The Breathing Prosperity blog

Jim Rohn…just the name inspires a smile and feelings of affection in me. Jim, mentor to thousands - more likely millions - left us this month, and the world is certainly poorer without him. He will be missed greatly, and he most certainly fulfilled his fondest wish, which was to touch many hearts and lives during his time here with us. Although Jim is gone physically, our planet and our collective psyche are vastly richer for his having been here and shared so generously with us.

Jim Rohn
September 17, 1930 – December 5, 2009

As is human nature, I did not realize quite how much Jim meant to me until I heard of his death and spent the day reflecting on it (I had no choice – I couldn’t get it out of my mind), and on how much his words and wisdom are a part of my psyche. I know I felt a deep sense of loss and cried my own private tears, and I can only imagine how his family and close friends must feel.

Jim’s passion for sharing his knowledge and helping others improve their lives inspired countless audience members to not only improve themselves but also to turn around and help others do the same. So many people have graduated from Jim’s seminars and subsequently passed along his wisdom in different ways, and hundreds of thousands more have absorbed Jim’s words while listening to his audio programs…in their cars, while they worked, while they exercised. An entire company – Herbalife – and its reps all over the globe have enjoyed Jim’s mentorship, and audiences all over the world have been fortunate to have spent time with him while he shared some of himself and his thoughts in seminars.

I have written of Jim often on this site and others, as readers will know, and I am one of many, many people in the personal and professional development fields who have incorporated Jim’s wisdom into their own words and thoughts…we can’t help it! Jim’s words and philosophy have affected so many people on so many levels it would be difficult to find someone in this genre who hasn’t benefited, whether they realize it or not. Jim spoke of business philosophy, but of course it was personal growth and development at its core. I felt Jim’s compassion in every word he said, and he was one of a very short list of people I’ve known of who truly walked his talk. By all accounts, he was humble, gracious, generous and kind, while also being wise, curious and full of zest for life.

I would like to thank Jim from the bottom of my heart for all he meant to me, and for being a shining example of mentorship. Sites of mine such as IncreasingVelocity.com and Live-With-Power.com are my attempts to share what has been of value to me, with the knowledge that improvement in one area of our lives affects everything else in a positive way. I now realize that it was Jim who first, and most deeply, instilled this philosophy in me and I am grateful.

The memorial wall which has been set up to honor Jim has received an outpouring of love, gratitude and grief from around the world. The thousands of messages are added to every day by people who loved Jim, from close and from afar, whose lives he touched. Jim’s spark for improvement and living with passion became our spark, and the flame burns brightly in us and will be passed on. Click here for the Jim Rohn memorial wall.

For more about Jim and the legacy he left via his products, see JimRohn.com. It’s never too late to begin on your own personal path of growth and development, and reap the immense rewards. Nothing would make Jim – and me – happier!

We did it! Hooray!

You may have seen the ‘free hugs’ videos from around the world…like the ‘Song Around the World’ videos (see our Inspiring Videos page), these touch me deeply each time I watch one. Essentially, these feature footage of people offering free hugs to passersby, and the idea for free hugs campaigns has spread far and wide, inspiring many people to offer hugs to complete strangers in their own cities.

While I always love watching these, it never occurred to me that I could do it. Recently, however, that changed and I felt the urge to do so. I was as surprised as anyone at my suggestion, and I have my friend Alex Wu, whom I met at the recent Steve Pavlina Conscious Growth workshop, to thank for actually taking me seriously, and taking me up on it. Alex the Brave, as I now call him, showed up on the designated day with is own ‘Free Hugs’ sign and his arms outstretched to humanity…in short, he was incredible, and very inspiring. Thanks also go to Alex’s friend Steve, who filmed much of the footage but who was too shy to participate.

I left Steve’s workshop with a stronger sense of our human unity and feeling of connection than I’ve ever felt before, and it spilled out on this day when we were offering hugs to strangers on the streets of Toronto. The entire experience was fantastic, and when I see my own daughter in the footage being such a generous spirit, I’m truly, deeply grateful that we did this.

Without further ado, here is the video – after much editing and playing around with it, I am most pleased and I hope you will enjoy it!

Some lessons I learned more deeply this day include:

• NEVER judge a person by their appearance. We knew this, didn’t we? The sweetest looking little old ladies often didn’t take us up on the offer of a free hug. The burly men we made snap judgements about (‘they won’t want one’) more often than not instantly said yes, and so on. How easy it is to make quick judgements and how unconsciously we do so…it was quite a surprise to me. Alex also shared value with me in the way he held out his arms to everyone, without reservation. Even if he was making judgements in his mind, he certainly didn’t demonstrate any difference in the way he approached passersby: each was unequivocally offered a hug.
• What other people think doesn’t matter, and yet it’s all that matters. For days before this event, I was nervous. I was embarassed and worried about putting myself out there in such a visible way, until I realized that I was way to focused on what others think. With conscious intention, I took the focus out of my head and into my heart, and poured it out to others that day. I conquered my ego-based thoughts – fear of ridicule, rejection, disapproval – by acknowledging and moving past the paradox: it doesn’t matter what other people think (do it anyway, because you want to), and it only matters what others think (do it anyway, because it will bring joy to people and make their day). It turns out we really did make a lot of people’s days, including our own.
• You really do get what you give. We not only gave out tons of love and hugs, but of course we GOT lots too! Each time it was like a jolt of positive energy, and it felt wonderful and made the whole thing very worthwhile. For every few who mumbled something about H1N1 or not needing a hug or wondering what the catch was, there was someone who gave us a fabulous hug, and we all felt amazing – huggers and hugees. So many people told us how great the hugs felt!
• We need more love. You need it, I need it, my city needs it, the world needs it. Many people who have already seen this video have written me saying they were brought to tears by it, and some even said they wished they were there or would like to do something similar in their own cities. If we all so readily recognize in watching this our deep need for connection and kindness, why do we save it for special occasions – weddings, holidays, funerals? What lessons are we teaching our kids when most of the adult human population thinks it’s weird to hug for no reason? Our planet and our species are crying out for love – healing, joyous, empowering, love – and you have it inside you. Share it!
• A crowd follows a trend. We noticed that when one person would hug us, the surrounding people would then hug us also. BE the change you want to see in this world, as Ghandi told us. Be the light, be the beacon, be the example.

Thank you, Universe, for this incredible life I live. Thank you for each moment, each breakthrough, each poignant emotion. I am so grateful. Love to all of you reading this!

xox

Shauna