Agapi Stassinopoulos: I say to this generation: "We must encourage the...

One of the most powerful sayings I have come across is by Imam ash-Shafi'I, "My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me, and that what misses me was never meant for me."

Agapi Stassinopoulos

powerful knowing heart

It gives me such hope that each one of us can contribute to make this world a better place.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

give-me giving world

Treat yourself as if you were someone inexpressibly dear to you.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

treat-yourself dear treats

A friend of mine helped me find my confidence by trusting the knowledge that I was not alone in writing my first book. She helped me wake up to the fact that I had a source of creativity that was my true creative nature and when I embraced it and asked for this presence in my life, I felt as if the dam of the Niagra Falls had burst and all sorts of wonderful things started to happen when I found my voice. It has been a process ever since and I am now a big advocate in the message that we are not alone and we all have ample creativity within us if we just trust it.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

writing book fall

No matter who you are, you have a giant self.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

giants self matter

Into your darkest corner, you are safe in my love, you are protected. I am the openess you seek, I am your doorway. Come sit in the circular temple of my heart, & let yourself be calm.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

safe love-you heart

I think I have an awareness inside of me that we are all the same, that basically we are all part of that one heart.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

awareness heart thinking

I still work that expectation/disappointment cycle all the time. I think it is part of the human nature and I think the most important thing is not to judge it. We are human and we do have expectations and a lot of our expectations are often not met. It is a process of learning how to be kind and compassionate and loving to ourselves when we don't get the things we want when people, circumstances, and opportunities don't match our expectations.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

disappointment opportunity thinking

My mother found a way out of a little one-bedroom apartment in Athens, Greece to bring Arianna to Cambridge to study economics and bring me to the Royal Academy in London with very few financial resources and no connections. She didn't know anybody in England, but she found a way. Her love for her daughters and seeing what they could be, motivated her and gave her the chutzpah, the courage, to break down barriers. When you have the motivation of love, you will find the way.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

daughter motivation mother

We all have something that centers us in our lives. That linchpin is something that when we don't do enough of it, we start to feel off center.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

our-lives enough feels

Some people are introverts and if they don't have enough time for themselves, they don't feel right. And extroverts don't feel right with too much alone time. There are those who need walks in nature or they feel depressed. Your linchpin is the pin that makes the wheel go. If you lose it, the wheel falls apart.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

extroverts people fall

I draw strength from spirit, from the divine light. I draw strength from the love my sister and I have for each other, from my nieces, Christina and Isabella, and the true friendships I have in my life that are based in being real with each other and mutual love and support.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

true-friend niece real

We are all born with an open heart, but at some point as we are growing up, things happen in our lives where we start to shut down, like rejection, not fitting in, wanting approval, judgments, comparisons, and criticism of others.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

rejection growing-up heart

My greatest life lesson has been to not wait for the opportunities to come to me. I realize how important it is to be proactive and to create the opportunities myself.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

life-lesson waiting opportunity

The key to success is radical generosity.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

key-to-success generosity keys

Seeing how many people in our world today are focused on doing good in this world for others, especially in the younger generation and how passionate they feel about making a difference. What inspires me is helping others to become more of who they are and to learn to become radically generous with each other.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

our-world differences helping-others

The world can only seem a safe place when we feel safe inside.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

safe feels world

Be generous with your heart! The more we spontaneously give, the more connected and enriched we will feel. What if we use each other as our living temples, and put our best offering foot forward to see what direction life points us? I believe that if we live in a state of offering - even if we think we have nothing to offer - life blesses us and we feel more at peace with who we are and what we have.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

heart believe thinking

I also draw strength from so many people that I meet through my speaking engagements and my life and when I feel the joy that gets ignited when kindred spirits are together. It gives me such hope that each one of us can contribute to make this world a better place.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

joy giving people

In our heart, we are all the same and I think that belief makes me open up, reach out to others, and bring my own warmth and loving to them. I am very grateful that I have found a way to express what means so much to me, which is that caring for one another.

Agapi Stassinopoulos

grateful heart mean

I say to this generation: "We must encourage these kids." Tell them they are wonderful and capable. Be their cheerleader. And when they don't get what they want, say, "Okay, sweetheart, yours is coming. Let's help you get it." Be there 100% for them.