This past weekend, while looking at some photos, I realized there are common activities my sisters and I tend to engage in when we travel anywhere.  Usually at the beach, after dipping our feet in the water, we make a mark in the sand and take a picture of it. I have a tendency to write the name of the city I am in followed by the year visited. Have a look at a few examples of imprints I have made over the years:

Each day since the beginning of time, the sun has risen from the darkness to the highest point in the sky for all to see. This summer, the early morning rays of the dawn have been waking me up as the sun rises to brighten the day. It seems the beams are at peak brightness, waking me up and causing me to pay attention to them. The sun doesn’t care if you aren’t ready to wake up, or if you dislike the intensity – it keeps its brightness – it keeps shining – it wants to be seen! We can all learn a lot from this notion.

What inspires you on your journey?

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Personally, other than deep conversations with others and beautiful surroundings, I use visual aides to encourage me. I love taking personal pictures and adding inspiring quotes to them. I think you will love this one about perseverance that I made yesterday!

During a routine run around my local lake this past weekend, instead of bringing my headphones like I usually do, I decided to be silent in nature and reflect on my journey. On the west coast, we are lucky to have some of the biggest trees in the world. Trees teach me a lot and being in their presence reminds me to think outside myself. The trees around here have been growing for hundreds of years and keep reaching higher, despite obstacles.  They are a force to be reckoned with – I haven’t even touched on how deep their roots must be.  Check out this beautiful video I found called "Growing is Forever" that I thought would visually encapsulate what I feel when I am surrounded by these tall trees.

Over the years I have received the comment that I’m too nice when responding with anything that life throws at me. The comment is usually seen as a bad thing – that I didn’t handle the situation properly.

Our society tends to favour loud and aggressive people. I have been told that I should be more assertive to get ahead in life.   However, when they mean be more assertive, they mean aggressive and loud.  Just because I don’t respond in the same way that they do doesn’t mean my opinion is less valuable or I’m less powerful than them.  Sometimes their opinions and comments are hard to ignore; you always hear them because they make a lot of noise. However, I truly believe actions speak louder than words.

I love combining my images and favourite quotes. Here is one I made for you. Motivational words to tell yourself each morning!

I just realized something about myself, well I have known it for a long time actually. I perform better and am happier when it is sunny outside. This realization became very apparent today when the sun appeared and suddenly my energy level skyrocketed.

Then it dawned on me that some of my readers may not be feeling bright in spirits today and may need an extra dose of sunshine. Perhaps your dampened spirit is due to a darkened day, harsh words from a critic, or you are dealing with a difficult time in your life. I have been there and just wanted to tell you that the sun will be shining again soon. PERSEVERE! Therefore, this post is dedicated to all of us who could use more sunshine in our lives. Especially to a reader whose appearance was criticized harshly by her boss today and she needs some cheering up. She's a beautiful person inside and out. Don't let the mean words of others ruin your day! Focus on the positive.

Changing your thoughts can really impact your life.  I have been changing mine and recommend that you should try it! Get involved by clicking here and sharing why you are a star! I'm only on day 4 and LOVING it so far :)  Imagine what you will get to see and experience.

In the past, the way I coped with insults was by seeking support and advice from others. Many people like to offer advice – I think the worst piece I ever got was when, after sharing with someone that I had been criticized, I was told in a harsh tone, “Suck it up and deal with it.”  I had been really low, as someone had said something really hurtful when I was vulnerable.  Usually I am good with bouncing back from an insult, but this time it took a little longer.  My delay in bouncing back wasn’t due to the insulting comment; it was because of how I dealt with it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those Canadians celebrating this weekend! I'm so excited to spend time with my wonderful family and friends.  I'm extremely blessed to have them in my life.  My family has this tradition during dinner that we all go around and say what we are thankful for.  I thought I would share the question with you.

I love this quote by Anaïs Nin about digging deep as it describes me exactly.  Thanks Tara for sharing it with me.

Here are five previous posts where I dug deep and wrote about my experiences:

You miss 100% of the shots you never take, right? Well, when one of my sisters presented me with this offer to join her on vacation, I had to go. I’m so glad I did.I recently returned from a trip of a lifetime with my sister to Britain and Ireland. We loved it so much.  My sister and I spent three weeks touring these beautiful countries on a coach with a tour group. It really was a special time, and I’m blessed that I got the opportunity to do this trip, especially with my sister.

My sister and I haven’t seen each other much in the last several years due to living in different cities for school.  Since we both had recently graduated, we thought we would take an adventure before we start the next steps in our lives.

I learned so much on our trip! Here are the top ten lessons I was taught while on vacation: