During my childhood, the lyrics of Raffi Cavoukian (a.k.a Raffi, the children’s singer) influenced me a lot.  Therefore, I was delighted when I randomly encountered him recently at the Salt Spring Island Market. I took the ferry over to the beautiful Salt Spring Island with some friends to check out the Saturday Market.  Downtown Ganges (the main town) is packed with local vendors displaying their crafts.  While I was wandering around, a friend pointed out Raffi selling his books and CD’s. 

Movies are great sources of inspiration. I went to go see "Epic" several weeks ago and this quote stood out to me.  Therefore, I'm sharing it with you :) I really do recommend this movie if you haven't seen it yet - go see it - it is so powerful!

From my personal journey over the past few weeks, I discovered a common thread: I need the courage to stop feeling intimidated by others.  I must develop the courage to speak my truth to everyone – no holds barred. With most people I can freely communicate what’s on my heart; but with a select few, I lack the courage to express how I feel.  

With these people, I keep my thoughts and frustrations locked inside. I get worried that if I share how I feel or think, they will not like what I have to say. Sometimes I have been excluded for my views, even though I spoke politely.  I have also had others get upset, or change the topic when I speak. Most often, I would respond by keeping quiet, playing down my views, or agreeing with them. Whichever way you look at it, I lacked courage to stand up for what I believed with these people. I have come to realize that I ‘gave up’ on my views because I like to make others happy – more so than myself. I guess I’m a ‘people pleaser.’

Is there a common theme to the life lessons you are learning lately? I find that when I’m being taught something important, the message is usually repeated in different situations throughout my life. That way, I’ll pay attention – even if I don’t want to!

This happened recently at a personal development seminar where I was a participant.  We were asked to list personal obstacles in our life journeys. Like a reflex, I wrote down ‘COURAGE’ and circled it. Though I didn’t understand why this word mattered to me, I was soon to get inklings.

Participants were asked to discuss the meaning behind what they had written down with others close by.  We helped one another; I was shown that my ‘courage’ meant developing the strength to speak my story on a general level.