Toni Sorenson

“Learn from what's behind you but look forward to what's ahead. It would be a sad, sad existence if you believed your best had already come and gone. Believe instead the truth...that the best is yet to be because that part's up to you.”

“It is utterly impossible to be happy without being grateful.”

“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.”

“The little things we value as mundane or pithy usually turn into the big things in hindsight…an “I love you” called out as the door closes, a walk around the same block with the same friend, Grandma’s chocolate cake every time you visit…the brush of skin on skin as two loves pause to breath in sync. Life isn’t made up of miles, but memories. Cherish them while you’re making them, not just after you can’t make those memories anymore.”

“The greatest gift that God has given you next to your very life is the right to choose—your agency. He will guide you, inspire you, but He will never manipulate or coerce you.”

“Even if the shoe fits, that doesn't mean I'm going to wear it; I don't want to wear somebody else's smelly old shoe. I'd rather go barefoot.”

“Those who resist positive change will find themselves deformed, but those who embrace it will find themselves transformed.”

“At the end of the day have you been kind to a stranger, learned something new, cherished something old, hugged yourself and accomplished something that made you smile? If so, it has been a very good day indeed.”

“Want to make today a great day? Learn something new, reconnect with a light from your past, right a wrong, serve someone incapable of repaying you, smile at your own image and thank God for who you are and all that you have.”

“Life does not favor the fearful nor does it reward the reluctant; it embraces and elevates those willing to climb in spite of their fear and willing to try in the mocking face of failure. It gives bonus points to those who fall flat, get up and climb again.”

“Faith is carrying your pain and problems to the invisible altar of God, laying them down and walking away, knowing that now they are in hands capable of doing what you could never do.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Ever felt like you are more than flesh and bones and blood that decay back into cosmic dirt? You are. Your existence did not begin with your birth and it will not end with your death. Your soul lived before and will live on and on and on...so what you do now matters later. Choose wisely.”

“You are a creature meant to be free. Almost always, the person hardest to tell the truth to...is you. Once you can be honest with yourself, you'll find the strength and desire to be honest with others. It's the most freeing feeling imaginable. Go find a mirror and face yourself and your darkest truths. You have the light within you to chase away the dark demons that hold you down and push you back into the black corners of your past. You deserve better. You are a child of light and light hidden behind dark clouds, does nothing to brighten the world.”

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

“The wedding day is perfect for the bride only if she is marrying the best man!”

“A sure romance killer is to NOT shut the bathroom door.”

“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.”

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

“Romance leads to marriage, but love keeps the marriage alive.”

“Want to heat up your love life? Do something you don't enjoy doing, but your partner does. And do it with no thought of return...only out of love.”

“LOVE is FORGIVENESS in perpetual motion.”

“We are all children of a God who knows us, loves us, and is there for us, especially in our sorrow and suffering. To be separated from Him is to be lost.”

“When you see the sun rise tomorrow morning, if your heart does not increase its beat, if your eyes do not widen, perhaps your sense of wonder is growing dull. It's this sense, above all others, that brings life to life. If your sense of wonder has dulled, brighten it by being present, being grateful, being part of the miracle.”

“Do not ask, "Is is possible?" rather, "Is is worth what it will require of me to make it happen?”

“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.”

“A true Christian does not judge whether a person is worthy of help, but only judges a need and how to best meet that need.”

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

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

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

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

“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.”

“We are in God’s hands. We can’t come up with a surprise big enough or a sin vile enough to thwart His plan. If we allow Him to refine us we will inevitably end up free from the impurities that separate us from Him.”

“I should learn from today and make tomorrow better.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Our imperfections make us unique as surely as our strengths.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”