On Thursday, June 25th 2009, an event took place which caused the world to stop…

It was not such an event as a world war, or a terrorist attack, or even the complete crash of the stock-market and world economy. But yet still, this event brought people into the streets, it brought tears, recollections of memories of childhood and days gone by.

On Thursday, June 25th 2009, at 2:26pm the King of Pop, Michael Jackson died.

When we look at this “strange” and “awesome” man and performer, one has many opinions. For a long, stretched out minute in the grand scheme of the Universal time frame, Michael Jackson was the biggest celebrity on the planet. His Thriller album sold record numbers the year it came out, and it is still the highest selling album of all time… Of ALL time! There is no other Super-star who can make that claim.

Like most people, when I heard the news, I stopped what I was doing. I was in shock. I was stunned.

In this day of social media, the way we receive information has completely changed. I did not hear the news from a news break on TV or via radio; I did not receive a phone call or a knock on my door. No… to have heard the news in that manner would have deemed me a “dinosaur” in this fast-paced, high-tech age.

That morning I had been extremely busy with prospective client intakes, consultations, and the endless emails that had permeated my inbox; I did not have time to visit any of the various social media networks where I conduct a large part of my networking.

Finally, I answered the last email and headed over to check messages and updates on Facebook. I logged in, and there on my wall was an update from someone who had the simple words “RIP Michael Jackson”.

Not sure if it was a prank or not, I went over to my Twitter account, and sure enough the number one tweeted item was #Michael Jackson.

Immediately I turned on CNN International, and there was the yellow banner of “Breaking News” and the endless news of the Superstars passing.

The endless videos of his mega-hits brought back floods of memories.

I was still in primary school when Thriller came out. All over the radio, one could hear Beat It, and Billie Jean, and of course, Thriller. Music videos were just emerging in Hong Kong, and Solid Gold was a Sunday afternoon main-stay. We all learned the words to the songs, and Michael Jackson’s killer moves emerged on the streets and in our schools. Read the rest of this entry

For years I have been a proponent of positive visualization and overcoming situations, including those situations which may seemingly seem “incurable”.

Most of you who are reading this know that in 2002 I had a near-death experience after being mis-diagnosed and then overdosed by a medical doctor. Upon emerging out of the coma, I could not walk, talk, read, write, or do much of the activities “normal people” could do. It was akin to having suffered a stroke. My diagnosis at that time was “residual brain damage with no hope of cure”.

And as most of you reading this know, I fought back. It took me 45-days of positive visualization, positive actions to see the results; but after 45-days, I was at 90-95% functioning. I went on to meet and marry the man of my dreams, move to Arizona, and become a successful Empowerment and Inspiration Coach.

This article was in SCMP.com and I am re-posting it here in its entirety so that you can see how suggestions can lead to detriment, but by the same token, whatever “label” is placed on you, YOU have the power to create positive change. It does not matter WHAT that label is… even a medical diagnosis that can sound like a death sentence. The power of your mind is intense and it is vast. We each contain exactly what we need to cure ourselves;  by the same token, we each contain exactly what we need to cause us further detriment… even death.

Read the article and decide for yourself….

Worried sick: modern witch doctors

What witch doctors achieve with voodoo, the conventional sort manage with the power of suggestion. New research appears to show the mind plays a much larger role in sickness than previously realised
Helen Pilcher
Jun 07, 2009

Late one night in a small Alabama cemetery, Vance Vanders had a run-in with the local witch doctor, who wafted a bottle of unpleasant-smelling liquid in front of his face and told him he was about to die and that no one could save him. Read the rest of this entry

Often people ask me about my tag line “Today we create our tomorrow”. They ask me what I mean by that. I tell them that each and every day we are planting seeds that will grow into fruition at some later date. Some times the date is sooner rather than later, and the bounty that we can reap is dependent on what seeds we sow.

In other words, if we are filled with negative images, negative thoughts, and negative beliefs, the seeds we are planting are going to reap us more negative; and the same if we are filled with positive.

For example, I knew a woman who was constantly filled with negativity. Her whole life was surrounded by negatives. Things seemed to always happen to this woman. The more she complained the more things she received to complain about.

This woman complained about everything; her ex-husband, her children, her job, her bills, her friends, her minister, etc… etc… etc…

This woman’s negativity became a wonderful example to one of her children. After years of watching his mother sowing more and more seeds of negativity, many of which affected him and his siblings directly, this courageous young man reached outside of the environment that he grew up in. He began to attend seminars on positivity, he began coaching sessions with me and he began to sow seeds of positivity.

Soon, this young man began to see the fruits of his labour and he began to see the positive growth that surrounded him.

He moved away from his family, which continued to sow the seeds of negativity; got married to a wonderful woman who helped him sow more seeds of positivity. He finished College; the first person in his family to do so, and started his own company; which is highly successful today.

This woman is still living in a sea of misery and negativity. The seeds of her negativity have now grown into a dangerous crop and she has created a situation in which she is in trouble with the law. On the flip side of the coin, her son is thriving; his business and his life is an incredible success, and he continues to sow the seeds of positivity. Read the rest of this entry

Several years ago I was a very different person from the Leyla I am today. I was in an abusive marriage and was severely depressed. During those years, I did not know how to cope with life and worked very hard at hurting myself. It was only in hurting myself that I found some sense of reality. Everything else was as dream… rather a nightmare.

The result of the choices of hurting myself left me with severe scars on both of my arms. Over the years the scars turned white, and were raised up. They were a real eyesore and many people asked about the scars which lead to a lot of embarrassment on my part.

I had even consulted with a plastic surgeon who told me that there was nothing that could be done about the scars and that if I wanted to try anything, it could lead to even larger, more noticeable scars.

Although I knew that I had to live with it for now, I never gave up hope that one day, the ugly raised scars would go down, and I would have my arms back to a certain beauty… if not fully restored.

Most of you know read this and who know me, know that I am a huge proponent of the Law of Attraction, and manifesting the positive. So I never gave up the knowledge that miracles do happen, and that it would happen for me also.

Recently, a good friend of mine told me about these incredible oils that his friend had developed. I agreed to try the oils and if they worked, to be a testimonial. I even agreed to take photos of my scars and have them posted as before and after photos… if the oils worked.

A couple of weeks ago, I began a new life style change, and in that change I also began using the oils. It became an enjoyable morning routine in which I expressed absolute gratitude for many things as I rubbed the oils into my arms, and also the acne scars on my face.

After exactly one week of using the oils, I have noticed that a few of the smaller scars on my left arm have all but disappeared, and the very large, deep, long and raised scars on my right arm are starting to go down and are noticeably starting to fade. Read the rest of this entry

Welcome to my blog which is really the ramblings of thoughts that go through my mind.

As this is my first blog, I was wondering what poignant memories I wanted to unlock from the vault that is my mind… what memories I have, that I wanted to share with you.

As today is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, I have felt to share with you my memories, and what those days have taught me, and how I honor all of those who lost their lives, on a daily basis.

It’s hard to believe that already 20 years have passed by. The year prior to the events, my family and I had taken a trip to Beijing and had walked across Tiananmen Square.

I remember the news reports in the lead-up to June 4th. At first, my whole family and I did not understand why these kids were protesting, surely there was a better way. But as more and more news reports came out, and the government allowed them to remain in the square, we really began to pay attention. Before this time, it was just a “blip” on the news radar for us.

As the numbers of protesters increased, and as we saw police officers joining in with them, we saw the “organization” in which they were operating; we began to grow a respect for them. Here were a group of university students who were trying to make a difference, not only for themselves, but for their country.

Respect and admiration for their calls for democracy, and better living standards rang out in scenes that began to remind many of the original rise of Communism, the Long March, and the Red Guard. The difference was that these protesters were attempting to create change in a peaceful manner. Read the rest of this entry