Have you ever had difficulty succeeding in something?
Did you try to overcome challenges and triumph over fear?
Our Motivational Blogger Anita Louise gave us an amazing insight on how she has dealt with these obstacles.
What is your definition of success?
We are all successful at something, whether we realize it or not. When our awareness expands, we come to understand that our thoughts are creative. With that realization, we begin to comprehend that there are no limits on what the universe is capable of giving to us.
As conscious creators, we can CHOOSE the success we seek. For me, living a happy, healthy life – free of stress, surrounded by people I love and who love me in return would be a good definition of success.
What do you fear the most?
For many years, I have been working on eliminating fear from my life and vocabulary. Yes, there are still things that scare me … spiders and snakes, losing someone I love, and more. However, when worry/fear tries to grip me, I do my best to shift my thoughts away from the fear. Once I became aware of the fact that we attract to ourselves what we focus on, when thoughts of fear appear, I do my best to recognize them and quickly replace them with something more positive and uplifting.
Gary Zukav, author of “The Seat of the Soul”, says that the opposite of love is not hate, but fear. It is fear that causes war and all other conflict and discord. The more we understand this, the more safe and peaceful the world will become.
What qualities do you admire in others?
Those who have been able to overcome challenges, face up to and triumph over fear, are the people I admire the most. Also, those who give of themselves to help others in need hold a place of high esteem in my heart. Life isn’t always “fair” and the way we want things to turn out may not be the same as what we experience. However, each one of us has a choice in how we respond to a situation.
It was quite a few years ago, when I began working on responding rather than reacting to people and situations. I don’t know who said it, but I firmly believe … It’s not WHAT happens, but how we respond to what happens that makes all the difference.
What area of life makes you feel the best?
This question caused me to really think. I definitely enjoy my alone time … reading, writing, working on projects I find interesting and stimulating. However, the times that stand out in my life are the times spent with others.
Working on myself, learning to become a better human being feels very good. Taking what I learn and sharing it with those who are interested in making positive changes in their own lives is even more rewarding and feels even better.
Is there anything you can’t let go, but you know you should?
Yikes! Another question causing me to look deep within. Forgiveness comes to mind. Letting go of the pain and hurt of past relationships. Forgiving not only the person(s) who caused that pain and hurt, but also forgiving myself for allowing yours truly and those I love to be in an upsetting, stressful, harmful situation.
It’s amazing how even when I think I’ve totally let go of past hurts how something will crop up to remind me there is still work to do. Life is a continuous learning experience, and I am a lifelong learner.
What life experience changed the way you see and define life?
Isn’t it interesting that the most difficult times in our lives are often when the greatest amount of growth occurs? Sadly, my youngest child lost her life when she was only three-years-old. For any parent who has lost a child, they know the pain is beyond description. How to make sense of such a devastating loss will, without a doubt, change the way you see and define life.
Life is a precious gift that can easily be taken for granted. Fortunately, when my daughter died, I had already embarked on a path of personal growth and development. Her death accelerated my journey, and made it possible to treasure the time I had with her.
When life pushes you over, how do you react?
Life’s challenges can make you bitter or better. Rather than asking, “Why me?” I choose to ask, “What good can come from this experience?” My faith in a Power greater than myself, a loving entity that wants only the best for me, helps me to respond with hope. One of my favorite quotes comes from the Desiderata – “No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Who/what motivates you the most?
We all have goals, dreams, and desires, but what is it that keeps us consistently and persistently moving toward them? Just like everyone else, I want the best life has to give. However, beyond wanting we must believe we deserve that which we desire.
There were days when it seemed as if no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t/didn’t stay motivated to achieve the goals I had set for myself. It wasn’t until getting down to my core beliefs, down to the part of me that recognized that each and every one of us is at our core. Good, that I was able to remain motivated and give myself permission to succeed.
What qualities do you have that others should possess?
Learning to love yourself is the greatest gift. It was a true revelation when I realized that I talked to myself in a way I wouldn’t dream of speaking to another person. My self-talk was beyond critical. It was downright mean and ugly.
There’s an old song by Whitney Houston that says, “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” I believe this is true. We can only give what we have, and the greatest gift we can give is love. The quality that everyone should possess is the ability to truly love themselves.
What words of wisdom would you share with our community?
If your life isn’t everything you want it to be, there is something you can do about it. Everything starts with you and the thoughts you dwell on. I would encourage everyone, no matter how old or how young, to embrace the practice of personal development. Don’t expect an overnight miracle, but do know that as you learn and then put the principles into practice, you’ll see your life begin to change.
Life is a reflection of your innermost thoughts and beliefs. Not everyone grew up with loving parents who instilled positive and life-affirming philosophies into their children. Once you become an adult, you have the choice of what you will embrace and what you will discard. Choose attitudes and ideas that enhance your life and the lives of those around you.
Blogger: Anita Louise
Blogger Bio: Anita has always been an avid reader of love stories, and her passion for romance found another outlet when she discovered how much fun it was to write about her own smart and sexy heroes and heroines. She is also an ardent and devoted student of personal development. Weaving the life changing principles that guided her to the love of her life and to a happy marriage is an important aspect in each her novels.
Blog link: Anita Louise Romance
Did you like this interview? If you did, hit the like button and leave a comment below. If you would like to get a chance to be featured as a motivational blogger of the week, you can submit your answers too. Hit the button below and follow the instructions. Join the Empowering and Uplifting Community!
This Post Has 57 Comments
Another great interview on this page. Anita seems an inspiring person. This is such a great perspective to exhibit other bloggers.
Thank you Preeti, We are happy to found such inspirational person like You, Anita and many others. We are glad that you are part of our community.
Yes, both loving ourselves and learning to forgive others are so hard, but so important!
Agree with you Sara, It’s not easy to forgive others, especially those who brought us painful experiences, but it is crucial in our life.
This was inspiring! I agree with having a positive outlook towards life and challenges instead of thinking negative and making it affect you. Learning to love yourself first is also key!
Thank you Naomi. Anita’s perspective in life is really inspiring.
Amazing post answering some really tough questions. But I think self awareness, working on you and defining your success is important for everyone!
Indeed it is, thank you for your comment Joanna.
What a positive interview!
Very motivational interview! Anita is right, we are all successful, there are no limits on what the universe is capable of giving to us.
Wow, several impactful answers in this piece. Anita is very inspiring. When she mentions that hardship can make us bitter or better, I’ve never heard that before. It’s so true. Also, her mention of your life being a reflection of your innermost thoughts. When I read that, I got chills. It made me think that my life is more beautiful than give it credit for. We take such things for granted. I really enjoyed this interview so much. I want to hug her for the tough experience of losing a child. Hugs Anita.
This was such an inspirational post. “Life’s challenges can make you bitter or better” I couldn’t agree more! This is something I need to remind myself of, to use setbacks as propellers to grow. What beautiful examples.
This is a well written post, and quite helpful. It is crazy how much the mind wants to hold onto certain things, which can make moving forward or progressing difficult. Thanks for sharing this.
These are some excellent questions and answers. My favorite question was “how do you react when life pushes you over.” My answer would be that I don’t react very well at all but I’m working on it.
“the opposite of love is fear” I like it….and I have to agree as fear leads to anger and anger leads to hate….so it’s really fear that we have to eliminate and you provide an insightful ways how you tackle fear..so that we lead a peaceful life…great job…..
Loved this! It definitely is hard to let go and forgive, but it’s worth it once you finally do. Such a great article, can’t wait to read some more.
For me, success is simply defined by courage and faith to finish something that you have started. This is beautifully-written and really empowering article. 🙂
Hey this is the most inspiring thing that I came across today. I loved the way you explained this: When life pushes you over, how do you react? Keep up the good inspirational work 🙂
Thank you 🙂 really appreciate your comment, such empowering to read.
I love what she says about eliminating fear – something I’m still struggling to start but is one of my goals! Great overall message of this post!
Self love & reflection really are keys to success but can be so hard to teach these skills.
What an inspiration interview! Letting go and forgiving is hard but very necessary to live a healthy life.
This is so really inspiring interview. We need to conquer our fear to find the success and also forgiving is a great way to live your life better I really love this Blog <3 so inspiring,
Anytime I visit your blog. I simply sit at a conner to read and digest the article. There is always something new to learn, relate with and refect upon.
Thank you so much, your words are full of encouragement and so uplifting to read. Would be great to have you as one of our Motivational Blogger 🙂
She is very inspiring woman. Success defines by every individual, there is no standard, only happiness.
Reading this made me realize that I actually can do all I want, it is just the lazy thing that makes stuck!
Really inspirational!! Life’s challenges can definitely make and change one, but we must not let it redefine us!! Could be hard to forgive, but we have too, even if we can’t forget. Great post!
Super insightful post from a very inspiring interviewee. Life truly is a reflection of our internal worlds 🙂 Thank you for sharing. Rach
Thank you Rach, really appreciate your feedback.
It is a really nice exploration of your progress going thru fear and more. Super interesting article and we see some experiences here.
Ben
What we think we become. Enjoyed reading well curated interview of wonderful blogger.
‘Living a happy, healthy life – free of stress, surrounded by people I love and who love me in return would be a good definition of success’.
Very much true!
Like Anita, I also want time to be alone at times. I use to to remove stress from my system.
Thank you so much this post. These positive words have been exactly what I needed to read. Especially the loss of her child and her “self talk”. Thank you!!
I love the answer to who do you admire most. I can’t imagine admiring someone who had things handed to them . Our struggles help define us and we get to choose how we react.
Thank you for your vulnerability! I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter. Your outlook on life is encouraging to know that you have the ability to change your mindset if you truly want to and a more positive mindset is one we should focus on.
Wow, great interview. The answers are so inspiring. Learning to love oneself is truly the greatest gift of all. Forgiveness is definitely something I’ve taken from this to work on.
I really liked the part she spoke about forgiveness and how it’s important to let the past go. Nice interview!
I liked Anita’s interview at so many different level. I can relate..<3 Thanks for sharing!
Life is a continuous learning experience… indeed life is! For the past 3 years, I can say that I have been living my life to the fullest. Embracing and loving life each day. Thanks for sharing!
Eliminate fear! This stands out to me as it is so important in anything we do. Release the fear, stand up, and step forward.
I love these motivational interview posts! I completely relate about being inspired by those who take challenges.
Excellent interview. Words to live by when it comes to blogging.
I agree with you. You’ll feel that you truly succeed on your project and mission when you feel happy.
It is motivating and insightful !!! Overcoming yours fears and keeping moving forward is the key to a successful and a peaceful life !!!
Looking forward for more such inspirational blogposts !!!
Inspiring yet another lovely read. More motivation for me though.
Loved reading this interview. Great questions to ask yourself and reflect. It is easy to get carried away in life
Inspiring interview! I’m book marking your page
This is was an uplifting interview. Specially for someone who suffers from depression & anxiety, people like me can get motivated from influencial people like her.
Wow thanks for sharing this interview! As someone who always looks negatively in life. I am going to try and follow these rules
‘We are all successful at something, whether we realize it or not’ very true! This post is very inspirational!
Waking up in the morning and reading such an inspirational post couldn’t be better to start the day! Very good interview, it makes us all think about the life we are having!
I was having one of those days where I just wanted to grap a cup of coffee and read something good. This was a very insightful and inspirational Q n A. Thanx
This seems like an inspiring post and Anita is an inspiring person. “Learning to love yourself” is a hard thing when I am constantly pushing myself to reach my goals and dreams, which sometimes requires me to make a metamorphosis into someone new or different.
Yes, learning to love yourself is hard. Especially when you are your own critic, sometimes you have to tell yourself positive affirmations everyday to stop thinking about negative stuff and actually speak greatly about what you can do, and etc. I think a lot of have a difficult time with this. This was a nice interview.
Powerful post. I associate success with having a well balanced life. Happy home and happy work life. You can have a successful career but if you’re not happy at home then you’re still not successful in life.