Marsha Sewdass hopes to inspire with new book: 'The best is yet to come'

Author Marsha Sewdass is hopeful that her book The Best is Yet to Come: Don't Waste a Day! will be a stepping stone in helping women to discover themselves.

Sewdass, 45, a life coach, educator, consultant and motivational speaker, has been using her personal experiences to help people overcome what she described as the “darkest points in their lives.”

She said the book, her first, is a culmination of valuable lessons learnt in various capacities, as a woman, daughter, mother, wife, sister, single parent, friend, student, employee and leader and aims to give support and inspiration to women suffering in silence.

“I went through trials of different kinds, and other women are also going through trials on different levels – relationships, family, and professionally. The different roles women have to play presents challenges and hurdles.

“I felt the need to share how I found my way out. This is my way of helping someone. There are so many women I met who just needed someone to hear them and relate to them.”

Sewdass, the mother of three children, told Newsday her life was no bed of roses, having gone through a divorce and the challenges that came along with it. Women, she said, needed to have safe and constructive advice in their day-to-day lives.

With the current outrage among the population over gender-based violence, she said men also needed to make changes within themselves in order to make a change in how they interact with and treat women.

Her book, she said, was not just for women, but also targeted men in the areas of love, care and support for the women in their lives.

“I found a lot of men listen and are willing to learn how to best relate to the women in their lives. It is good for them to know how to be a better son, father, husband, companion, role model and citizen.

“In order for us to be in harmony, we must have a unified bond and collaboration between the genders.”

Sewdass, who is also certified in neuro-linguistic programming, cognitive behavioural therapy and emotional intelligence coaching, noted that change comes from the individual, and with each person taking that step, society’s behaviour and outdated norms can be changed.

“Because of situations and circumstances, people hesitantly choose to stay in a relationship – it doesn’t necessarily have to be a romantic one. I have worked with several people who were in desperate situations and the only resolve was changing themselves.

“Yes, a bad situation affects you – it affects your confidence level, your mindset and limits your thinking. Those are the things that keep us inside our shells and prevents us from exploring our true potential.”

Stressing the importance of a good support system, she recalled her luck in having come across people who helped her along the way and nurtured her talent to become a life coach and motivational speaker.

Paying tribute to her former editor Dan Rampersad at the Bomb newspaper, where she started as a journalist, Sewdass said everyone needs someone to cheer them on.

“He took me under his wing, trained me and treated me like a daughter, and I am grateful for his mentorship.

"My children and new partner are loving, wonderful and supportive.

“It was not an easy journey, and we are all presented with the options to sink or swim. I chose to swim – and we all can. The first step is accepting the responsibility to change.”

The Best is Yet to Come: Don't Waste a Day steers the reader along the path through 52 weeks' worth of motivational quotations. These quotations are authentic statements, Sewdass said, which speak to empowerment, release and encouragement and are meant to add enrichment to the daily lives of each reader. In her words, the essence of the quotations serves to quench the thirsty soul and nourish the spirit that is starved for divine awakening.

On how she wrote the book, she explained, “I can’t say that I put aside a specific amount of time to write, because what is contained in the book is due to different journeys that I would have gone through, experienced and been exposed to. It has been a work in progress as time went by. My book transcends borders.”

Sewdass is also involved in life coaching through her CNC3 television spot, the Marsha Sewdass Segment, which focuses on the wellness of women and online coaching.

As she is a member of the Complementary Therapists Accredited Association, Sewdass’s coaching programmes have given her the opportunity for collaborative work with other life coaches in Barbados, the US, Bali and Botswana.

She is currently working on a new book, but said, “I cannot reveal anything about the book yet, except that I am hoping it will be out by Mother’s Day.”

The Best is Yet to Come: Don't Waste a Day! is available on Amazon.