on a home or a car, but I wonder how much of us really put a lot of thought into how much we are worth? I can only speak for myself, and I can honestly say that I have constantly undervalued my own worth. Whether it was jobs I have accepted, or relationships that I have chosen in the past, upon reflection they are clear examples of how little I felt I was worth.

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,541 views5/5 (2)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Living in a material world

While the title may have you thinking of a Madonna song, it seems like a material world is where many of us are living, now more than ever! It would appear we live our lives simply for the accumulation of “stuff”. We want bigger homes, nicer cars and the “right” brands of clothes. What I find interesting is that this growing desire to keep up with the Jones’ has led the world to the current global economic credit crisis!

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,574 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Untapping Your Limitless Potential

I have yet to see the movie Limitless, but I must admit the movie trailers aired on television had me very intrigued! The idea of being able to access 100% of our brains capacity is literally mind blowing! Imagine what we would be capable of if we could tap into all of that potential, a world where nothing is impossible seems like it could only be the stuff of movies.r

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

3,225 views5/5 (1)

By Sandra DawesRecently published1 topic

Finding Your Truth

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. ~ William Shakespearer

Primary topic: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

1,428 views4/5 (2)

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