Toni Sorenson Quotes

Strength comes from struggle. When you learn to see your struggles as opportunities to become stronger, better, wiser, then your thinking shifts from "I can't do this" to "I must do this.

Our imperfections make us unique as surely as our strengths.

Success goes to the ones who do. Get up. Show up. Throw up if you have to. Do it afraid, but do it no matter.

I challenge you to make your life the masterpiece you want to paint, the novel you want to read, the day you want to wake to.

How we feel is not who we are. We might feel like failures, but as long as we are still trying, we are not failures. We are works in progress.

Every morning we wake up with the same choice: What will my attitude be today? Ask yourself that without fail. Decide that no matter what the day brings, your attitude will include three elements: an awareness of how far you’ve come, gratitude for where you are, and determination to keep moving in the right direction.

Never put off repairing a relationship you value. If sorry needs to be said say it now. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed to any of us.

Certain people will be upset when you speak the truth. They might get mad. They might get really mad. That's because they are still living the lie you've exposed. Stay strong. Speak truth. Do not allow yourself to get pulled back into their lie just to make others happy and yourself miserable. You are free. Stay free.

If you truly believe something you will attempt to live it. Otherwise you don’t really believe it.

That last page turned is a perfect excuse to write a whole new book.

The most destructive thing we can possibly do in life is to make another person doubt his worth and identity as a child of God. The very most productive thing we can do is to help ourselves and others realize that as children of God, our worth is infinite.

Hot cocoa and cold toes remind me of Christmas.

The first and most important person you must believe in is yourself.

If you have a painting in you, paint. If you have a song to sing, sing. Don’t judge your creation. Just create it. Banish doubt and fear and step out of your own way if you have to. Write if you’re a writer and invent if you’re an inventor. Do what you were born to do. Only then will you know a remarkable life.

Courage is stepping forward when all you can see is darkness.

Autumn is the time of year when Mother Nature says, “Look how easy, how healthy, and how beautiful letting go can be.

Don’t spoil Christmas Day by anticipating how it will be. Let is unfold as it does, and be grateful for whatever comes.

Weight loss doesn't begin in the gym with a dumb bell; it starts in your head with a decision.

Spring is the sound of birds chirping, the taste of cherry juice, the feel of grass on bare feet, the sight of pink roses and blue skies, and the feel of dandelion fuzz. Spring, in other words, is a welcome, wondrous sensory overload.

Peace comes at a price, often only at the end of a hard-fought battle.

Spring is far more than just a changing of seasons; it’s a rebirth of the spirit.

The spirit of Christmas is found when we lift the load of others.

Until you believe you can do it, it's going to be difficult to convince anyone else you can do it.

Rejection is a blade to the heart. It's the worst kind of pain.

Courage is not beating up the bully or letting the bully beat you up, it is standing strong before the bully and seeing him for what he truly is: a child of God in need of an attitude adjustment.

Take a discovery walk today to find what's missing in your life. There's peace in the whisper of the wind, hope in the sun smiling from behind clouds, strength in every step forward. You can do it!

When you’re rearranging the furniture to make way for the decorations and the tree, make sure you rearrange your heart to make room for the Savior of Mankind.

We labor under the great delusion that we are in control. Silly humans.

With this morning’s sunrise comes a day of things that have never been.

Today is the day to stop, look around, realize where you are in relation to where you want to be, change direction if needed and move forward with faith in God and in yourself.

I believe that we are all born for greatness yet most of us mire in the mediocrity of life. We become complacent or worse, discouraged and stagnate. We damn ourselves by not progressing.

Happiness isn’t the reward we retrieve after a long struggle. It arrives daily, in those clear moments when our hearts are tender, pricked by the embrace of a loved one, the beauty of a single flower, the majesty of the world in which we are central. Look over your shoulder at how far you’ve come and all the good things you’ve experienced and that is when you will see the smiling face of happiness.

The holidays drape us in magic and give us the hope that we can do better than we have done in the past.

There is a cleansing from winter darkness the moment we sink our fingers into spring’s fresh earth.

You alone have the power to determine your value. Don’t let somebody else paste a discount sticker on you. You’re priceless.

Forgiveness is essential to your well being, but the person you forgive doesn’t need to be present in your life because the act really, is between only you and God.

The true Christmas spirit is putting others’ happiness before our own, and finding you’ve never known such happiness.

Decorate your holiday home with people that sparkle, not things that shine.

When you understand what you’re truly worth, who is going to be able to make you feel worthless? No one.

Christmas is not a date on a calendar. It’s more than a state of mind. It’s a condition of the heart.

Jesus was a hiker. The wilderness was His retreat.

You are as invincible as you decide to be.

The secret is not following the right path, it's following that right path to the end. Don't quit, my friend, until you've arrived.

Boundaries are not walls; they're portals and you decide who comes and goes into your sacred territory.

I lived in fear for decades. I learned that you can’t wait around for it to go away before you make your move, only when you make your move will the fear leave.

My past is what God expects me to use to help others through their present.

Never unlock your heart to someone who has to bend the key to make it fit.

Hey friend, don’t you dare forget, as you’re creating a new you, that there’s a whole lot about the old you that is worth keeping.

Sometimes letting go is the hardest thing imaginable, yet holding on is even harder.

You want to be loved? Love yourself first and passionately. Forgive yourself readily. Care for every part of you. Only when you love yourself do you have love to give to others.

Want more energy? Drink water. Sleep deep. Love passionately. Eat clean. Forgive completely. Create something new.

The path you walk today will determine where you are tomorrow.

Spring is the time when God’s magic is at its grandest.

In God's economy, nothing is slag, nothing is wasted. Every relationship we build is a teacher, every experience we have is a coach. In every scar there is a lesson. In every memory there lives potential to make more.

If you woke up this morning, you have reason to be grateful. If you lie your head on a pillow tonight, you have reason to give thanks. Don't take a single day for grated. They run out.

Figure out your passion. What floats your boat, rings your bell, lights your tree? A life without passion is possible, but not desirable. Have you really lived at all if you have not lived with passion? Without it would a masterpiece be possible? I don’t think so. With purpose, cause and passion, there is no way the end you envision will not become the reality you live.

And the day inevitably comes when the scrapbook of summer, smeared with ice cream slurps and sweat stains, gives way to that new clean white notebook, spine unbroken, begging to be smudged with the enthusiasm of a number two pencil and a mind open to the possibilities.

God is not someone you meet when you die. His smiling face will be the first and the most familiar to greet you on the other side of mortality. You’ll recognize Him and know in your heart of hearts that you’re not entering a new sphere, but returning home to the place you’ve always belonged.

The truest of all truths is this: You are a child of God. Out of more than six billion people on earth now, He knows your name, what you fear and what you revere. He cares about the things you care about. He wants your happiness and success, and will reach to the farthest corner of the universe to see that you obtain your noblest dreams.

Walking a mile in someone else's shoes isn't as much about the walk or the shoes; it's to be able to think like they think, feel what they feel, and understand why they are who and where they are. Every step is about empathy.

The Christmas memories you make this year will be the ones you remember in the years to come.

It is not enough just to believe in Christ. We have to believe that He believes in us so we can believe in ourselves. That’s a sentence that deserves a re-read.

Christmas is a blanket that warms our cold hearts.

The month of December isn’t magical because it sparkles. It’s magical because it changes people’s hearts … at least momentarily.

Christmas is about Christ. When we forget that, we lose the true magic of Christmas.

You can’t get to where today needs to take you if you’re holding on to yesterday.

There is nothing more courageous than change, it requires all you've got to give, that's why they say, "Courage to change.

Addiction doesn’t hurt you nearly as much as it hurts the ones who love you because you numb your pain, they don’t.

Today is a gift that will be taken from you at day's end. Don't waste a moment, a chance, a lesson. You'll never live today again.

I do not know the answers to life's hard questions, but I do know the One who knows them and that's sufficient...for now.

I should learn from today and make tomorrow better.

Love is like a butterfly—chase it and it will fly away. Be still and be you and it will come and rest upon your skin where it feels safe and welcome.

Child development does not mean developing your child into the person you think they should be, but helping them develop into the best person they are meant to be.

Christmas isn't a date on a calendar, it's a feeling in the heart.

Sometimes the kick in the pants we need must come from our own foot!

You can’t do it for someone else. No matter how much they motivate or inspire you, you have to do it for yourself. Your health is YOUR responsibility.

Your addiction is not your identity, but you won't know that until you're in recovery; that's when the two separate.

You were born into this life equipped to succeed. You are a part of God’s perfect plan. Yes, you. The plan would not be perfect if you were missing. Think about that. You matter more than you know.

Are you aware of who you really are in relationship to the very God who created the Universe, who scattered the stars and aligned the planets? Only to those who remember and realize that they are literally spirit children of a God who knows and loves them, can the fire of refinement be welcome. Otherwise, pain and adversity are just that, pain and adversity. Fire doesn’t purify; it only burns.

Every human being has divinity encased within its spirit and it is the task of its creator as well as itself to set it free. No human being is an end product, every being still breathing is a creation still under creation.

The tone and success of your tomorrow is determined by the tone and determination of your today.

The reason for the season is Christ. Let’s not forget that.

When you’re planning the perfect Christmas … the gifts, the lights, the decorations, the paries, the cards, don’t forget the most important item on the list—Christ.

In some cases abusive or damaged relationships cannot and should not be saved.

The celebration of a new year has little to do with a new calendar and everything to do with a new start.

The greatest human fear is not of going broke, getting sick, or even dying. It’s fear of the unknown, not seeing down the road, behind the door, or what tomorrow may bring.

Update your version of me because I’m not the same person I was before. If you don’t get that, you don’t get me.

I did not find my way out of the darkness until I admitted I was lost.

Addiction is a family disease because one person uses but the whole family gets sick.

When you get to the end of the road and feel like you've arrived at a place where you don't want to be, for pity sakes, turn around, back up and move in a different direction. There's no road in life that is a dead end unless you stop there permanently.

Want to create the best Christmas ever? Forgive someone who doesn’t deserve your forgiveness. Hug a stranger. Pass on something that you want to keep for yourself. Spend time with the ones you love. Spend time on your knees. Decorate your life with light and laughter. Love yourself while you’re loving others. Christmas is about Christ and Christ is all about your joy and happiness.

Do not beat yourself up for what you did or did not do. That will only bruise you and break you and make you less able to live the life you want. You can’t change the past, and you can’t control the future, but you can sure as hell contribute to the quality of your today.

If you want to feel the truest spirit of Christmas, go out and find someone sadder than you, lonelier than you, poorer than you … and give what you can in a smile, in time, in compassion. The best Christmases always require the gift of self.

Unzip your life right now, air out the putrid and bleach the infection, then invite your childhood dreams back, beckon the best of you and breathe deeper than you have in a very long time. Believe in the holdings of your heart. You can become anyone and anything your heart desires once you clear the clutter and stuff yourself with positive power and intentions.

Are you healed? One sure way to tell if you've healed from your past pain is to be aware of how you feel when someone brings it up. Are you anxious, sad, emotional? If you are, the wound has not completely healed. But if you can hear a name from your past, recall a memory without flinching, then you know that your scar tissue is protecting you and that inside you're healthy and strong again. It's a wonderful feeling to feel nothing at all when your hurtful past doesn't hurt anymore.

Be honest with the Lord. If you’re afraid, say so. If you’re feeling abandoned, tell Him. He already knows every sin you’ve committed and He loves you anyway. Confess honestly. Beg for help. Converse with the Lord in reverence and respect, but not as if you were approaching a distant, uncaring being. Nothing could be further from the truth. All you have to do is reach out to feel the grasp of Christ’s hand.

If you have no arms To hold your crying child but your own arms And no legs but your own to run the stairs one more time To fetch what was forgotten I bow to you If you have no vehicle To tote your wee one but the wheels that you drive And no one else to worry, “Is my baby okay?” When you have to say goodbye on the doorsteps of daycare or on that cursed first day of school I bow to you If you have no skill but your own skill To replenish an ever-emptying bank account And no answers but your own to Satisfy the endless whys, hows, and whens your child asks and asks again I bow to you If you have no tongue to tell the truth To keep your beloved on the path without a precipice And no wisdom to impart Except the wisdom that you’ve acquired I bow to you If the second chair is empty Across the desk from a scornful, judging authority waiting For your child’s father to appear And you straighten your spine where you sit And manage to smile and say, “No one else is coming—I’m it.” Oh, I bow to you If your head aches when the spotlight finally shines on your child because your hands are the only hands there to applaud I bow to you If your heart aches because you’ve given until everything in you is gone And your kid declares, “It’s not enough.” And you feel the crack of your own soul as you whisper, “I know, baby. But it’s all mama’s got.” Oh, how I bow to you If they are your life while you are their nurse, tutor, maid Bread winner and bread baker, Coach, cheerleader and teammate… If you bleed when your child falls down I bow, I bow, I bow If you’re both punisher and hugger And your own tears are drowned out by the running of the bathroom faucet because children can’t know that mamas hurt too Oh, mother of mothers, I bow to you. —Toni Sorenson

We are spiritual children of God the Father. We preach it. We sing it. But do we really understand it? Sometimes it’s easy to tell others they are loved, but not so easy to believe it of ourselves — not because we don’t think God loves His children, but because we may feel undeserving of His love. The adversary loves to remind us who we are not. Not pretty. Not smart. Not strong. But God would not have sacrificed His Son to save us if we aren’t worth saving.

The word surrender has some shadowy connotations. We think it’s weak to surrender, but sometimes it’s the bravest thing we can possibly do. It means to give our will over to another . . . and when that other is Christ, we are surrendering our pride, our self-reliance, our will to do things our way. We trust Him more than we trust ourselves. The origin of the word surrender did not mean to give up, but to give over. We give our will over to God, let Him do what He will with it, and in the process we lose nothing, but gain much.

You are about to be reminded of the truth-of-all-truths. I use the word “reminded” because it is something you already know, but may have forgotten or ceased to believe. No self-help book, no guru, no sage of any faith can teach you anything more important or powerful. If you accept it and embrace it this truth will whip your life around and set you on a new, higher road. You will live larger, healthier, more happily. You’ll have the ability to bounce back when you get knocked down. You’ll have the faith you need to tunnel through dark times. You’ll have the light you need to lead others to a better place. You are a child of God. That’s it. That’s everything—everything you’ll ever need to know to conquer doubt, fear and adversity, to transform your life from the mundane to the magnificent, to fortify your relationships and the foundations of all that is good and right and worthy of your attention. You are a literal spiritual child of a king all-powerful and all-loving. He knows you. He values you. He wants you to be happy and successful. You have the right to approach the throne of God and ask not only for what you need, but for what you want.