Ever heard of the common empowerment phrase “Say Yes to Life”? What does “saying yes” mean to you? How do you apply it in your life?

I heard the phrase a couple years ago and wanted to adapt it into my life as a way to be open to new possibilities.

To me, I initially thought of it as a way to overcome one’s fears about trying new things. People would present me with opportunities and I would say yes.

As you may know, I have been reaching out and asking people I admire what daily practices (i.e., record worthy practices) they perform in their lives to feel better about themselves. I encourage you to sit back, put away your distractions for a few minutes, and reflect. Think about how you can apply the record worthy practice, which is shared below, in your life.

Today. Anne-Sophie Reinhardt shares her record worthy practice with all of us.

After 4 years of blogging with wordpress.com, I recently decided to move my blog to a self-hosted site. I had thought about it for a while (a year actually) and decided this spring was the perfect time to launch.

Initially, I started the blog as a place for my own healing and personal growth; over time and through your support, this beach space has grown into a collective retreat space for us all to gather. I wanted the design to reflect the transition.

I reached out and asked the amazingly creative designer and fellow Canadian, Rita Barry (Blog Genie), to help me make the transition from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. The process is quite challenging and technical, so I asked for an expert’s help.

I'm excited that today, Dawn Brown, is “Speaking From the Heart” and sharing her experiences with all of us. Dawn was the Director of Student Life Services and head of Career Services at Carleton University (where I obtained my Bachelor's degree) in Ottawa, Canada. I am really inspired by Dawn's message of hope, so I asked her to be part of this series; she is a mentor to me. As said on her website, "she credits those she has met on the road and seas with inspiring her by allowing her to see life through their eyes." I had to ask Dawn to inspire fellow writers by asking her to speak from her heart!

Ever wondered about the writing process? How does it work? I get asked about my writing process quite often and love having conversations about expressing one's thoughts. Writing is a solitary practice so it is more fun to have people around to inspire you along the way. So when one of my blog friends and fellow authors, Heather Grace Stewart, invited me to take part in this blog hop, I wholeheartedly agreed. How the blog works is that you mention the author who invited you (i.e., Heather) and then share your answers to the Blog Hop questions. Thanks for the invitation Heather! Prepare to be inspired and feel free to share your thoughts on the writing process!

When you travel, the focus is on the destination. Travel guides draw you in with the sites you will see and what you will experience when you are visiting the new places. But for me, the highlights of any adventure I have ever been on, are the beautiful heart-felt connections you will develop with the people on your journey.  

The people you meet along the way make the experience. I thought I needed to go to all these amazing places throughout the world to see the sites. What my soul craves, though, is to go meet new people and to build connections with them. Those are my most precious moments and souvenirs from travelling. The memories/lessons learned from these connections are what I cherish most.

When you think you don’t have anything super exciting to announce or to say, do you stop talking or hide your thoughts?

A friend asked me recently why I wasn’t posting more regularly.  While I had been posting, I think what she really meant to ask was: why wasn’t I sharing more of my journey on the blog?

After she brought this up, I found a chance to head to the water and reflect. As you may know, water is my source of inspiration. When I’m looking for guidance, I seek it out.

Now, you might be asking yourself "What is Pink Shirt Day?"

The last Wednesday of February (this year is Feb. 27th) in Canada, is Anti-Bullying Day (i.e., Pink Shirt Day).  It is a day where we take a stand and address this important issue.

As I work in bullying prevention and love the colour Pink, I support this wonderful cause and am proudly wearing pink today.  People always ask me, “Why bullying prevention?”  My answer is always the same: “I have seen and personally experienced the negative effects of bullying and want to stop it from hurting others’ lives.”  That is why I support this initiative.

Therefore, today I'm happy to feature Cameron Von St. James and his FAMILY as part of my Profiles of Perseverance  series. To this family every day is family day, as they know how valuable it is to be together. Cameron initially reached out to me and wanted to share his family's story, which he called "Living with Cancer." After I read it, I had to ask Cameron to also share his pieces of advice about overcoming obstacles. His writing moved me to tears, as many in my life have been affected by this disease.  As you will see below, the Von St. James family is beautiful and perseverant. Hearing their story shows how important social support is in overcoming obstacles. Thank you, Cameron, Heather, and Lily, for reminding others what is important in life! 

As I have said before, one of my favourite things about blogging is connecting with others.  Erin and I connected randomly on Twitter. Erin O’Brien lives in Sydney, Australia and is Chief Encouragement Officer at Activate28. She helps women who procrastinate and feel overwhelmed, and who want more *flow* and ease in their workday. I'm so glad I met her. Soon after she emailed me the following virtue card along with the message:

"When you mentioned that perseverance is a core theme for your life, I decided to attach the virtue card of perseverance. The third sentence reminds me of your website … and I imagine other sentences would resonate with you on the journey you’ve been on. "

“What am I going to do with all my pennies?”

This thought crossed my mind while I was cleaning my room last weekend.  I have a cup full of pennies that I have been randomly collecting as spare change. The pennies just sit in a cup in my room occupying space.

Asnat Greenberg is an economist, an artist, and a writer. She worked in the Bank of Israel for 20 years as a Senior Economist, managing billions dollars worth of foreign investments. A few years ago, she followed her heart, left the Bank of Israel, and began to create art, exhibiting in the US and in Europe. Asnat is married, has three children, and lives in Jerusalem, Israel. Her art can be seen at: www.helen-and-asnat.com. Her book, Secrets of Kindness: A Journey among Good People, that has been published recently, is the story of her journey through the world of altruism. This fascinating mosaic of interviews with good people forms an impressive and inspiring document showing the human spirit at its best.