It was a sad day yesterday. My family and I had to put down our 16 year-old sheltie, Sable, who had been battling bladder cancer. Sable tried to hold on for as long as she could, but yesterday she gave up her fight.  Up until yesterday she had been energetic and strong but that changed very suddenly.  We had no choice but to put her to sleep as she refused to eat, had a difficult time drinking, and had little to no energy. However, even in the face of adversity, she still stayed positive and died with a smile on her face.  She is reunited with her best buddy Comet, our cat who died last June.

Since the message last night was about "Loving The Skin You're In," I thought I would follow it with this important message about melanoma.  If you haven't seen it already, the video is a must watch!

Today, Felicity Lumb, who writes a blog called The Life and Loves of a girl called Felicity, is sharing with us about perseverance.  She has a powerful story to tell as she battled with and overcame anorexia.  She turned something negative into something positive - I love her honesty! Her blog was started as a way for her to promote healthy body image and fight mental health stigma.  Thanks Felicity for reminding us to Keep Loving the Skin We're In!  I'm so glad I reached out and connected with you!

All the successful relationships require trust. This can be generalized to all domains as trust is essential to perseverance. I know many situations where individuals are worried and obstacles occur, but they proceed on their path with the trust that it will turn out all right in the end.  Because of this trust, they can keep going towards their goal.  Trust is the “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”(dictionary.com)

I found this poem called "Don't Quit" (author unknown) and had to share.  I thought it would be really fitting for my "Profiles of Perseverance" series.

Do you have any inspirational poems, quotes, or videos to encourage others to not quit? I'd love to see them.  Hope you all are having a great week!

Today, Amanda Christian, is sharing her thoughts on perseverance with us. Amanda Christian is the hiking yogi buddy you always wanted but never had. She’s a soul-engineer, a maximizer and a modern day voyager with lots of strange ideas. Strange ideas that just might be what you’ve been waiting for. As a miracle-fueled yoga instructor + creator of weekly Soul Workout YouTube videos, she’s been featured on MindBodyGreen, Purpose Fairy, and Tiny Buddha. Think of Amanda as your chia-drinking, mountain bike-riding, bubble-blowing miracle maven illuminating the path to personal power and miracles.

I have had this happen to me a couple times before, when I was starting to write large papers for some courses I took. However, I have never experienced such a large mental roadblock until recently. When I went to start writing my book, I had all these ideas running through my head; but when I went to type them out recently, I couldn’t.

I know from past experience that you don’t make any progress by doing nothing.  So I decided to try to overcome my writer’s block and found some successful ways to do that. The small changes I made and the strategies I learned (which I have shared below) made a world of difference!

Today, Wade Wilson, is sharing with us his thoughts about perseverance.  Thanks Wade!  His message is really valuable and insightful.  I suggest you read it.  Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Self-Reflection is a wonderful but scary process. It is difficult to objectively look at our faults and acknowledge them, however being able to learn from past set-backs is necessary to achieve excellence. We can self-reflect on both positive and negative experiences to find strength to persevere.

Many people today are struggling with mental health issues; I believe it is so important to start talking about this topic.

There is a new campaign put out by the Partners for Mental Health called "Not Myself Today."  The goal of the campaign is to bring awareness to mental health.  I took the pledge because as it says on the Not Myself Today site, "Mental health can no longer be ignored. We are all affected. We are all touched by it. That's why I'm pledging my support to improve mental health in Canada." 

When it comes to persevering in life, it helps to have positive mentors who are there for us along the way.  Many people I have interviewed recently have mentioned this. I saw this video earlier today and thought it is such a beautiful tribute to the importance of mothers in terms of an individual's success!!!! Thanks P&G for creating this great advertisement!

Today, Marie-Hélène (M&H) Thibeault, a Canadian Alpine Ski Team alumnus and the Executive Director of Fast and Female, shares her thoughts on perseverance with us.  Fast and Female was created by Chandra Crawford (Canadian Olympic Gold Medallist) in 2005.  Through partnering with Olympic athletes, it is dedicated to the empowerment of young women through sport. As a female athlete, I'm a proud supporter of the work that they do and have written about them on my blog in the past.  I'm delighted that I get to promote them on here as I fully believe in their vision.

I'm delighted to share with you a personal story of perseverance by Mina Samuels (Author of "Run Like A Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives"). Mina Samuels is a freelance writer and editor. A former litigation lawyer and human rights activist, she has ghostwritten and edited work on a wide range of topics including human rights, business and legal issues, sports, and fiction. Mina’s most recent book is Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives. Her previous books include, a novel, The Queen of Cups, and The Think Big Manifesto, co-authored with Michael Port. When she’s not writing, she might be found out on the roads or trails, running, cycling, cross-country skiing, or doing yoga, among many other things. If you would like to connect with her, you can check out her Facebook page or follow her on Twitter! Thanks for sharing your story with us Mina.