Living with Leaders Self-Interviews!

Interviewee: @healingForest4604

What's something inspiring to you that always captures your interest?

For me bouncing back from setbacks that were unprecedented for you, like being rendered irrelevant in a job that you have and then going on to carve out your own path in a new line of work or coming from a place of abuse like domestic, sexual or substance and you came out of it, not necessarily in one piece, but you came out having regained control of your energy and will.

In what ways are you, or can be, a good presence in the world?

This is a difficult question. What I can say with certainty is that I believe I am a good presence in this world because I can discriminate between good and bad and today that’s a difficult thing to do when everyone is consuming everyone else’s lifestyle due to widespread penetration of social media in everyone’s face.

What is your idea of a successful or satisfactory life?

A successful life is, for me, one in which you lived with freedom of emotion and the freedom of choice and the clarity to have defined for yourself how you wanted your life to look like.

What do you hope to achieve in the next one year?

At 7 cups, I hope to be a chat supporter, peer supporter and chat mod in the next one year.

What have you learnt in your life so far, from which the world can benefit?

That you need to hold on to your guns when you have your own opinions about things even when faced with obtuse rationalizations disguised as logic.

The amazing interview of @NoneTheWiser is here!

What message do you want to leave for the world through your life?

You are the only you. You have something special to give the world that no one else can. There is no such thing as a big or small contribution - each action is equally valuable and needed. It is just when you think you are weakest that you are stronger than you know. When you think you can’t go on, you absolutely can. Just push one more time, then another - one more day, one more hour, moment to moment. We have no way of knowing when the next moment might be the one where everything changes. We never know when things are changing quietly and slowly without us knowing how they are adding up. Maybe one day we see the puzzle pieces come together, and maybe in some ways we never do. We don’t always know how one little smile, hello, gesture, or “stupid” question from us might be exactly what another person needed that day. Even in our most difficult moments, someone may be looking at us and our struggles are helping them to feel validated, understood, and motivated in theirs.

What work gives you a sense of purpose?

Being married allows me to share all the parts of me with another human being, and to be that for them as well. As a mother, I find fulfilment in teaching and passing on my values to the next generation, as well as healing my own childhood cycles and giving my children the basic things I never had. I volunteer in my community and church - connecting with people physically, financially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I have a job where I feel I am contributing to my country. Here on 7cups, I try to intentionally use my painful experiences for good in the lives of others - by showing them genuine lovingkindness, active listening, empathy, and encouragement.

What is life for, according to you?

I believe life is ultimately about love. We are connected to each other, other living things, the Earth, the universe, a power higher than ourselves - through an energy which is love. We learn and grow throughout our lives, and love allows us to help others do the same.

What's your understanding of self-care and how can one best practise it?

Self-care to me is making choices that give us our best quality of life. One person’s self-care will not look the same as another’s, because we all have unique needs and personalities. We can practice self-care best by engaging in thoughts, actions, activities, and goals that align with our core values. Effective self-care will result in good energy (relaxation, motivation, etc), not additional stress thinking we “should” be doing the same things others are doing.

How does one make peace with the uncertainties of life?

There is a calming peace in knowing that you don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t need to be able to anticipate and prepare for everything. You’re not supposed to. Those who do think they have it all figured out will quickly come to understand that they have barely just scratched the surface. This is not bad or to be feared; it is awesome! It means that we can indeed let go, bend with the wind, and accept what comes. Life is an adventure, and we are strong enough to be our own heroes.

Presenting a new amazing interview! Very inspiring to read!

Interviewee: @CupidtheKingofLove

What has been your learning at 7cups, from which the fellow 7cuppers could benefit?

My learning has been that by listening to members here, I ended up discovering myself that I am compassionate, and listening to others made me feel better too. You never know how much you actually care about others until u follow up with members and see that they appreciate it - that's a wonderful feeling.

What have you learnt in your life so far, from which the world can benefit?

I've learnt that we all need to give each other a hand when we stumble.

What are your personal goals and what helps you progress towards achieving those goals?

My personal goal is to be a writer and director. So to progress towards I just continue to write and write making myself better and better. Plus I try to stay up to date with everything that is going on in the film business. Staying up to date with where your passion lies is something that inspires.

What's something good for your personal growth that you can do consistently?

For my personal growth I think it's focusing on myself, on my goals, and just working hard. There is no other way to succeed except putting everything you have into your goals.

Interviewee: @TheOnlySentientCoffeeMugThatWeKnowOf

What work gives you a sense of purpose?

Making others happy gives me a sense of purpose.

What is life for, according to you?

Life is the absence of helplessness, if I am alive but unable to do anything that would benefit either myself or others, I don't think life is an adequate term.

How does one make peace with the uncertainties of life?

I think the best way to deal with uncertainty is to just accept it if there is truly no way to make it certain, take a deep breath and let whatever happens, happen.

Interviewee: @calmMango9611

1 Which area of 7cups do you want to especially see the growth of? I would love to see more members in leadership roles here at 7cups.

2 What ways are you, or can be, a good presence in the 7cups community? I just retired as a listener and leader of the 7cups listener community after all most 4 years, and now I am a member and now in leadership on the members side of things. I am a room supporter for the newbie hub, I am loving it. I am a caring person. I love to help others. I care about people's safety. I do my best to follow the chatroom guidelines and to listen to the Mods and community mods' instructions.

3 How does one make the best out of 7cups? I would say get involved here at 7cups. Just do not sit on the sidelines and complain about things not going well, be a part of improving things. We all have a part to play here at 7cups, try to find your part.

Interviewee: @Harsvin

Which quality is the most important in a human being and why?

- Compassion and kindness are the most important qualities in a human being because it soothes our daily life struggles and makes the world a better place to live.


What work gives you a sense of purpose?

- Spreading smiles and brightening up someone's day with little acts of appreciation and compassion. It's selfless and brings me immense joy and contentment to make someone's day special.


How does one make peace with the uncertainties of life?

- By living at the present moment, cherishing each moment in life, and making the best out of each day. Life is short, we have no control over the uncertainties of life and worrying too much about something which is not within our control, lessens the peace within ourselves. But we can shape our present moment in the best way possible.

Interviewee: @Peace1dy

What message do you want to leave for the world through your life?

Through my life I want the world to know we have to be there for each other. We can make the world a better place for everyone living if we choose.

How does one manage expectations in relationships?

The best way to manage a relationship is to not have predetermined conditions that you place on the person you are in a relationship with.

What work gives you a sense of purpose?

What gives me a sense of purpose is helping and uplifting others.

Interviewee: @wonderfulRainbow817

1. What has been your learning at 7cups, from which the fellow 7cuppers could benefit?

The biggest thing I've learned through my time here on 7 Cups is to keep an open mind. We all are unique in our own ways whether it is through problem solving, perspective on a situation, or our day to day interactions. I often use the analogy of a puzzle. We are each a piece and without (if you don't let others share their thoughts/opinions) a piece our puzzle (the community) cannot be complete.

2. What message do you want to leave for the world through your life?

My message I want to leave the world is the basic message of we chose how to handle life. Life is unfair many, many times but it is up to us to decide how we will respond. We can sit back and let life run over us or we can get up and fight through our obstacles and become stronger, wiser, etc. because of it.

3. What work gives you a sense of purpose?

I find purpose when making others feel better. It is why I joined 7 Cups. At the end of the day getting a thank you or knowing I had a positive impact on another is what keeps me going through my purpose. Even if I only impact 1 person in my life that is 1 more person impacted than I started life with.

Interviewee: @StargirlTina

1) What have you learnt in your life so far, from which the world can benefit?

Life has given me a lot of arduous situations to deal with. There have been moments when I felt overwhelmed but what I've learnt from it all is that just like the graph of heartbeat for a being goes up and down, so does life.

I've learnt to not let people's opinions and shunning weigh me down. I choose to forgive and forget and move ahead with positivity! I've learnt that our thoughts are powerful and can manifest in our reality in ways more than we can even comprehend. When we're able to accept our challenges to learn and grow from it all, everything gets so much better🧡 The world would be so much better if people took the time to understand one another even more.

2) Generally speaking, how does one make the best out of 7cups?

7cups is a platform that feels like home now, in the 2 years that I've been a part of it. The community is so welcoming, compassionate and loving and I've always loved being a part of it all. The way to make the best out of 7cups is an amalgamation of the multiple things that one can do here: joining the forums and chatrooms, socialising and making friends while developing active listening skills, taking on roles here, providing to the community in whatever way we can be it through listening or by participating. 7cups is awesome and I'm really grateful that I get to be in this lovely community!:)

3) What kind of connections and relationships are stable and meaningful?

For me, this is something that I've always pondered about. What are human connections at their core and what would should an ideal relationship be? And then I had my realisation moment..Stable and meaningful connections as I've recently learnt because of a person who's special to me, are not those that are always rosy, they are those where we can set our differences apart and talk things through, where we can come to an understanding and help each other prosper and thrive in life, motivate each other and be non judgemental. When we are able to speak our mind about things, share our experiences and feel understood, that's when I feel it is a meaningful connection!

It's difficult in the rat race that we're in most of the times, but I'd like to conclude with a quote by Nelson Mandela "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

~Tina

@gentleemperor @jasmineishereforu @AlisicaDawn @EmoRex @Woebegone00 @Harsvin @Sunisshiningandsoareyou @ShaunX @vroomvroom @Chetan1408 @dtanushree @fristo @sociableKite7360

Interviewee: @yourbuddy30

What have been your learnings as a listener?

Listening is something that always interested me. It is one of the best helps one can give to others. Many problems can be solved just by having someone to listen to you. Mental health nowadays is needing someone to talk to and being a listener here, where there are so many people I can listen to and provide help is something that makes me happy. I always thought listening would include giving advice but being here I learned how to listen and help people without giving advice.

If I ever came across open ended questions, it is here, and I would surely apply this in my real life where I might help someone by listening to them. Listening to different people, seeing what they go through, there is a lot to learn from our members or fellow listeners and I have realized that being a part of 7 cups. Listening in our generation is the best help and I am glad I am able to help my fellow members.

Which area of 7 cups do you want to see a growth of?

I am a part of 7 cups Academy, and it surely is one of the areas I would like to see the growth of as Academy programs have a lot to teach us and we have a lot to learn from them. I want more people to be a part of these programs as they surely help you become a better listener and these values are helpful in your real life. Each program has something new to learn and I hope to be a part of every program here at cups. It teaches you how to participate in group chats, provide support in 1-1 chats, become a leader, improve your content-making skills, be a better listener, self-care and many more. I would surely like to see everyone being a part of these programs and learn from them.

What is your definition of self-care and how can you practice it?

Being here on cups I understood self-care is really important. Self-care for me would be loving myself, giving myself the importance I need and deserve, making myself happy. Self-care is important here at cups, or even in real life like while studying or while working. I practice my self-care by listening to songs. That is one way which rejuvenates me. Another way would be relaxing by watching something on Netflix. This helps me in diverting my mind. Or talking to friends. I feel friends are the best way you can divert your mind and lighten up your mood. Meditation also helps to keep our thoughts in place and understand ourselves or spend time with ourselves.