TORONTO: Motivational speaker Paula Morand (Dream Big and Be Bold) and Victoria Craig, managing partner and brand, PR and media expert, got together to create Carpe Diem: Reclaim Your Dream, Ignite Your Passion, Live Your Purpose ; a brilliant inspirational anthology of stories by 24 different women. This is no ordinary 'chicken soup for the soul' kind of book. It is powerful beyond words.
Shortly after its release on March 18, it made the number one bestseller on the Amazon Kindle list in the self-help category. Paula Morand and Victoria Craig along with some of the co-authors presented this unique book at the Spoke Club in Toronto this past week.
Volume 1 features 24 co-authors – Susan Deane, Stephanie Allen, Shelley MacKenzie, Rusti L. Lehay, Nurdan Tokoz, Natasha Williams, Lorraine Cormier, Lori Nemeth, Lisa McCormack, Lesley Oliver, Kim Vander Schelde, Karen Simpson, JB Owen, Jacquie Gauthier, Hamisha Daryani Ahuja, Glendalynn Dixon, Eva Allen, Eva Adamou, Elizabeth Hawkes, Diana Ten Have, Colleen Cole, Candice Corbett, Paula Morand and Victoria Craig.
These women are from all corners of the world. Their stories are real, their challenges and difficulties they face in today's world are something that we can all strongly relate to and the fact that they all overcame the obstacles to come out stronger, and bolder.
In today's world there is an ever increasing need for women to empower women and to be bold and step out on their own. It is the carpe diem (seize the day) philosophy that creates many successful people in the world and sets them apart from wallflowers.
In the book, one such narrative comes from a young entrepreneur, Hamisha Daryani Ahuja (born in India, educated in Canada and the UK), who currently resides in Nigeria. Her story is entitled "Pursuit of Happiness." The narration speaks to all those women who are not that confident in their abilities, have no clue how to get up and shine in the big bad world outside. What she realizes through her hard self questioning is if you have a deep sense of gratitude and actually put down your positive thoughts, dreams and ideas, dwell and believe in them and yourself every day and put it to the universe it will come to fruition. You must learn to harness your thoughts and cast aside all the negative ones in order to achieve a state of confidence in your abilities and focus on systematically moving forward in your life.
Hamisha today is a successful motivational speaker and certified Law of Attraction Coach in Nigeria. She firmly believes, "we have just one life so why not rock it....it is in the face of adversity that we grow......it is at our lowest lows that we wake up and see the route that will lead us to our highest highs."
So many women and so many inspirational journeys to show us the way forward, to light up our paths. Multitudes of women are at the crossroads (where you may be standing today), scared or rooted to the spot wondering how do you take that first step towards independence, empowerment, success. Just remember you are not alone and that there are so many women just like you all over the world wondering the same thing. But only you can decide to seize the day, come out of your shell and be bold so you can grow! So take that first step and read this book to inspire and empower yourself!
READ ALSO: Toronto International Festival of Authors full of richness and diversity