Path to Progression: A Blogger's Journey

By Amanda Jayashree

Path to Progression: A Bloggers Journey examines body, mind, and soul for today’s spiritual seekers who will find personal admissions we can all relate to, sound advice on coping with doubts and fears, and strength in learning how to live the greatest life we can in the face of everyday challenges. This popular collection of inspirational missives has sprouted from Amanda’s personal setbacks, which has proven anything but, since.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Jayashree
• Release date: Jun 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781773023748

Amanda Jayashree

Author’s Bio: Currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. Amanda Jayashree is a blog writer, and mostly, an author with heart. Her mission is to bring positivity to those who need it and she is proof that living your dreams is attainable. She holds accreditation in Toastmasters International completing her Advanced Leadership and Communicator certificate substantiating remarkable public speaking skills. Her personal successes are interconnected with her passion in the health and beauty industry as a certified makeup artist and health enthusiast. With a diverse skill-set her knowledge is reserved in many assorted arenas that she governs in her day to day life. Her future aspiration is to become a Certified Life Coach to support others towards securing success and happiness in their lives

Book preview

Preface

It is not her inability to write

Perhaps she is timid or even shy

Writing became a challenge, but why, oh why?

She stands baffled, with her hands trembling

Her thoughts not making sense

boy, oh boy, she is feeling tense

Her hand quivers as she types then she pauses again

Remembering when writing was only a paper and pen

Her hands would tremble and she always felt weary

She believed she would never write and that felt scary

Thoughts running through, the anxiety becoming intense

Will she ever write anything?

A voice whispered, yes, and it will all make sense

When, oh, when, her thoughts disperse, oh no, not this, again

Why am I struggling, why is this hard?

Maybe I am not adequate, maybe it’s not in my cards

What if I write and no one adores my story

oh dear, I am creating much worry

I am not gifted or even a scholar

What if they laugh; I can feel the horror

A voice returns to summon her to take a deep breath

Maybe this journey is not for me

but every day I am overflowed with many thoughts

I wish I could express …oh; my stomach is in knots

why feel tense? Oh yes, I forgot

Let me take a walk to the mirror for a little pep talk

You’re expressive and great, heck, you are strong, too

Now go on and start typing; let the words flow on through

Unleash the worry; aim for the best

Continue to write and watch your thoughts manifest

Pour your thoughts into a cup, then take a sip, and soak it up

Write to your heart’s content

Heck, write even if you want to vent

Forget about the rights and forget about the wrongs

Remember, once again you are incredibly strong

Ask yourself if you had one wish

Would you become a writer or let it all vanish

Her voice grew louder and shouted out NO

the little voice inside began to echo

A writer you will be and one who is strong

Your message will make a difference, nothing will go wrong

To some you will transform, or maybe a few

Don’t be scared dear one, this is not like you

Your goals and accomplishments, matter too

Your ability to show the world your gift, won’t make you shatter

Some may enjoy your story leaving you flattered

You won’t know my friend, until you carry through

Keep writing your thoughts, and sharing your views

Conquer the fear inside of you

And once it is complete, you will feel the relief

You will not be the follower, you will be the chief

A chief whose passage has been captured in words

A message to repeat and your verses will be heard

Listen closely, do not ever give up

A dream is a dream until you wake up

If you remember the dream and make it come true

You become braver than some and maybe a few

A sigh will be felt and you will feel lighter

Yes, that’s right my friend, you have now become a writer

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Writing from the Heart

The Power of Choices

Simple Rules

Reaching Your Destination

Roadblocks

Taking Time for You

Who Says Nothing is for Free

Losing Our Loved Ones

To Live in the Moment

Balancing the Mind and Heart

How to Get What You Want

A Little Bit of Sunshine Helps

Sifting Through the Layers

Getting Intense

The Struggle to Transform

What Are We Running From

Identifying Where We Are

Let’s Take Care of Ourselves

Love Yourself

Making Decisions

New Beginnings

I Want to Love You Inside Out

Where Do We Start?

Why Do We Judge?

Make It Happen Now

Where we belong

Managing our Thoughts

What We Believe in is true

The Lustful World

Keep Moving

Dealing with Emotions

Are we too deep?

Thank You

Loneliness

Fairytales

Next Phase

Our Self-Worth

The Living Ego Inside of Us

The Balancing Act

Self-Realization

Saying Goodbye to the Old

Hurt

Learning to Say No

Mistakes

False Love

False Self

Internalizing Negativity

Facing our Demons

The Healing World

Forgiveness

Acceptance

Unconditional Love

Compassion

Celebrating Life

Giving and Receiving Support

Building a Good Support System

Lessons Learned, Lessons Earned

The Hummingbird

Shall We Waltz?

I Wouldn’t Change a Thing

To Be Honest

Do not Take It Personally

Learning to Walk Away

Do Not Park Your Problems

Celebrating Our Successes

Love is Acceptance

What Do I Want to Symbolize?

Love Arrives in Different Packages

Learning to Trust Again

Repairing the Unhealed

Do not give up now

The Time is Now

Overcoming Our Battles

No Need to Explain

We Can’t Be Everyone’s Friend

Every Day is a Brand New Lesson

Simple Changes, Positive Outcomes

Focus on the Good

Recognize the Pattern

Taking Control of Our Life

Dream the life You Love and Live the Life You Dream

Thank Your Teachers

Choose to Heal, Not to Hurt

Overcast or Sunny Skies?

Emotional Setbacks Do Push You Forward

Let’s Get Organized

What’s Your Priority?

Thank Your Mistakes

Have We Found the Answers Yet?

Opening a Closed Heart

The Truth is….

Are We Ever Prepared?

Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side?

The Grocery List

How Pain Changes Us

Starting from Scratch

Have Faith in What We Want

As We Get Older

Epilogue – Closing Remarks

Introduction

It finally dawned on me it is time to publish my book. The last few years have created more distress than I anticipated, but at this point in my life, I feel the steps have been laid out to embark on this new journey. The universe is calling, some may say, and time for me to unleash my story.

It takes courage to express our feelings, opinions and even show our weaknesses to the world. We all want to hide our true emotional state and appear stronger than we are in certain circumstances, but I decided to open a part of me in hopes I reach out to others also on this path to progression.

Amanda Jayashree

How do we ever know what our future truly holds? Here I am, five years later, from when I began writing my blog and now it is blossomed into a book. Some days I felt my manuscript would remain unpublished. I thought, perhaps, the concept contained ludicrous elements and began comparing myself to other great writers in the industry, I had to abandon these qualms and criticisms to embrace the fact each of us hold uniqueness about ourselves and have the capacity to cultivate our words to reach our distinctive audiences. We must let go of our fear of rejection.

So, what brought me to this point, you may ask? How did I get myself to take the step forward? It was simple. I decided I had nothing to lose and it’s either now or never. A published memoire would be a great accomplishment, and if my success surpasses my expectations, I will accept then, but for now I will put my best foot forward.

In life, to attempt anything new or out of the ordinary, our doubts and fears begin to propagate. From what I reckon, mine were screaming quite loud which tempted me to cradle within and hide behind the fear of failure. I had multiple surges of emotions burst, an internal commotion inside my positive space. Forcing me to transition through altered levels of my own personal self-development and ultimately gain the courage to carry me to this point today. I am more grounded and have spent years healing varied parts of myself if not repaired could have interfered with my final outcome. But let’s keep in mind self-development will be a continuous course and may never end for me, or for anyone, this is why I call our journey a path to progression.

You may wonder what happened in the years while writing these articles. I best describe this process as ingraining myself in a cocoon and during this stage having no concept of time. The end result is I am now ready to unleash my personal thoughts to the world and trust I will make permanent positive changes. Acknowledging we may never truly be prepared to take the necessary step forward; for now, I need to trust the process and the time is right.

Many of you, I’m sure can relate, life’s journey can be filled with constant ups and downs until we flat line. What happens beyond may always be a mystery. The key is to live the greatest life with the time we have been given, and groom ourselves for big achievements, then reach a positive result, and rejoice.

To arrive at this point of delivering my book is a feeling I cannot express. After listening to friends and family during my earlier years lightheartedly state You should write a book, I never imagined I would have crafted a sacred journal to share with each of you some of my dearest experiences. Back then, I didn’t have clarity on what to write nor could I have foreseen what I have given to you, but I take this as a gift and a sign to continue with what is now one of my dreams fulfilled.

This opportunity to unleash my gift to the world does not mean this is it for me; it only signifies I can start a deeper journey on this path with the acquired knowledge and profound truths surrounding me.

The years ahead may unfold other tales and present a new prospect to express my knowledge. Writing has become a safe place for me, setting free the beautiful discovery of a skillset I had tucked deep away and thought I was not good at.

Our personal experiences are better valued as a positive landmark to nurture our self-ordinance. The circumstances we face in life may be unfair and heart-breaking, but we must find methods to heal. If you are in a difficult place at the moment and find it challenging to move past some painful situations, I hope my book provides comfort and inspires you to activate your healing journey towards attaining a happy life.

In this book, you will note I often reference the term God. I am aware we all hold diverse belief systems. I am hoping to share my faith in a higher being that created this universe to connect each of our souls without hopefully offending anyone or imposing my beliefs upon them. I am content in knowing there is a great force and I trust in its good power. I hope you find peace in your beliefs and may they serve you well.

When I initially wrote these articles in the beginning of 2012 I established a means to cope with my father’s unknown illness at the time and his sudden death to cancer. The fascinating aftermath of my father’s death had a profound impact on my life and acted as a driving force to evolve parts of me not serving me well.

The articles written explore diverse aspects of mind, body, and soul in a structured flow that made sense to me at the time. The intent is to deliver insight to encourage each of you to holistically transform into your desired state of being.

It sounds extremely simple when we read through but, believe me my friend, as you know, no great changes come easy. I hope you enjoy this voyage my book is set to take you through.

Namaste,

Amanda Jayashree

Writing from the Heart

Jan 20, 2012

Insight 101

The Power of Choices

Be an artist, create the painting you desire, be a dreamer, create the reality you seek, be a realist, deal with life the way you can, and to be individual, embrace your uniqueness.

What could possibly be the greatest feeling this year? I asked myself this precise question and what I’m about to share is exactly how I plan to achieve my goals and commit to making my dreams a reality. I am the creator of my choices, and enforce the certainty of my prophecies. I am the one with access to all my insights and I am the decision-maker of my life.

As an adult to reclaim I have choices; nothing is forced upon me is refreshing. I chose my career, the city I live in, who to be friends with, where to vacation etc. These choices were directly made by me. In our earlier years of life, many of the decisions were made by our caretakers and parents. This may have caused us to retaliate or feel less in control of our lives, if we felt stifled by their direction. In our earlier part of life, particularly when we were our younger selves, we relied on our parents and caretakers to guide us along. On the bright side and hopefully you can agree, those choices contributed towards our better good.

Now as an adult the varieties we have are many, and each choice will deliver an alternate outcome. There is value in taking time to understand our decisions, and hope the new ones are right for us. Although there may be many we later regret it is best to accept all our decisions are part of our growth. Our choices good and bad are contributing to our greater self and help us make better future decisions. When faced with an unfavourable outcome from a past decision these instances test our faith and can make us feel inadequate. We may lose hope and doubt our ability to make better future choices. Our insecurities amplify in this disheartening place, and we have created an unhealthy comfort zone. Consulting with others to gain their insight proved to be a viable solution to propel me out of times, I felt incapable of making my own decisions. I am incredibly fortunate to have wise confidantes that could offer support during some of my most testing periods. Each person unveiled new insights, and in the process I learned more about myself and about life. Are you fascinated by listening to people’s life experiences? Impressed by how they achieved their success or even made it through? I have a passion for success stories and intellectual conversations occur often in my life. These valuable rich experiences taught me priceless lessons. This brings me to a valid point.

I value people, I value good relationships and I value myself.

My quote embodies one of the many core principles I live by; to extend positivity and to understand my root in this universe. We each may have been victim of circumstances throughout our lives and have accumulated tremendous stories to share. Our experiences bond us to this world, confirm our true survival and act as pillars to help ourselves and others heal. Magnificent people emerge from this space. Embrace your experiences.

It is phenomenal how the internet has opened many doors not even imaginable years ago. I regard the internet similar to how I perceive society. We have access to accurate and inaccurate information around us. We meet eccentric people and may meet others less so. But as it is today, we can tap into an immense overload of information and have it our hand in seconds. This is significant.

Each day inches us one step closer to our goals regardless of the choices we make. We must continue to walk this journey wholeheartedly despite our reservations. My recommendation is to acknowledge at least one good moment in a day, despite the other horrible occurrences. Use this reflection as a tool to recognize the many good moments over the bad ones, and integrate this practice daily into your life. Although it can be tricky to remain focused on the good, it is uplifting. By committing to live the life we premeditated for ourselves then we will live it, simply by the appropriate choices and the positive thoughts we nurture towards our vision.

Much love,

Amanda Jayashree

Jan 25, 2012

Insight 102

Simple Rules

Be good to yourself, be good to others, and express gratitude for life.

Moving forward in a positive direction requires some simple rules even though some days, we may pass through instances steering us far from this belief, and our lives seem to be heading uncontrollably in many directions. It is imperative to secure positive thoughts and remind ourselves of our place in this world, accept at the core we are simplistic, whole, and kind beings beneath this chaos.

When adrift in our thoughts, it is normal to feel confused because self-doubt enters our minds and we may question our direction in life. Without viable strategies and tools the complicated obstacles in our path may feel overbearing.

My spiritual journey began quite some time ago to grow into the best possible me in this world; the best approach is to begin simple. The time we have on this earth is a gift, not a given right. With my newfound consciousness, it is important to apply these teachings in this lifetime to achieve my goals. It is also our responsibility to treat our world kindly considering it is our home.

Experiences are meant to shape us into our best. There comes a time we are faced with moments of insecurity, fear, hopelessness, and outright anger. The important component is to value our experiences, and calm the emotional torment to evolve in our path of spiritual growth.

Isn’t it amazing the number of written articles, books, workshops, modalities and healers accessible to teach us tools and strategies guaranteeing a change in our lives? Do you ever wonder why there is a phenomenon around self-development? Why are you absorbed in theories on how to create positive changes in your life? It is those exact questions I ask myself leading me back to We are simplistic, whole and kind beings needing reassurance along our path when we’ve lost our way.

Meditation silences our thoughts to connect to a dwelling inside of us; some may describe as a peaceful place. And can be far more rewarding than we originally thought. Some of you may relate; others may not be there yet. If it is a feeling of peace and serenity you long for; find methods to create peace in your life and with continuous practice, other positive manifestations will be revealed.

In my personal search for techniques to gain peace and positivity and amend certain unhealthy behaviours, it became crucial the advice acquired from others equal my inner beliefs.

In the past, my endless personal indecision led me to consult with others for guidance; desperate for answers, I felt strongly convinced by their advice at the time. My vulnerable state silenced my intuition, and these advisors were adamant their perception was accurate. I chose in that moment to give my personal power to another to help me make a life decision. After some time, I realized the solutions they proposed did not fit my belief as I originally thought. It was then, I recognized I am the only one with the power to change my life; this is when I began to make great shifts.

The described scenario demonstrates a phase we undergo due to uncertainty and our search for answers to our questions, as well as misreading ourselves and our power. Handing our decisions to another person discredits our ability to transform ourselves. It is essential to strengthen our connection with ourselves and use our ability to harvest positive change in our lives. This segment is not to dishonour the wonderful advice and techniques available. It is to help us understand, change and answers are within us, we are our driving force to make these changes in our lives. You are a vital element in the universe and I hope you discover your purpose, as I did mine. We are surrounded by good and bad energies and the thoughts we select may attract related experiences, let us be more mindful of our thoughts and reactions.

I am more committed to continue on this journey than I have ever been in my life. I intend to execute a successful year and achieve all I plan to; to keep faith in unforeseen trials and to remain positive