Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.Sarah Ban Breathach.

Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last.  The spring rains will come again.  Sarah Ban Breathnach.

Very uplifting words from the wonderful Sarah Ban Breathnach. She is the author of the book 'Simple Abundunce', helping you to always look on the bright side. Ironically after writing that book Sarah Ban Brethnach underwent a lot more hardship herself and faced financial ruin at the age of 61 after a lot of very poor business decisions. She writes about it in her book 'Peace and Plenty', and shows us that there is always a way out of the darkness however dark that path might look at the time. Just because yesterday was a bad day it does not mean that tomorrow will be.

Abundant blessings in all areas of your life, AstarteAlison

The more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you" Sarah Ban Breathnach gratitude quote

"Every time we remember to say 'thank-you' we experience nothing less than heaven on earth"

"You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life.  And you will have set in motion and ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you" Sarah Ban Breathnach

Some days you may not feel like your life is full of abundance. I find that these are the days when it is even more important to practice gratitude. Even on our worst days there is always something to be grateful for, even if it is as small as a bowl of warm soup on a cold day. So whether you are going through a happy or sad time in your life right now, try the exercise of thinking of three reasons to be grateful for this day. try this for a couple of months and see the difference. You will find that your outlook on life is infinitely more positive.

Below are links to some of Sarah Ban Breathnach's wonderful writing, just click on the picture to find more information on her fabulous work.




This is a review of the wonderful book  Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy

"Sarah Ban Breathnach believes that people are scaling down their expectations of what constitutes the good life. And they should be! A more slender purse doesn't mean we can't still live a rich, rewarding life. We can reclaim our futures by rediscovering what it is that truly makes us happy.

By providing a meditation for each day of the year, Sarah illuminates our journey of self-discovery and shows us that simplicity does not imply doing without - true simplicity illuminates our lives from within. She teaches us how to reorder our priorities. Carve out time for the personal pursuits that bring contentment. Savour the joy of simple pleasures. Restore serenity to daily endeavours. Delight in the everyday elegies of home and garden. 

Between the pages of this book, readers will learn how to nurture their own creativity, nourish their imaginations and celebrate their own styles. Not only does each day have a meditation, but Sarah has also found the perfect quotes, poems, reflections and excerpts from women's magazines and homemaking books from the late 19th century through to the 1950s which are featured throughout, giving the reader a unique scrapbook of hope and inspiration that is bound to become a treasured resource of ideas, advice and comfort."

I am grateful for this day and I'm sure you are too.

Blessings, Alison xx

Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way. Sarah Ban Breathnach

"Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.”

I love Sarah Ban Breathnach's writings on life. She seems to be able to get to the core of what is important in life and puts her point across in an extremely eloquent and succinct manor.

Sarah Ban Breathnach was a freelance writer living paycheck to paycheck before writing Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy , a book that helped millions of women find gratitude in every moment.

This is the Amazon review on Sarah's book Simple Abundance. This book features 366 essays penned from a woman's perspective. Sample topics include gratitude, harmony, self-nurturing, positive body image, the importance of scented linen closets, and many others. Each essay sports a pithy quote from (surprise!) the likes of Kahlil Gibran. Viewed uncritically, it's hard to argue with Simple Abundance's earnest admonitions to appreciate life, in all its messy imperfect excellence. And the fact that serenity and happiness are each in dreadfully short supply can excuse some of the treacly writing. But Breathnach sometimes lapses into what can only be described as her "Martha Stewart on Prozac" voice, and the results are aggravating to the extreme: "if you've been hesitant to strike up a reciprocal relationship with your guardian angel, don't be". (What on earth can you do for your guardian angel?) Being acid is so unattractive ... and shooting fish in a barrel besides. Read these feel-good essays every morning with the rising sun, a cup of mint tea, and a bluebird chirping on your windowsill, and you'll be happy

Click on the picture below to get further details of Sarah Ban Breathnach's publications.

Inner awareness of simple abundance. Sarah Ban Breathnach

Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.

I do my pictures in batches and I usually move into folders the ones that I have already used. I rely on my memory  however to remember the quotes I've already used. Oh dear that system will have to change. Just searched through my blog and this is the second time of using this quote! I must really like the quote! Well I thought about should I put it up here and I thought, Yes I should. It really is a fabulous quote. It is simple and to the point, it explains the point of practising simple abundance in our daily lives with an open and grateful heart. So, I thought, I will post it again, different picture, same beautiful message: I hope that you enjoy it. Meanwhile I need to find myself a more organised system. Mmm. Tricky. I will have to offer that one up to the universe I think to find me an answer!!

Peaceful contented and abundant blessings to you, Alison

An open and grateful heart. Gratitude and abundance quote Sarah Ban Brethnach

Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

The more we have and are grateful for, the more will be given to us. Practicing gratitude on a daily basis is a very simple way of improving our state of mind and how we view the world. This in turn will lead to an increase in abundance in our lives. I see this very clearly in my business. Sometimes I go through a slump and I'm not selling very much for one reason or another. I often get very down at this and worried that I won't make enough money to support myself and my two girls. I have to remind myself that I have much to be grateful for in my life, a roof over my head being one big one! Somehow i can turn it around, start thinking more positively and sure enough the sales start to flow!

Abundance of course is not only found in material things. We generally need enough money coming in to support our needs however contentment often lies in the abundance of love and peace and the happiness of those around me. I know that I am happiest when those dear to me are happy and I feel their pain when they are not. It is hard to sometimes but a smile and a brave face on things when inside you may feel like crying but if you do this makes those around you happier and will ultimately lead to an abundance of happiness in your life. We shouldn't be waiting for happiness: "I'll be happy when I have finished work/the decorating/school etc" We can be happy here and now if we see the happiness in everyday things.

Abundance attracts further abundance. Gratitude leads to abundance. The key therefore is to step onto that ladder and start with gratitude. 

More of Sarah Ban Breathnach's lovely words can be found in her books:

Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy and The Simple Abundance Companion

  I wish for you peace and happiness on your own ladder of gratitude. Blessings, AstarteAlison xx