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    Bright-Endings
    Bright-Endings
    Bright-Endings
    Ebook134 pages1 hour

    Bright-Endings

    By Sydney Douglas Smith

    ()

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    About this ebook

    No one can go back and make a brand new start, however, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.(Carl Bard)

    Sounds simple doesn't it? But the truth is in order to start from now and make a brand new ending we need to look back, sometimes a long way and work out what we have done, why we did it, what we learned from it.

    Most of us will discover that along the way of life the things we thought would happen or planned to happen never eventuated.

    I call this an obscuring of the goals. Our goals are things we thought we would achieve by now and they got obscured for a great variety of reasons some of which I will explore in this book but really life happens and things change and to a degree for most of us the goal posts are moved.

    The non-achievement of our goals can lead many of us to feel as if we have failed in life but if we look at our life in context, something we seldom do unless prompted I doubt that we would be classed as failures.

    This book helps the reader to re-assess then with a new mindset start again.

    I have written this book as a Christian man who has a belief in Jesus and a faith in God but it is not my intent to convert or subject the reader to my faith.

    If you are not a believer then that is ok, the concepts and tools which I present to you in this book I know will find valuable to help you assess where you are in life now and allow you to discover how you feel about yourself and move on to develop a new plan with a “Bright Ending” in mind.

    However I have noticed a great difference in my attitude toward life, towards others and how I view the mistakes I have made since I became a Christian. I am somehow different, more positive, more accepting and stronger because of my faith and have noticed the same in other Christian clients.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSydney Douglas Smith
    Release dateSep 4, 2014
    ISBN9781311238795
    Bright-Endings
    Author

    Sydney Douglas Smith

    I was born into a "working class" family and spent my childhood learning to "be happy with what you have" My father was the hard working head of a very poor but very loving family.I was bullied by my peers and by the education system and I came to believe the many negative things that were told me such as; "You are a stupid boy", "You can never learn", "You will never be anything in your life".In addition I was brought up in an age where Class and religious distinctions and prejudices decided what sort of a person you were destined to become and more or less how you were to live your life. Any signs of ambition were quickly stifled by a lifestyle and social system driven by the upper class.An inherited work ethic and the ability to care deeply for others (especially the under-dog) are among the life gifts that carried me through-out my early years even though I didn't have a relationship with God then. I found God later in life (about 45), and this led me to college where I learned that I wasn't stupid after all, and I could learn new skills, using my gifts and be valuable to God and other people. I became a Counsellor with Lifeline, and attained many qualifications I thought I could never get.Yes I have been knocked down in life, quite a few times. Sometimes because of wrong decisions I have made, sometimes when others have hurt me and sometimes just because of life, but through it all there has been a great God who even in the depths of my hurt, fear and sorrow has just reached down, taken my hand and gently lifted me!My theme song is a re-written version of the tub-thumping song “ I get knocked down, he lifts me up again”It helps also that I have had a good wife who has stuck by me in the hard times and helped me celebrate the good times, thank you Ruby for being there to lift and encourage me and also keeping me grounded when I get above myself.I currently have a small Life Coaching practice where I teach and mentor “Bright Endings” in a one-on-one environment or group workshops where people can and do move past the mistakes and disappointments of the past and even learning to appreciate some of the lessons learned to help create for themselves a “Bright Ending”After a lifetime of many failures and some great success stories I have learned to lean on God in the tough times and thank Him for everything.We are not able to go back and change the beginnings, undo the mistakes or redo the regrets in our story! BUT we can start now and write a brand new ending.I am living in the peace and calm that comes as we are able to find what I call the "sweet spot' in our life that is the purpose for us which I am sure we are pre-destined to be before we were born.

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      Book preview

      Bright-Endings - Sydney Douglas Smith

      Introduction

      No one can go back and make a brand new start, however, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.(Carl Bard)

      Sounds simple doesn't it? But the truth is in order to start from now and make a brand new ending we need to look back, sometimes a long way and work out what we have done, why we did it, what we learned from it.

      Most of us will discover that along the way of life the things we thought would happen or planned to happen never eventuated.

      I call this an obscuring of the goals. Our goals are things we thought we would achieve by now and they got obscured for a great variety of reasons some of which I will explore in this book but really life happens and things change and to a degree for most of us the goal posts are moved.

      The non-achievement of our goals can lead many of us to feel as if we have failed in life but if we look at our life in context, something we seldom do unless prompted I doubt that we would be classed as failures.

      This book helps the reader to re-assess then with a new mindset start again.

      I have written this book as a Christian man who has a belief in Jesus and a faith in God but it is not my intent to convert or subject the reader to my faith.

      If you are not a believer then that is ok, the concepts and tools which I present to you in this book I know will find valuable to help you assess where you are in life now and allow you to discover how you feel about yourself and move on to develop a new plan with a Bright Ending in mind.

      However I have noticed a great difference in my attitude toward life, towards others and how I view the mistakes I have made since I became a Christian. I am somehow different, more positive, more accepting and stronger because of my faith and have noticed the same in other Christian clients.

      The following scripture written by Paul says this much better!

      2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (New International Version)

      But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

      About the author:

      I was born into a working class family and spent my childhood learning to be happy with what you have My father was the hard working head of a very poor but very loving family.

      I was bullied by my peers and by the education system and I came to believe the many negative things that were told me such as; You are a stupid boy, You can never learn, You will never be anything in your life.

      In addition I was brought up in an age where Class and religious distinctions and prejudices decided what sort of a person you were destined to become and more or less how you were to live your life. Any signs of ambition were quickly stifled by a lifestyle and social system driven by the upper class.

      An inherited work ethic and the ability to care deeply for others (especially the under-dog) are among the life gifts that carried me through-out my early years even though I didn't have a relationship with God then. I found God later in life (about 45), and this led me to college where I learned that I wasn't stupid after all, and I could learn new skills, using my gifts and be valuable to God and other people.

      I became a Counsellor with Lifeline, and attained many qualifications I thought I could never get.

      Yes I have been knocked down in life, quite a few times. Sometimes because of wrong decisions I have made, sometimes when others have hurt me and sometimes just because of life, but through it all there has been a great God who even in the depths of my hurt, fear and sorrow has just reached down, taken my hand and gently lifted me!

      My theme song is a re-written version of the tub-thumping song I get knocked down, he lifts me up again

      It helps also that I have had a good wife who has stuck by me in the hard times and helped me celebrate the good times, thank you Ruby for being there to lift and encourage me and also keeping me grounded when I get above myself.

      I currently have a small Life Coaching practice where I teach and mentor Bright Endings in a one-on-one environment, by email or in group workshops where people can and do move past the mistakes and disappointments of the past and even learn to appreciate some of the lessons in life to help create for themselves a Bright Ending

      After a lifetime of being knocked down and some great success stories I

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