Amy Purdy
asks audiences throughout the world, “If your life was a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?”
After she graduated from high school, she envisioned a future filled with adventures and opportunities to share stories that inspire others. “That is,” she continues, “until my life took a detour.”
Amy contracted bacterial meningitis, a viral infection that eventually robbed her of her spleen, hearing in her left ear, and both of her legs below the knee. She asked herself that life-defining question: If my life is a book and I am the author, how do I want my story to go?
Amy transformed tragedy and loss into optimism and strength. She re-learned how to ski again with prosthetics, became a para-Olympic snowboarding champion, co-founded a non-profit organization, Adaptive Action Sports, delighted audiences on Dancing with the Stars, and delivered a powerful TED talk, Living Beyond Limits. She continues to inspire others with her courage and message of hope.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” Words of inspiration have the potential to shift your perception and see new opportunities that may have been buried by negative self-talk, self-criticism, and pessimism.
Allow these words to inspire you when you need encouragement:
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. – Napoleon Hill
You cannot expect victory and plan for defeat. – Joel Osteen
You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win. –Zig Ziglar.
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you and, in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. – Brian Tracy
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. – Albert Einstein
Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford.
Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you. – Stephen Covey
A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships were built for. – William Shedd
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. – Tony Robbins
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. – Robert Frost
If you own your own story, you get to write the ending. – Brené Brown
You will find the opportunities you are looking for when you allow yourself to experience pride in your experiences, talents, skills, and unique gifts. If your confidence needs encouraging reminders, write positive affirmations and post them in places where you can often see and reread them.
“Your life doesn’t just ‘happen.’ Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you,” maintained Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. ”The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness. You choose ambivalence. You choose success. You choose failure.” He added, “Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results.”
Your self-talk affects your attitude. Your attitude influences your perceptions. Your perceptions impact your decisions. And your decisions shape your life.
What words boost your confidence and remind you of your fabulousness?