Category: Life

Olympic Rings

Connecting With Your Inner Olympian

On By Elizabeth Rosalyn TheIn Life1 Comment

My sense of motivation is always at an all-time high during the Olympics. There’s something about seeing athletes achieve their goals that inspires me to believe that any dream is possible with hard work, determination, and an optimistic outlook. As I watch the Summer games in London, I am reminded of a few important lessons that I learned from a celebrated Olympian this past Spring…

Back in March, YWiB SFU hosted the 2012 International Women’s Day Conference, a day dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women from around the globe and encouraging women to share their own stories in an effort to connect girls, overcome adversity, and inspire futures.

Among the roster of speakers was the ambitious Anna Rice, whose remarkable list of accomplishments include being a two-time Olympic athlete for the Canadian National Badminton Team, an ambassador for the international non-profit organization Right to Play, and a coordinator for the Choose Again foundation. During her keynote presentation on tapping into your strengths and unleashing the true and unique essence of who you are, she shared her five steps to ‘Connecting with your Inner Olympian‘:

Continue reading “Connecting With Your Inner Olympian” →

YWiB SFU

YWiB SFU

On By Elizabeth Rosalyn TheIn 2011, 2012, LifeLeave a comment

At this year’s International Women’s Day Conference at SFU Woodward’s, there stood a cherry blossom tree decorated by green paper leaves. On these leaves were the names of the people – mothers, sisters, friends, and mentors – who have had an influential role in the lives of the attendees. As I thought about my cherry blossom tree contribution, the first name that came to my mind was YWiB SFU.

YWiB SFU is a university chapter of the Young Women in Business (YWiB) network, a non-profit society for emerging female leaders in Western Canada. The network acts as a central forum to connect ambitious young women in their quest to develop their professional and personal selves by providing them with a wealth of opportunities, resources, and support. YWiB SFU brings together over 100 of the university’s most talented minds and passionate hearts, from a range of faculties, and strives to empower their members by guiding them in learning new skills and perspectives, exploring their interests, finding their passion, making a difference, and building their stories on the way to reaching their full potential in their careers and lives.

Read the rest of my article, “YWiB SFU: Building Stories with the Leaders of Tomorrow” in Issue 2 of SFU Beedie BASS‘s The Executive. Click here!

Oh Wells and What Ifs

On By Elizabeth Rosalyn TheIn Life, Words Of WisdomLeave a comment
 

“I’d rather have a life of oh wells than a life of what ifs.”

It is better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.

Earth Hour 2012

On By Elizabeth Rosalyn TheIn Change The World, LifeLeave a comment

Support the largest environmental event in history on Saturday, March 31st!

From 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM. millions of people worldwide will unite to switch off their lights for Earth Hour, an annual movement that provides an opportunity for communities to join forces in sending out a powerful call to action on issues related to climate change. This initiative serves as a demonstration of global solidarity in protecting this beautiful planet that we all share.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), one of the world’s largest independent conservation organizations, the Earth Hour movement was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and grew to include a multitude of nations across the globe. In 2011, more than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide participated in turning their lights off.

As Josh Laughren, WWF’s Climate and Energy Director says, “Canadians need to take a stand against climate change, and joining Team Earth Hour is a great place to start. Earth Hour started five years ago as a global movement with one goal in mind – creating a greener and cleaner world. We’re striving to achieve a world where everyone has access to fresh air, clean drinking water and natural resources, no matter where they live.”

See Earth Hour’s Get Involved page for ways to spread the word about Earth Hour and climate change, from innovative social media initiatives to the creative ‘I Will If You Will’ video challenge. You can go Beyond the Hour by pledging to join Team Earth Hour in making further lasting change for a sustainable planet.

The success of Earth Hour proves that we each have the power to make a difference in the world we live in, and that force becomes even stronger when we come together for a common cause!

(Cross-posted from ENGAGE)

The Beauty of Failure

On By Elizabeth Rosalyn TheIn Dear Diary, Inspiration, Life, WritingLeave a comment

Failure sucks. When you are informed that you have fallen short of reaching your goals, you cannot help but feel the tremendous blow to your confidence and self-worth. As the antithesis of success, failure is a condition that we strive to avoid in all of our efforts. But by doing this, we may miss the beauty of failure.

Failure is beautiful? Say what?

It’s inevitable that in everything we pursue in life, we are bound to meet a bunch of trials along the way. That is just something that cannot be prevented. As desirable as smooth sailing may be, without the ups and downs of life, how would we encounter great adventure? We wouldn’t! Because of those bumps on the road, you will eventually uncover treasure in the forms of knowledge and opportunity. How else would we improve our skills, grow as individuals, expand our mindsets, AND be introduced to incredible experiences if it wasn’t for the challenges brought by failure?

Failure is the ultimate test of your inner strength, patience, and faith.

I failed my road test not once, but twice. I have spent a considerable amount of time sulking over the past month, but I realized that it’s not an effective use of my time to continue burying myself in shame and self-pity. Instead, I have chosen to remind myself of what I’m talented at (writing, music) and challenge myself to keep working hard to eventually add driving to my skill set. I will take the constructive criticism I received to build upon what I’m good at and become even greater. The day that I am able to prove myself as a licensed driver will be a beautiful day indeed, because it will be a product of my unyielding perseverance!

Next time, when you come face to face with failure, don’t fear it…embrace it.

Find the beauty in failure.