I love birds and I’ve dreamed of having the freedom of flying like a bird for many years, but my huge fear of heights always prevented me from wanting to skydive or go paragliding. (Or anything else that involved heights! Roller coasters were even too much for me until my mid 20′s)
I had a couple of traumatic experiences involving heights when I was a child and it’s only been in the past 10 years that I’ve made a conscious effort to take small steps to build up my courage with the intention of eventually overcoming my fear of heights. Zip-trekking definitely helped me, as did the Capilano Suspension Bridge, rock climbing and repelling, etc. –but I still had a fear that prevented me from freely doing many things that involved heights.

A few years ago when I heard of paragliding, and how different it is from skydiving, I looked into it further and knew that one day I would do it. So I put it on my “Live Life Fully List” and knew that I would learn how to do it one day.

Thankfully I have a wonderful friend who gifted me with the Paragliding Course at iParaglide here in Vancouver. What an awesome gift, thanks Kevin!

So a couple of weekends ago we both went to our theory class, and then a week later was the first outdoor portion of the course: “Slope Soaring”
I will never forget the feeling of getting lifted up off the hill for the first time. I was nervous but loved the very unique and free feeling.

Then it was time for the real paragliding…running off a mountain at 2,000 feet. I was excited to check it off my list, but absolutely freaked out to actually do it!
I have NEVER gone through the roller coaster of emotions I experienced that day. A major breakdown, then a MAJOR breakthrough.
After going back and forth for an hour about whether I was going to take my 1st flight or not, I finally decided I would go. And before I knew it, it was my turn.
I was strapped into my harness, geared up, and safety checked multiple times by Dion, the owner of iParaglide. He gave me one last pep talk before I was set to launch.
I hear: “3, 2, 1, tension!”  I focused my attention off the mountain into the horizon and started running like crazy. As I was lifted up into the sky, I tried my best to focus on what I learned, and the instructions I was being given through my walkie-talkie, and enjoy the ride without freaking out too much.

It was super quiet, super peaceful and the breath taking, unobstructed view was unlike anything I’ve seen before. So spectacular and surreal!
My flight was about 15 minutes, which went by SO fast. Before I knew it I was landing (which was WAY harder, and faster than it was in the park during the slope soaring class! :O )

My first launch and flight was ABSOLUTE INSANITY!! What an adrenaline rush! I’ve experienced an adrenaline rush many different times in my life, but paragliding solo, by far, was the greatest adrenaline rush I’ve ever experienced.

I am so thrilled I did it and I’m looking forward to the next 4 flights, and FINALLY overcoming my fear of heights!

Here’s some pics of my experience:

Here’s some videos of my experience:

“Before hiring Suzanne, I was in the middle of a difficult emotional experience. Also, long before this particular situation, I had a low mood almost all the time and was living day to day worrying about the past/future and not enjoying the present at ALL. I had a lack of hobbies and passions and was totally unfulfilled with life. Prior to my work with her, I felt like I had no real purpose. It was like I was waiting for someone or something that would change things.

Developing confidence is important to me because it leads to finding your authentic-self. Working on this with Suzanne has taken me from where I was (the “dark place”) to where I am today, which is loving my life and enjoying everything I do on a daily basis, big and small. I know what I like and want, look out for #1 and feel fulfilled because she helped me uncover what excites and motivates me and what my unique gifts are. I was also able to finally give up the ways I allowed other people/my own thoughts to affect me negatively. Instead of waiting for waiting for life to change, now I make it happen by getting to know myself and creating opportunities. I actually feel really good nearly all of the time because I do things that I love and spend time with the right people. I’ve also learned to truly enjoy my own company which is really important, especially for someone who lives alone.

Working with Suzanne on a personal level is great. She’s welcoming and non-judgemental while always holding you accountable. She has great ideas and exercises and does a professional job running her business, always staying open-minded. The most important things Suzanne has taught me about are self-awareness, personal responsibility and how to really identify what matters to me most. My life is honestly different now; it was a major transformation and it’s not just me who notices. My friends and family also see that I have a completely different outlook and love life. I feel authentic and confident and every day is a good day.

If you’re thinking of hiring her, go for it. You will be amazed with what she’ll help you discover about yourself and the ways it will change the way you feel and live.”

- Jamie Wessel

“Before hiring Suzanne, I was in the middle of a difficult emotional experience. Also, long before this particular situation, I had a low mood almost all the time and was living day to day worrying about the past/future and not enjoying the present at ALL. I had a lack of hobbies and passions and was totally unfulfilled with life. Prior to my work with her, I felt like I had no real purpose. It was like I was waiting for someone or something that would change things.

Developing confidence is important to me because it leads to finding your authentic-self. Working on this with Suzanne has taken me from where I was (the “dark place”) to where I am today, which is loving my life and enjoying everything I do on a daily basis, big and small. I know what I like and want, look out for #1 and feel fulfilled because she helped me uncover what excites and motivates me and what my unique gifts are. I was also able to finally give up the ways I allowed other people/my own thoughts to affect me negatively. Instead of waiting for waiting for life to change, now I make it happen by getting to know myself and creating opportunities. I actually feel really good nearly all of the time because I do things that I love and spend time with the right people. I’ve also learned to truly enjoy my own company which is really important, especially for someone who lives alone.

Working with Suzanne on a personal level is great. She’s welcoming and non-judgemental while always holding you accountable. She has great ideas and exercises and does a professional job running her business, always staying open-minded. The most important things Suzanne has taught me about are self-awareness, personal responsibility and how to really identify what matters to me most. My life is honestly different now; it was a major transformation and it’s not just me who notices. My friends and family also see that I have a completely different outlook and love life. I feel authentic and confident and every day is a good day.

If you’re thinking of hiring her, go for it. You will be amazed with what she’ll help you discover about yourself and the ways it will change the way you feel and live.”

- Jamie Wessel

I was shocked when I just read an article about this 21 year old girl. This is so unbelievable and sad. 

She describes herself as the most famous woman on the Russian-language internet. She has clearly spent tons of money on plastic surgery to have doll-like facial features, huge boobs that are disproportionate to her figure, a super tiny unnatural waist and long straight bleach-blonde hair. In most of her photos, she puts on a vacant stare and her skin looks flawless with a waxy finish. Check out before pics of Valeria, I think she was more beautiful when she was natural!  HERE

Is this “Living Dolls” look a new trend? I hope not!
But Lukyanova is not the only one out there.

Remember Heidi Montag from “The Hills” reality TV show on MTV? That was such a tragedy to watch a naturally beautiful and confident girl turn into an artificial person over a few short years. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine the reality star said: “For the past three years, I’ve thought about what to have done, I’m beyond obsessed.” She was only 23 years old when she decided to go under the knife for a second time and have a staggering 10 plastic-surgery procedures in one day! She reportedly spent an estimated $30,000 on plastic surgery and a couple years later she was broke despite earning a substantial income from “The Hills” (as high as $65,000 per-episode)

And there is also 15-year-old Venus Palermo (Venus Angelic) and 16-year-old Dakota Rose (Dakotakoti) are two girls who have become Internet sensations because of their “Living Doll” look. They have You Tube channels on how to become doll-like through make-up and fashion. I REALLY hope that girls out there are not feeling more pressure to look unnatural now because of these “Living dolls.” I wish these girls would be more focused on building authentic confidence instead of artificial confidence.

What do you think?

Whenever you interact with other people you have the choice to listen, engage, acknowledge, agree, disagree and let go of what they say, or you can take what they say personally and feel hurt or attacked. What anyone says or does doesn’t necessarily have to do with you because it is usually based on their own emotions, experiences and perceptions. If you do take what they say or do personally, you will most likely end up feeling hurt no good reason –you are hurting yourself by doing so!

When you take things personally and are hurt by the words or actions of other person that means that you are assuming negative intent and that there is a part of you that believes it. Are the other person’s words or actions just reinforcing some insecurity you have? If you know that what the other person says is untrue, why would it affect you?  This is yet another reason why being very self-aware and having absolute confidence is so incredibly important. If someone says something negative about you, the negative comments will have no strength and will not be able to hurt you.  You get to choose to believe what other people say about you, and you are the one who gives power to their words and actions which will determine whether or not you take things personally. When you learn to stop taking things personally you will not let anyone’s perceptions, words or actions affect how you see yourself.

Taking things personally makes you prey for predators. They can hook your attention with one little opinion and feed you whatever poison they want. Refuse to eat poison!

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I love this article! Way to go Ashley Judd –she writes in The Daily Beast about how disappointed she is with the media’s negative reactions to her appearance and the unrealistic standards we women face nowadays…

“The Conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted.

As an actor and woman who, at times, avails herself of the media, I am painfully aware of the conversation about women’s bodies, and it frequently migrates to my own body. I know this, even though my personal practice is to ignore what is written about me. I do not, for example, read interviews I do with news outlets. I hold that it is none of my business what people think of me. I arrived at this belief after first, when I began working as an actor 18 years ago, reading everything. I evolved into selecting only the “good” pieces to read. Over time, I matured into the understanding that good and bad are equally fanciful interpretations. I do not want to give my power, my self-esteem, or my autonomy, to any person, place, or thing outside myself. I thus abstain from all media about myself. The only thing that matters is how I feel about myself, my personal integrity, and my relationship with my Creator. Of course, it’s wonderful to be held in esteem and fond regard by family, friends, and community, but a central part of my spiritual practice is letting go of otheration. And casting one’s lot with the public is dangerous and self-destructive, and I value myself too much to do that.“

Read the full article HERE

Self-worth is the sense of your own value, deservingness or usefulness as a person.
It is about how much you feel you deserve all the wonderful things that life has to offer.

Many people associate the word “worth” with money. Self-worth is NOT about how much you are worth in dollar figures. Self-worth is believing that you are a worthy individual because of who you are, not because of how much money you have in the bank, the things you own, your job, your abilities, etc.
If someone earns more money than you or has a nicer car or home, that does not mean that they are worth more than you. If you do not have the same things as others, it does NOT make you worth less.

If you are unaware of your worth and the value you bring to the world you will inadvertently diminish your worthiness. People that are constantly comparing themselves to others, or are “people-pleasers”, or use self-deprecating humour, put themselves down, do not accept compliments, and have self-sabotaging behaviours are displaying their lack of self-worth. That is no way to live!

Only you can determine your worth. Be sure that you do not base your self-worth on the opinions and approval of other people.  When people try to build their confidence from the opinions of others, it is very destructive and only creates an artificial sense of worthiness. They are giving away their power and are only building up their ego, not their self-worth.
You have to make your own actions count. Don’t wait for other people to make you feel worthy.

Self-worth is built from feeling that you have contributed or accomplished something that benefits yourself, others, or both. It doesn’t matter what it is or how significant you or other people think it is. The contributions must make you feel like you have made a difference. When you take action that you think is useful and worthy, and in a way that is feels rewarding for you, your self-worth will naturally increase.

Self-worth also comes when you take pride in yourself and your behavior, feel good about yourself, your successes, and accomplishments and feel ready and deserving of more. When you feel worthy of the things you wish you had, you will be more readily available to receive them.

Start to build your self-worth by accepting responsibility for your circumstances and make a decision to do something to change them.

Also make a list of all the qualities that you appreciate about yourself and be sure to look at them daily 

YOU ARE WORTHY!  You are important and of importance

The 92nd annual Vancouver Auto Show was held this past week at the newly renovated BC Place Stadium. I was super excited to see (and drool over) the Lamborghini Aventador, the Fisker Karma, the Lexus LFA and the chrome wrapped Lamborghini that was at Canawrap booth. What an beeeeautiful car!

Here’s some pics of my favourites:

There’s not much more weight someone can carry on their shoulder’s than when they say: “I should…”

The energy that emanates from “shoulding” is negative, heavy and guilt-inducing and creates feelings of regret, resentment, frustration and anger. It implies that you are doing something wrong, or not living up to certain expectations…oftentimes not even your own expectations!

The underlying challenge of “shoulding” is that if you do what you think you “should” do,  you usually feel resentful, or hateful, or angry, and if you don’t do what you should, you feel guilty. Guilt is anger directed at ourselves because of what we did or did not do.

“Shoulding” on yourself never brings absolute confidence or inner peace, it creates the opposite: stress and self-hate.

Always be kind to yourself…you are the most important person in your life!

“What lies behind us and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love being a woman!
Being a woman IS a gift and we also HAVE so many gifts…we are expressive, intuitive, and incredibly powerful. Physically, mentally and emotionally. In the same hour we can be feminine and fragile, and courageous and resilient. And as women, we all share the ability to create life.

Throughout history, women have been viewed as inferior. It’s hard to believe that women weren’t allowed to vote until the 20th century. Today, we women have mastered the art of balancing a variety of different roles: career-woman, homemaker, wife, girlfriend, daughter, mother, aunt, boss, employee and friend.
Our world would be a colder, harsher place if not for us women.

Did you know these awesome facts about women in business? …
Women own 10.6 million businesses in the United States.
They employ 19.1 million workers–that’s one in every seven employees.
Their businesses account for $2.5 trillion in sales.

I love that I am an independent woman, and that is considered a good thing now-a-days! I have always gone after what I’ve wanted and any woman can when she sets her mind and her heart to it.
So, always remember how wonderful it is to be a woman and let’s show the world what we’re made of Ladies!!!

Happy International Women’s Day!

**Be sure to show your appreciation to the women in your life!

What do you love about being a woman???

Today you get a whole extra day, so how are you going to use that bonus time?
How about you take a leap of faith?!
Get out of your comfort zone and face one of your fears…do something today that scares you!

Taking a leap of faith means jumping into the unknown which is something I love doing. The unknown is exciting and I look at the unknown with curiosity, NOT fear.
Having fear, self-doubt and second guessing taking leaps of faith keeps you standing still, doing the same things over and over again. Where’s the fun it that???

Without taking leaps of faith, you will never experience all the incredible things that life has to offer.  If you don’t take chances, you remain trapped in your current circumstances and end up struggling by swimming against the stream of life.

When you trust yourself (aka – have confidence) you trust that whatever result your leap of faith might bring, it is always an opportunity to grow and to learn more about yourself and life.

So don’t just think about or talk about what you want to do, trust and jump –just like the penguin in this video! Then can you take the small consistent steps it takes to be living a life filled with confidence and happiness.

“A step in the wrong direction is better than staying in one spot all your life.
Once you’re moving forward you can correct your course as you go. Your automatic guidance system cannot guide you when you’re standing still.”
– Maxwell Maltz