A few months ago I was a guest at a business women’s network meeting and met Ricia, the producer/organizer of the “Release Your Fantastik Inner Chick” conference, www.FantastikInnerChick.com. How lucky I was! She asked me to speak at her event soon after she heard the brief blurb about my book, “Love and Accept Yourself Now.” Many other other speakers will be there, offering great advice on how to improve every aspect of one’s life.

And I’ve had a lot of fun meeting her friends and working with them to help publicize the conference. We’ve had booths at the Parksville summer evening market, the Vancouver Island Exhibition, and the Nanaimo Blues Festival. We’re reaching out to adults, but also to high school students because we know that many of the girls could use a boost in self esteem.

A few weeks ago Ricia and I went for a walk through a beautiful provincial park. We were horrified to see a young man jump into the raging river and disappear while his shocked and terrified friends watched helplessly. We called 9-1-1 and that mobilized a big team of emergency responders.

The young man’s body was found hours later.

He had just graduated from high school, was a highly popular athlete, and would have had a terrific life ahead of him. It’s as if fate wanted me to meet Ricia so we could work together to help others lead better lives. Witnessing the tragedy of the loss of this man’s life reminded us of the extreme fragility of life and of the fact that there is nothing more noble and gratifying than giving everything on has to enhance the lives of all those around us.