On Gratitude & Facing Fears

November 6, 2009 by Tia · 11 Comments
Filed under: Life, Passion, Spirituality, courage 

Don’t have much to say today except that I did a few things recently that I’m well proud of..

  • Taking the time to express real gratitude and appreciation for the blessings in my life
  • Facing a couple of huge fears
  • Asking a stranger to record me talking on video
  • Actually speaking on camera
  • Putting it out there for the world to see .. yikes!

I was going to do it way back in Feb 2009 for the Hurricane of Gratitude group started by Alex Karis and it’s no surprise it took me 9 months to get here (many big changes / events seem to happen in my life 9 months after the first sign) the birth of creativity and courage, lol!

When was the last time YOU were truly, really grateful and appreciative of how GREAT you have it? What are you really proud of here and now?

If it’s been a while, stop right now and think about all that’s awesome in your life, gives you pleasure, joy and happiness.

From your body to your spirit, nature, family, warm home, food to eat, winter sports, your favourite cookies, you’ve got a lot more going for you than you may realise.

Especially in the middle of a “tough break”, when you feel like everything’s going wrong and you’re overwhelmed, stop and breathe.. And think about the wonderful experiences you’ve had so far and all that you’ve accomplished.

Dream about the changes you want, the life you want to live. And as you do, be grateful for all that you have right now.

The simple act of gratitude /appreciation will bring more of that to you.

I’ve been on a smiling high ever since I did this video. Even if you don’t want to make your own video, go ahead and use the gratitude muscle today!

I’d love you to share what you’re grateful for and proud of in the comments below. And if you make a video, PLEASE come back and post a link!!


And while we’re on the topic of gratitude, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to talk about about facing your fears, courage, happiness, discovering your passion, making FUN a part of daily life, taking Inspired Action and much, much more in this interview I did for the Spiritual Explorer show recently.

It was a right BLAST and we laugh and giggle a lot as we share some real life experiences of gutsy people following their dreams.

Would love to know what you think of it! Have a great weekend :)

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Tuesday Tip – Face One Fear Today!

October 12, 2009 by Tia · 13 Comments
Filed under: Conscious Creation, Life, Passion, Tuesday Tips, courage, happiness 

Do what scares you, take one step todayWhen you first learned to walk, everyone loved and encouraged you! Smart baby, they said, you’ll be walking before you know it.

So you learned to celebrate “failure” as a stepping stone to success. It was the natural order of life.

As your grew up, you changed. You became a quivering mass of jelly. A creature of habit and comfort. Ok maybe I’m being a bit harsh but you know as well as I do, just how much you sell yourself short. Admit it!

So WHY are you so scared of failing? If you don’t know how to do something, you won’t even try cos you’re scared you’ll fail and others will laugh or say I told you so.

You’ll be rejected and heaven help you if that happens, cos it’s obviously the end of the road for you :P .

Well guess what – those who laugh or put you down are to be pitied, cos they are SO scared they won’t even try whereas you, YOU will take that chance and learn and grow from it, no matter what happens!

Now, Isn’t that something to rejoice about?

As I have been thinking about this post it has brought to my mind a very common misperception that I am ready to let go of ~ that we EITHER fail OR succeed.

You’re with me right? We really fail AND succeed at the same time. There is no failure when we make it a part of success!

“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games; 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot…and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan, Basketball Player

I love that quote, it really helps put things in perspective. He (or someone else) also said you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

That’s one of the reasons I took on this 100 things I fear in 1oo days project, where I do one thing daily that scares me.

  • From reaching out to connect with someone, to
  • Asking for help,
  • Hugging strangers in the middle of downtown Vancouver,
  • Laying in the middle of a pavement for a few minutes in broad daylight,
  • Following my instincts inspite of fear … and much more..

.. all in aid of stretching past my comfort zone and growing my strength and courage in the process. Learning that the only thing that matters is how I feel about myself. Learning not to let my insecurities and fears be in charge of me.

No matter what your beliefs, you only get ONE shot at THIS life you’re living today. As each day, month and year passes, do you realise just how precious this gift of life is? I find myself wanting to make the most of it, everyday.

Don’t want to wait till something awful happens for me to start cherishing this precious, precious gift. I want to be reminded of it all the time.

Don’t you agree, that to spend most of our lives in fear, never doing, saying or being what we want, is a gross waste of our time, talent and purpose on Earth?

Today, I’m asking YOU to do one thing that scares you, that you wouldn’t dream of doing for fear of rejection, loss, feeling silly or any other excuse you have. That’s all they are, excuses.

And to encourage you, I’m posting an 8 second video of me looking really self conscious, silly and giggly as I chant “free hugs, free hugs” to people passing by! It took me about 20 minutes to feel comfortable with it and within an hour I gave out over 50 hugs. It was an AMAZING experience!

One lady even stopped her car at the red traffic signal, ran out across the road, hugged my friend and ran back into her car. Unbelievable!

My favourite? The little 3 yr old who ran to me with arms outstretched and gave me at least 3 hugs.Love Look at her gorgeous little face.. Aww!

Of course, there were those who scowled and tried to avoid us :) But you know what? That was all good too as it really reinforced the notion that “rejection isn’t personal” .

What a wonderfully empowering feeling THAT is.

To those who took a chance on a hug from a stranger, thank you for being so open to love and the human spirit!

If I can face my fear of being on camera, looking foolish, and posting a lopsided video that I couldn’t figure out how to straighten, imagine what ELSE I could do!?

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And YOU my friend, what are you not doing because you’re worried, scared, fearful or lack confidence? Share it with us, and then commit to doing it. We’re rooting for you all the way!!

I’m especially talking to those of you who read but feel like you have nothing to say – I’m telling you that you DO. So even if your act of courage is to write a comment that you always shy away from, do it now! Looking forward to hearing from you :) Thanks for being brave. You’re AWESOME.

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