HELPFUL STUFF

Some of my favorite TED Talks:

Because Trust, Travel and Technology are in my DNA. We are living in the time of the “sharing economy” and few people can help us understand this as well as the co-founder of airbnb.

Aimee Mullins: The OPPORTUNITY of ADVERSITY Why tough experiences AlWAYS have a GIFT………it depends how we see, feel and use them.

Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? The very first step to my own healing was re-educating myself. It’s been an ongoing life long quest and one that I am certain underpins every path to Thriving. This video is a winner in helping see how to encourage and inspire natural Thrivers!

Rita Pierson shares her insights after 40 years in the field of education. She reminds us that all learning is relationship and that kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story A fellow African tells her story.

Andrew Solomon, a student of adversity, has spent his career telling stories of the hardships of others and his own. “We seek our identities in the wake of painful experiences. We cannot bear a pointless torment, but we can endure great pain if we believe that it’s purposeful.”

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People who live their talk is a quality I look for constantly, below I’ve listed those people who consistently live their words and inspire me to do the same.

Joanne Wilson: Successful, Diverse, Business women, Inspiring Mother & Wife. An engine to what she believes in and for all things cool in NYC take a look around www.gothamgal.com

Daniel Pink:
A whole new Mind: Left Brain vs Right Brain Dominance
(My review on the video “A Whole New mind”)
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
(The editors picked up my video review and asked if I would read and review Drive)

Seth Godin:
Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable–Includes new bonus chapter
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

Pema Choran:
When things fall apart: Heart Advise for Difficult times

Mark Epstein:
Going to Pieces without falling apart: A Buddhist Persepective on wholeness
Going on Being: Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and Psychotherapy

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More Books with some quotes, my attempt at trying to articluate what got my attention in each book

• “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert –“it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection. So now I have started living my own life. Imperfect and clumsy as it may look, it is resembling me now, thoroughly”
• “Don’t lets go to the dogs tonight” by Alexandra Fuller – “how to write about a woman whom I love while not necessarily loving everything about her, (my mother)”
  “I am an African first and foremost. How can I pinpoint it further? My skin is mostly white (a pale shade of brown?), but that is an accident of genetics. I have British parents, but that is an accident of geography. I have an American husband – but that is an accident of love. I have an African mind and soul – that seems to me the important distinction.”
• “The dark side of the light chasers” by Debbie Ford – “the shadow is the person you would rather not be”. “Grant yourself permission to have it all, you deserve it”
• “I have life” Alison’s Journey as told to Marianne Thamm – “We forget or are too lazy to put those lessons into practice and seem surprised when it happens again and again, until we are forced to look at it and learn”.
  “ That I am lucky to have survived the ordeal, that I am lucky that I had the personality, the resources, the friends and the support to overcome this terrible thing and not allow it to ruin my life”
  “Those people who we think are lucky actually work very hard at creating that good fortune.”
  “Anger is one of the most destructive of emotions. Guilt is one of the most incapacitating”
  “I am happier now than I have ever been before – not necessarily in spite of what has happened, but because of it”
• I could go on with books, I’ve yet to upload all my yoga inspired ones————————————————–
• Paradoxes – I’m fascinated how much we live with paradox’s. Peace, love and understanding. Trust, respect and tolerance. Forgiveness and Faith. Humour in the truck loads. Acceptance and graceful adaptability. Fire, Passion and tension! Having an edge, pushing through gently. Kindness, Gumption, Integrity! “Scorates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.” thanks Dan Pink, again.Also, Gretchen Rubin founder of www.thehappinessproject.com lists 9 paradoxes of happiness here 9 Paradoxes of
• This article stands out to me on the inner work we do on living with Paradoxes. “an ancient truth about being human: we cannot give gifts to others that we are unable to give to ourselves! That’s why “inner work” done well is never selfish. Ultimately, it will benefit other people”. Parker Palmer speaks + a poem

Saying vs Doing: I’m fascinated by watching what people do vs say, including myself. Often It’s perceived as selfish to take care of yourself first: I see this as an integral part of being an extraordinary human. If you feel like you don’t matter, and don’t care for your inner core, what kind of example are you setting for others? I truly beleive that when children see their parents being happy and healthy they in tern will be happy and healthy. My upbringing taught me the power of teaching by the example of doing vs. talking.