The Beauty of Networking and Giving December 15, 2008

Two weeks ago I came across an event on Facebook called Giving Christmas to the Homeless here in Vancouver, BC.

A friend of mine Cathy saw the post and thought I’d be interested. The coordinator Sherry Taylor a local Vancouver woman posted the 3rd annual event where by her friends, family, and their network of people come together to give a lunch and warm clothing to the homeless on the downtown eastside.

Every year I try and do at least one thing at Christmas and thought I would offer the opportunity up to a few women from Women with PURPOSE, a professional women’s networking group I started two years ago,  to help out.

The local bagel factory donated two boxes of bagels to make sandwiches to me, Lori, an amazing woman and now a dear friend from the group offered her kitchen and very large jar of peanut butter, and Jana and Benita brought bananas, homemade cookies, and away we went. Two hours later we produced 80+  wrapped sandwiches with treats in a brown paper bag and after running out of PB had another  100 bagels away to people in need.

Thanks to my sister, mom, and friends we have over 20 mitts, toques, and scarves along with jackets, sweaters, and a couple blankets to give out as well.

By 2pm we had handed out everything we brought with us… Smiles and laughter surrounded Pigeon Park where over 50 people including a couple dozen children gathered to give back. The small square on the corner of Hastings and Carral was filled with people who cared and wanted to make a difference if even in a small way.  thank yous  and smiles warmed the corner that is known for violence, drug use, and many stories of hopelessness.

I took a brief moment to step back and look at everything going around me… Children singing and handing out bread, hot tea, and sandwiches, women and men offering smiles, and a “Merry Christmas” to those who’s holidays aren’t often a happy experience.  All started by one woman with a great heart and a group of friends who wanted to make a difference. What an amazing experience to be a part of and to share it with friends.

Today over 100 women, men and children were able to witness a community caring and in a small way changed their day and hopefully gave them some hope.

To my friends, family, and Sherrie, thank you. Today was a true testament to how community, networking, and giving can make a difference for everyone involved.

I got to spend a few hours gabbing with the girls and giving back to a great cause that put smiles and hopefully a spark of hope out there to those  in need .. what more can one ask for?

New Book for Women… Things Men Say December 11, 2008

“Funny, witty, and delightful … A must read for any

woman … ”

— Sherrance Henderson, author of The Ten Year Date: Sex, Secrets, and Lies

After a long haul at the drawing board and endless hours of  creative work Tracey L. Williams of Washington, DC has completed her first book that will have all the women talking.

Things Men Say “…is a fun, lighthearted glimpse into one woman’s dating life. As a self professed Urban Girl, Posh has no trouble finding and dating men in the city. Her wanting or keeping them is another thing. Whether right or wrong, the men in her life always seem to deliver touching, humorous, or gritty sayings worthy of journaling her experiences into this delightful tale of the Things Men Say: Good, Bad, Naughty, and Nice.”

Tracey was a coaching client of mine last year who was working her way through some amazing and innovative new projects; ready to take some action. From her marketing expertise, amazing coaching abilities, to her real estate investments she is always on the go.

At the time of working with Ms. Williams she was looking for a new way to get all her endeavours in order to create a recipe for success. Assisting her in unleashing her creative being for the book and providing an opportunity for her to work out her schedule she was able to overturn her feeling of being overwhelmed to start working away through all her projects with great success- the book is done, her coaching business is starting to flourish, and her life is on a roll.

Having had the privilege of assisting Tracey on the ending of this book and setting goals to have it done this year I am so pleased and extremely excited to get my hands on this book.

This is a book for any women who has been part of the Urban dating world.  The amazing design by Noel Albizo and illustrations by Derrick Vaughn will create a visual that will keep you captured while the A to Z dating shorts will remind you of the crazy and amazing world of dating.

Whether it’s for you or for someone you know I strongly recommend picking up this book.

“ … The situations provoking this zany assortment of

lines from the guys gives a glimpse into the life of the

urban girl. [Tracey] makes real life funny.”

— Maxine Snowden, author of Don’t Fork the Peas!

How does one average man become an above average influencial leader December 2, 2008

How does one average man who was once an orphan become a man who changes people around the world’s lives in his books and lectures?

Tonight I saw my favourite author Dr. Wayne Dyer in a lecture in at the Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver, BC and in a matter of 3 hours of listening to his words a sense of freedom came over me that I can not describe.

As an early Christmas present for my mom I bought a ticket for both of us to hear Wayne Dyer talk about changing your thoughts and connecting with your purpose while embracing the deepest Truth one can possibly try to embrace in life.

Speaking about his discoveries in the Tao te Ching I heard something that I have been desperately trying to connect with and realized in the middle of the lecture that the reason I could not connect to it was because I was trying. Dyer spoke of an inner truth that could only be found by letting go and just being. So much was I trying to overcome what he called “Menes” the engrained beliefs of our upbringing and trying to fight them off that I was spending more time fighting than I was giving what I believe it to true.

Fear does not equal Love, Love does not equal Fear… both need respect in order to free Fear we must stay in Love … “Fear can not live in Love and Love can not live in Fear”

He talked about the ever so great “SECRET” and how he believes that one thing was missing… To attract what you want is not about spending time in the material of what we want but what we can give.. The more we want more we stay in ego the more we ask for what we can give the more we will receive…

I’ve ended up with so many amazing experiences in my life through mentors, people, education, and travel because I was not attached to having more but being about giving more… wanting more knowledge to share, more love to give and somewhere along the line my ego developed at such a horrendous pace (my fear) that it manifested itself by stripping away all my “comforts” over the last little while. For the last two weeks I have experienced more anxiety and insominia than in my teenage years and I was feeling like my world was falling apart when in fact, as my epiphany brough to light tonight has it, I am only becoming more alive.

As a life coach I felt my life was all about knowing it all and walking my talk, if I got down and out I wasn’t on my game and who was I to call myself a coach… boy was I missing something in a big way… Being a life coach is about living life and learning from your life cycles in a way that deepens your understanding of life and success, in whatever way we preserve success, as this is an individual process. I am human after all and as long as I am learning and moving on; not staying in a state of fear or in a belief that I am “failing” and allowing it to absorb me.

If you believe you have lemon juice… lemon juice you will have. If you believe you have an opportunity to have lemonade… lemonade it will be.

Your thoughts become you and you become your thoughts…

What I have feared most about having an extremely successful life ( in mind, body and spirit… education, health, career, great inner peace) is that my success will also bring me less compassion, and more greed that I will no longer would be able to relate and empathize with the people I being working so hard to help. And (this is what I call a holy moment.. a moment when the clouds open up and the sun comes out.. ahhhhhhhh) this is what has happened. Because I’ve feared so much I have blocked the path for deeper success.. my fear  outweights my passion and love for what I do… When I have believed in my path and has faith.. all these amazing things started to occur in my life.. when it got bigger than I thought I could handle and closer to my goals the fear started in stronger and things started to crumble… go figure…

So tonight I start the next chapter of this book (my life) with a deeper understand of the law of attraction in ways I can not even really being to describe.. but a clearly that is so strong I think I’m going to have the best sleep I’ve had in weeks… or maybe since I started on this crazy journey…

To any of who have not heard of Wayne or have a mentor/teacher.. pick up his latest book

For anyone searching for a CD that will help with your meditation…. check out a CD by

Cecilia

For amazing books by Wayne Dyer