* Courage is the difference between seeking comfort in a "familiar pain" and allowing room for happiness in a new reality.
* We are a thought away from our past and an action away from our future…
* When I go through hard moments, I love to go for a night walk with my dog and look at the night sky… The darker the night, the brighter are the stars… It all depends on how we look at things; we can choose to feel “swallowed” by the darkness or “embraced” by the light of the stars… A escuridão da noite nos traz o brilho das estrelas… Tudo depende de como olhamos; podemos escolher nos sentir “engolidos” pela escuridão ou “abraçados” pela luz…
* As children, we realize that we grew up when we notice that things that used to be big become smaller and we can reach higher… as adults, we “grow up” when we realize that things that felt so big are truly small and they no longer stop us from “reaching higher”…
* Follow your dreams… not old patterns!
* Life is like a puzzle… and often, time is the “distance” we must take to comprehend the “whole picture”…
* Don't ever minimize or normalize the pain that someone has caused you. This way you don't run the risk of repeating and/or setting low standards for how you should be treated. However, you should appreciate those that once hurt you, for they should teach you exactly who and what you don't want to be.
* I believe a big mistake we often make, is to expect a feeling of "readiness" to take action when we know a change is necessary… We can’t feel ready for something that we haven’t experienced yet… When we know something needs to be done, we need to “jump” into the unknown and let the emotions follow and catch up with the logic, and not the other way around…
* Sometimes we got where we want to be in life because we refused to listen to anyone else but our hearts. And I do believe that the moments where we should only listen to ourselves are recognizable; they become a matter of fear... or courage!
* Our perceptions are shaped by our expectations
* Dreams are a hint of reality.
* Often times life brings us what we need, and not necessarily what we have asked for... it is important to keep our hearts and minds open to make new possibilities out of the unexpected.
* Our thoughts are the rehearsal for our actions (Freud)… So it is fair to say that many times our actions are thoughts that went out of our control or even out of our perception.
* When reaching out for your dreams, remember that dreams are intended to be the “seeds” for a new reality… You may never “wake up to life” If you keep comparing and expecting the achieved reality to be just like your dreams… * * Our worst “emotional places” are often where we need to be to develop our necessary life skills… Those are the moments we find out who we really are and what we are capable… Happiness is a matter of choice, and we get there using the skills we developed in moments of sadness…
* Nobody is free from making mistakes and repeating old patterns… Our responsibility starts when we refuse to listen to the voice of our “victims” or choose to blame our past to justify our actions… Embarrassment is part of taking responsibility; and taking responsibility results in maturity and freedom from a conflicted past…
* Don’t let your desire of being accepted by others be bigger than yourself...
* I enjoy watching children play… It amazes me how they fall from the monkey bars, get up and go right back to try their best again… Life is a big “playground”; you have to have the desire and persistence of a child to win the obstacles…
* To avoid endangering yourself or puping yourself in an abusive relationship, these are my “rules”: Listen to your "guts", respect your fears, and never try to justify if something feels weird... Have a "moving forward" week :-)!
* There is no such thing as an “impossible thing” that cannot be turn into a possibility…