It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of a friend and mentor of mine, Lisa Simpson Brewster. Lisa passed away after a long battle with Breast Cancer.

Sometimes people come into your life, touch your heart, and your life will never be the same. I first met Lisa, three years ago, in an educational context.  Despite the twenty-year age difference between we connected and became friends. She was back in school starting a new career path in counselling. From the moment I met her, I noticed her enthusiasm and passion for life. It was infectious. She is also the proud mother of her son, Adam. Even with all the hardships she had endured, she pressed on and didn’t let these obstacles stop her from living. Lisa had such a beautiful heart.

We live in a society where accessing information has become easy and fast.  If you want something, you can get it almost immediately online.

This instantaneous access has made individuals impatient if they have to wait for something.  Some aspects of life can’t be rushed.

If you want to achieve greatness, you will have to put in the hard work to get there.  This time and effort can’t be rushed.

I wear my bracelet in memory of:

• My grade 5 teacher who developed lung cancer from second-hand smoke in the environment she was living in (and she never smoked a day in her life).  She passed away when I was in 6th grade.
• My elementary school principal, who was one of the nicest men, developed cancer and passed away when I was in grade four.
• Friends’ parents who have passed away from cancer.
• My cat who, this past June, passed away from a huge tumour in her stomach.
• My friend, Lisa Simpson Brewster passed away Breast Cancer. 

I am starting a new blog series on Perseverance and am extending an invitation to you all to share your story or an inspiring video/piece of advice on how to deal with setbacks. I find that we hear more about individuals' success orattainment of an end goal, but hardly hear about their journey to reach that goal. The “journey” is what my blog is about, and helping individuals overcome bumps along the road. The video below shows exactly what I am talking about.  When you think of these people, you think about how accomplished they are.  I never knew about all of the struggles they had gone through to reach their goals.  Learning this lesson is important!

I think it’s important to find something you love doing and to find your passion in life. I think you can do this on a daily basis.  This can be shown through your relationships, extra-curricular work, and career.

Have you ever met someone who is doing work which they truly love? Their excitement about their work can be infectious.

These people will probably be quick to tell you that they didn’t get their special job overnight, that it took a lot of time and effort and chance encounters to get there.  The people who I have heard from will also tell you that the job that they have now and LOVE was not the specific job they had in mind when they started out a long time ago.  They turned their interest into a career.

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would take some time to disconnect for a bit and get creative. I have been feeling really inspired lately so I'm going to use a notebook and write out new blog posts. I was inspired by the following image that I found on Pinterest. I'm going to spend a week of doing that in my spare time. Then next week, be prepared for new and fresh material.

Since spending time on the West Coast, I have picked up a saying that has really manifested into my way of life.

The phrase is, “No Worries.” I find it is very commonly used in my vocabulary.

The saying reflects my laid-back west coast lifestyle. Being laid-back does not at all mean a person doesn’t work hard. The laid-back lifestyle has nothing to do with the amount or intensity of your work. Rather, it means that you don’t let small things upset you.

Someone is late or has to reschedule. Things don’t happen as planned. I say: “No Worries.”

I know sometimes you can have frustrations with relationships, but sometimes you can have issues with organizations as well.  I know I’m not alone in this as this is not the first time this has happened to me.

I had a concern with an organization and was told to call a customer care representative to voice my concern.  These days, it seems if you want to speak to someone you have to call them up or email them.

Sometimes we think we are the only ones who are going through issues.  However, every generation goes through similar stages in life.

I came upon an assignment I wrote for a class in high school, called “The Young Adult of the Past and Present.” For the assignment, I had interviewed one of my grandmothers.  The original document has been changed only to take out personal information.  

My grandmother has lived in the same city for her entire life; she was born in 1921.  I chose to interview her because I think she has had a really interesting life. I wanted to find out how she was socialized to handle three developmental tasks: 1) separation from family, 2) development of intimate peer relationships, and 3) choice of career.

I had this powerful dream the other night which I have to share with you.

It relates to a situation I have been going through over the past year.  I find that if you have been thinking about something a lot, your mind has a way of incorporating those thoughts into your dreams.

Since I have been talking about relationships for the past few weeks, I thought I would share about a member of my family. I was looking at my dog today, and I was reminded of how blessed I am to have her in my life. She stared at me with her beautiful little eyes. It is true what they say about a dog's eyes; when she looks at you, you can’t help but smile. Even though she is getting older, she has the energy of a puppy. Let me show you what she looks like.

What happens when you meet that special someone, and then they move away? Do you pursue them, or do you forget them and find another who lives closer to you?

I find I’m hearing this question a lot in my circle of friends and with others in their twenties and early thirties. Therefore, I thought I would share this question with you all.

Tell me if any of these scenarios sound familiar to you:

• I met this special someone during school; after I graduated, I moved to a job somewhere else.
• I met a special someone on vacation, and then we both had to go back to our “real” lives.
• I met a really special person, then found out they have a job where they are travelling all of the time.