February 2012 – Page 2 – Be That Girl Now

Good Bathroom Graffiti

Now, I am not one to condone writing on the walls in bathrooms. That is not what this is about. We have all been in a stall where someone has defaced the walls with whatever they have on their person; pens, markers, pencils or just something sharp they can use to scratch it in. Often, the things written are either cruel or mean, or it is someone professing their love for someone else. (T.O. + R.O. 4-Ever). I hate to generalize on this, but I would say that most of the graffiti is done by younger adults.

Today, I was inspired by some high quality graffiti in my stall. It read:

Love yourself for who you are

I absolutely adored this wall message and it made me think fondly of the new generation of young adults. Yeah, they’re writing on the walls, but at least they are writing about truly important things!

And it’s true. You need to love yourself for who you are. When you love yourself, you will start treating yourself better. You will find it easier to provide your body with healthy things and avoid things that are not good for you. When you love yourself, you will talk nicely to yourself and it will be easier for you to succeed at whatever you want.

So embrace the inspiration to love yourself! Small, inspiring quotes can be everywhere…. even in your bathroom stall. Be ready! Namaste.

Home again.

At the end of any vacation, you may feel sad about your return to “real life”. If this is the case, you need to rethink your “real life”!

It’s time to get excited about your everyday by making sure you are doing things you love. Follow your passion every day in everything you do, and let go of the things that bring you stress but do not give you results.

Don’t know what your passions are anymore? Time to think about it for real. in my book, Be That Girl, I walk you through writing a 5 year plan based on what you really want out of life. Can’t wait for your copy of the book? Sign up for my e-newsletter at and receive a free video on changing your life today.

Chase your dreams everyday and soon your dreams will be reality. Namaste.

Let the Sunshine in.

Oh, let the sunshine in, face it with a grin…

Open up your heart and let the sunshine in!

How can I deal with stress? Remember to put your smile on, and let some sunshine in. Smiling can change the way you feel inside and outside, and will bring more positivity to you! Simple steps to happiness. Namaste!

Love is in the air.

Today is the day that we are supposed to tell the people we love how much we love them. There is an expectation that one will receive flowers, chocolates, jewelery or a beautiful, romantic night out.

I love the idea of Valentine’s Day in that we tell people we care about them and appreciate them. What I do not like are all of the expectations that we have placed on one day. I think we should consider every day to be like Valentine’s Day and not wait for one day to tell our loved ones how we feel. And I also do not think you should feel pressured to spend a lot of money on something to give to your loved ones as a sign of affection.

Making a homemade card with an affectionate saying on it, or writing a love note and giving it to someone can be more powerful than any diamond bracelet. (don’t get me wrong, diamonds are still a girls best friend…)

Don’t wait for Valentine’s Day. Say “I Love You” everyday with your words and with your actions. Getting flowers on a day that is not Valentine’s Day will surprise your sweetheart even more.

Express your love everyday and always try to maintain an element of surprise. Everyone loves a good surprise. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Arrrr Matey!

Did you know that Roatan, Honduras used to be inhabited by Pirates, including Henry Morgan? The British Government made piracy illegal and then they proceeded to hire the “pirates” to ransack Spanish ships. The pirates became known as privateers, and they lived on Roatan at Port Royal (which is also the name of one of the local beers… yummy). Any loot that the privateers took became property of the British Government, and the privateers received a decent salary for their work. They were allowed to keep one gold chain in their possession, so they got creative and made the chains really long and heavy! They were also allowed to keep one gold earring. Getting a proper burial was very important to the privateers, and upon giving a fellow pirate their burial, the earring was taken as payment.

Today I am dreaming about finding a pirate map with a huge red X on it marking the spot where some of that British loot was hidden (they didn’t give it all to the British… they are pirates!). Oh, the adventure I am going to have searching for that treasure! Once I find it, you can bet that I will share it!

There’s a little history lesson for you today, and also a reminder to have a dream! Dream big or dream small, just make sure that your dreams seem crazy, illogical, amazing and personal. The more you can allow yourself to think about the impossible, the closer you will be to achieving those dreams.

Enjoy your search for hidden treasures, whatever that means to you. Namaste.

Get Connected.

The other day I stopped at the corner grocery store to get some deli meat and cheese. While I was waiting for them to prepare my sandwich fare, I grabbed a cold beer and put it on the counter. A gentleman came up to buy his items and my beer sort of got mixed in with his stuff. I quickly grabbed the beer and said
“oh, the beer is mine”. This sweet man says “Oh, I’ll buy that beer for you, don’t worry about it!”

How kind is that? He was from London, Ontario and we ended up having a good ‘ole chat about what we do with ourselves when we are not on vacation. Turns out he owns nursing homes in Ontario, and he had valuable information for me on a little project that I have been mulling around in my head. And he is so excited to read “Be That Girl!”. I am taking a copy to him today. In less than 5 minutes, we shared a tonne of information with each other and I thoroughly enjoyed waiting for my lunchmeat.

Every person you meet has information for you, or you have information for them. You have got to be daring enough to talk to strangers, in spite of what our parents taught us as children. It still amazes me how quickly my children make connections with other children. Kids are like magnets to each other and it is as if they know innately that if they hang out together the fun will be multiplied. Yesterday, we met a family with 3 girls also at the beach. The connection between those girls and my girls was instantaneous, and meeting them ended up being a highlight of my girls day. I have included a picture of the little darlings.

Us adults could really learn from this. We need to get out there and start talking to new people. Get connected, get information, share information, and reap the rewards that your network will give you.

Today, I am on a mission to pay my free beer forward to someone new. I wonder who I will meet, and what I will learn. How exciting!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Take some time.

My daily inspiration this morning came from my tea cup, which read “take some time”. I have included a picture of it here! For me, taking some time means giving myself some time, even if it is 5 minutes. I plan to do just that today. I will do yoga by the pool, even if it is just for 5 minutes. You cannot make more time, but you can take more time. Use your time wisely, and add value to your day and to yourself by taking some for you. Enjoying 5 minutes sitting with your eyes closed and focusing on your breathing can reconnect you with the Universe and with yourself and you will be amazed how great you will feel after just 5 minutes. Set a timer if you need to, but take that time for you today. Namaste.

Inspiration is Everywhere!

This morning when I went to make coffee, I noticed a little saying on the tray where the coffee was stored. It said “Enjoy your life”. Funny, I have made coffee everyday for 5 days, and yet today is the first day that I actually noticed this little message. I guess I needed a little inspiration today.

My 3 beautiful children were up at 5:30 this morning (and we are on vacation!), and the sun had not even peaked up out of the ocean. Good thing I went to bed early last night. But really Tina, come on. You are on vacation, you have 3 lovely, healthy girls, and you got to watch the sun rise over the ocean blue this morning. Enjoy your life! Because it is truly amazing, and everyone needs a little reminder of that sometimes.

Inspiration is everywhere in your life, but you have to be looking for it and you need to be perceptive enough to see it and understand it! Enjoy every moment of every day, no matter what gets thrown at you. Smile and breathe. Relax and don’t worry. Keep your eyes open… the Universe is waiting to inspire you!

Roatan Recycling Update.

When I was in Roatan a year ago, there were no recycling facilities that I could see. The people living here even told me that there was no where to recycle cans and bottles. If you’ve read my book, I talk about how cans are simply burned or just thrown into the ocean here! My husband and I did discover by asking around that the stores would take the bottles and cans and return them, so we started dropping them off there. One year later, I am so pleased to report that there are now bottle and can containers located all over the island. Woo Hoo! What a difference a year can make. Someone here was thinking, and wanted to help make a change for this island, and for the world. A small thought followed by a small action by one person created a huge change in how things are handled on this island.

You may think that the little things you do don’t add up to much. But, if the little things you do stimulate others to change their thinking, and then they start doing little things also, eventually we can all change the world just by doing something small. And that is the way to make change, and save the planet that has been so good to us. Small actions and small changes in thinking create huge results. So get out there and do something small today! Namaste.

Living differently.

Being on vacation in Roatan is amazing… and different. We are staying in a house, not a resort, so we are pretending that we live here. We are buying our own groceries and cooking all of our own food. Others have told me that this is a lot different than it is in North America, but I really did not believe them. Until now. The first noticeable difference is at the till and on the shelf. A bottle of wine costs 173 Lempira’s, which equals about 9 US dollars. And when your grocery bill totals 2000 it can seem a bit scary! (That’s about 100 US Dollars).

Everything that is not grown on the island has to be imported, so almost everything costs more here than it would at home. Due to the heat and humidity here, maintaining the freshness of food even in the grocery stores is an issue. The meat in the grocery stores looks very different than what we are used to, and I still cannot bring myself to buy it. You have to look carefully at expiry dates, and a lot of times the stuff you want to buy (like milk) may not be in stock when you choose to shop. Yesterday for breakfast, I was fully prepared to make pancakes with a yummy pancake mix that was in the cupboard. We had a bunch of bananas that had just been cut off a tree and I had mushed them up to add to the mix. When I opened the bag of pancake mix and looked inside to measure out a cup, the mix was crawling with tiny little bugs. I promptly threw the whole bag in the garbage and moved on something else. These little bugs are common place here, and I suppose one either gets used to them or you don’t eat certain foods. Today, I cooked up some Macaroni Noodles for lunch. When I opened the box and saw movement, I thought “oh, well. At least they are going into the boiling water.”. I dumped the noodles in, rinsed them well once they were done cooking, and we all ate our yummy lunch. A girl has gotta do what a girl’s gotta do for herself and her family. Rest assured that I may be sticking to more fruits and vegetables while we are here from now on, and I will be asking others who live here how to compensate for the interesting foods here.

For now, I have some counters to wipe off so the sugar ants don’t come. I am officially playing “Survivor Roatan” and I feel like I’m going to win!