Tag Archives: Oprah

God’s Love Is The Electricity

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MarianneW

For the past 15+ years, I have soaked up the wisdom and spiritual insight of Marianne Williamson.  The first book I read of hers was A Return To Love: Reflections of a Course in Miracles  and it forever altered my life. It was pivotal in helping me get on the path back to God. I’ve made reference to it many times here on SOS and if you still have not read it I encourage you to buy yourself a copy today!

Yesterday, I stumbled across the above video from the Super Soul Sessions and had to share it with you. Even after all her years of teaching, Marianne still gives aha, eye-opening insight on spiritual healing and growth. I’ve been dealing with challenging relationships lately and love how God leads you to the exact message you need.

I realize the holiday season is crazy and you may not have much free time, but please take a moment to watch if you crave some soul food. I guarantee it will fill you up!

 

Love,

Tiff

 

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STRUTTIN’ TO YOUR BEAT

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A few weeks ago, I had a beautiful long girl’s weekend with my sister. These moments are so cherished now that we’re adults because we truly connect, listen, laugh and even cry a bit. We share self-help books and spiritual concepts and well, she just “gets” me. We are from the same womb…cut from the same cloth. Ya can’t chat about deep spiritual stuff with just anyone so I’m especially grateful to be able to share this part of my life with my sis. During one of our conversations that weekend, I had one of those A-ha moments that Oprah always talks about. I realized that I am officially part of the “I Don’t Give A Damn What People Think Club”. Pardon my French, but hey – there’s really no other way to put it. Revel with me for a moment…

WooHoo!

Yeehaw!

Bowchickabowow!

Hallelujah!

Sho nuff!  

If you’ve been part of SOS for a while you’ve heard me discuss the concept of people pleasing and wearing masks to be what everyone needed me to be. It’s been a long journey of healing, moving on and learning to love myself. This is why the foundation of SOS is about self-love and confidence building and not just clothes. We all know you can buy the most amazing wardrobe, bags & shoes, but if a woman isn’t comfortable in her own skin –  the outer fancy covering won’t cover up the internal mess. At least not for long. The truth always reveals itself. 

Over the years of growth, I’ve had moments of really ‘owning’ it and marching to the beat of my own drum. Recently, I’ve even had a few friends tell me that I do –  especially in regard to the way I dress or how I pick/choose the events I want to attend. Remember ladies, just because you are invited does not mean you have to say yes and accept. Especially when your family suffers not only from your absence, but also from your snappy attitude that comes from you being mad at yourself for saying yes. Sound familiar? I know many women battle people pleasing and seeking approval. It sucks the joy, peace & contentment right out of every fiber of your being and leaves you resenting everyone… and even more angry at yourself!

Oh, so you need me to be _________? Excuse me while I put on that mask so you accept me all while I diss myself. Ok, so now you need me to be ________? Hhhmmph. Let me find that mask real quick so you will feel comfortable while I go against my integrity, intuition, truth and feel completely uncomfortable. Many women get stuck in this rut and routine. It’s equivalent to living life in prison.

WHO WANTS TO BE PART OF THE FREEDOM CLUB? 

WHO HAS HAD MOMENTS OF TIP TOEING TO THE BEAT OF YOUR OWN DRUM, BUT YOU ARE READY TO WHOLEHEARTEDLY STRUT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY? 

It’s time to take ownership of your life! Do you really know what you want? I believe women who sway to everyone else’s beat and wear masks aren’t in touch with themselves and their needs. You certainly don’t have “doormat” written across your forehead so stop acting as if you do. PLEASE! When was the last time you asked yourself what YOU really want? Go have a chat with yourself today. 

Love yourself enough to stand up for what’s best for you… even if it disappoints others. Their temporary disappointed will be gone tomorrow, but when you diss yourself – the disappointment you feel toward you will resonate for days or even weeks. Stop disappointing yourself and start standing up for yourself. Sound like a deal?  

Respect yourself and your needs. How can you expect others to respect you if you don’t respect yourself and set healthy boundaries? 

Give me your two-cents! Are you already struttin’ to your own beat? Share your a-ha moment. I love seeing my mentoring clients come to this realization! It’s truly life-altering to see women live their truth without apology. 

It’s time to free yourself. Welcome to the club.

Love, Tiff

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MONDAY MOTIVATION: Change Your Bad Attitude to Gladitude (with a must see video)

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You awake and stir in your bed. You roll over – yawn, stretch and moan for a minute. This moment is one of the most critical moments of the day. This moment can determine whether you start the day with a bad attitude or with ‘glad’itude. I am naturally a morning person, but as I get older with more nights of disrupted sleep and ever changing hormones – I find that I wake up feeling exhausted more often than I care to count. Thank God for coffee!!! But, even more important than coffee is being conscious of our thoughts in that very critical moment when we wake up.

Do you feel the flood of thoughts race through your mind from what you have to do that day to how your neck hurts from sleeping on it wrong to that demanding email someone sent you the night before? In that moment, it’s vital to put up a stop sign in your mind and flip your thoughts to things you are grateful for. I try to be diligent with this practice and by the time I’ve pee’d and made it downstairs to the coffee pot- I’m saying ‘thank you’ and feel the exhaustion lift and my attitude transformed. Of course, I’m not perfect at this every single day, but I try my best. That’s all we can do, right- try our best. 

Here’s a few ways to keep a positive attitude:

1) STOP BLAMING: Your attitude is your choice. It’s easy to blame other people (our kids, our spouse, our boss) for why we have a bad attitude. You are giving them power over you. It’s not really about what happens TO you, but what happens IN you. Your happiness is YOUR responsibility. Bad things happen to us everyday, but what counts is our attitude toward it. That ensures we retain the power. 

2) COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS: I know I mention this quite often on the blog, but it truly changes everything. When we focus on our burdens instead of our blessings- inevitably we bring more burdens into our lives. That’s the foundation of keeping a bad attitude. The moment you choose to focus on the many blessings in your life- watch more blessings arrive keeping you in a state of ‘glad’itude! 

3) GO BEYOND LIMITATIONS: All of us face limitations in life like lack of talent, money, from the wrong side of the tracks, learning disabilities or even physical disabilities, but it’s our attitude toward those limits. I grew up in a lower income family in a not so great area outside of Houston, Tx and lived in a trailer park until my little sister was born at age 5. My family was also of mixed ethnicity, but I didn’t know that would be an issue until I was in junior high. Whatever it was within me- maybe a deep desire to see the world- I had a firm attitude that I wanted to go beyond that small town and achieve my dreams. We may start out in a trailer on the wrong side of the tracks, but that doesn’t mean that’s where we have to end up. 

Please take a moment to watch this. This man’s attitude is remarkable. I need to watch this once a month when I start complaining about the cellulite on my legs- at least I have legs! 

It makes that demanding email we got or that massive pimple we woke up with seem so unimportant. Be grateful. Do not energize the things that feed a bad attitude.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Go out there and strut your stuff sista,

Tiff Xoxo

GREAT MINDS DON’T GOSSIP {Sunday Affirmations}

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Eleanor-Roosevelt

HAPPY SUNDAY SISTAS!

Do you find yourself powerless and easily lured in to gossip? What’s up with that? There are so many layers to gossip, but let’s cut through the layers and call it what it is…. an ugly and destructive activity. The people I surround myself with do not participate in this lower level activity, but every once in a while, there’s someone who starts spewing that ugly diarrhea of the mouth. This happened recently and it gave me the heebie jeebies. Immediately, I felt uncomfortable and what’s even more uncomfortable is having to confront it and say, “I don’t feel comfortable discussing this”. The fear of confrontation is probably one of the biggest reasons we find ourselves sucked in to gossip. Also, people enjoy the “connection” they feel when they all join in on the people bashing. They feel part of the group, especially in a work/office atmosphere. Human nature is so funny like that. Bottom line is, gossipers are just insecure and find they lift themselves up by putting others down or airing other peoples dirty laundry. Reality is they are not lifting themselves up, but instead they are losing the respect of those around them. 

I’m not saying I’m Miss Perfect Polly and of course, I have participated in my fair share of gossiping, but several years ago- after spending a lot of time with a few hardcore gossipers- God revealed to me that this destructive activity would block my blessings. I’m sorry, but I need all the blessings I can get! How about you? It brings to mind the simple principle of The Golden Rule. Treat others as you wish to be treated. You don’t want others going around airing your bizzzness or bashing you- so why would you do it to others? 

HOW DO YOU HANDLE SOMEONE’S VOCAL DIARRHEA?

Let’s define it: Gossip is casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true. (YUCK!) 

That’s why I love the above quote by E.R. ‘Nuff said! When you get together with friends, what do you find to be the topic of conversations? Women need to unite and lift one another up instead of constantly comparing and tearing each other down. It seems no matter how old we get, there’s always that sense of the cliques we dealt with in high school. If you find this is an issue in your life and it’s weighing you down, SISTA– it’s time to set yourself apart and live with more integrity. You will soar in life, unleash more blessings and enjoy more freedom. Being an eagle and rising above can feel lonely at times, but really- who wants to be in the henhouse pecking around in all that bird shizzle! Just sayin’.

THIS WEEK I WILL…..

  1. Focus on living by The Golden Rule.
  2. Lift others up with my words + actions.
  3. Not participate in gossip no matter how harmless it seems.
  4. Regain my power in this area!
  5. Discuss creative ideas not people.
  6. Put duct tape over my mouth if I have to.
  7. Not be afraid of confrontation. I will do the right thing!
  8. Be an encourager.
  9. Not block my blessings!
  10. Soar with the eagles instead of pecking with the chickens.
  11. Surround myself with other eagles!

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Like, Share, Comment.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Fly high this week sistas! 

Love, Tiff

BRILLIANT BRENE BROWN

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Hey Style + Spirit Sistas!

Often, I am asked to refer books that I love or that have impacted me.  I cannot rave enough about the Brilliant Brene Brown and encourage you all to pick up her book, The Gifts of Imperfection.  She is amazing!  I am about halfway through and couldn’t wait to finish it before I shared it with all of you!  Books seem to choose me when I am meant to read them in order to fully receive the message.  Who relates?  This book has been sitting behind my desk among a stack of about six books in my “to read” pile.  My mom gave it to me two Christmas’s ago and I remember flipping through it and loving the title, but for some reason I didn’t feel compelled to read it then.  As a recovered perfectionist, every word of this easy-to-read book has resonated with me and if you need to LET GO of the woman you think you’re suppose to be…please read it and begin embracing who you really are!

A few weeks ago, in my Spiritual Mastermind Women’s Group, a few gals were raving about this Brene Brown who had recently been on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday.  I was intrigued and spent the next week researching her and watched not only her SSS episodes, but all her TED TALKS videos as well.  She speaks with simple clarity on topics like shame, vulnerability, connection, courage, worthiness and living a wholehearted life.  All the things that many women find difficult to face, voice and express.  HAVE I MENTIONED HOW AMAZING SHE IS??  Plus, she gets major brownie points for being a sassy fellow Houstonian!   The full episodes are still posted on the OWN website so I encourage you to check them out.  They won’t be up for much longer.  Go to, http://www.oprah.com/own/episodes.html

Also check out her video on vulnerability:

 

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Have you read any of her books?  I would love to hear your thoughts and how her research has impacted YOU!

Happy Humpday!

YOU ARE BRAVE.

Love, Tiff

Prayer, Positivity + Patent Leather

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Happy Humpday Hotstuff!  Today’s post has a dash of everything to jazz up your heart-space, your mind and your wardrobe!  Ready? Let’s get started….

For the past few weeks I’ve felt a beautiful shift and the urgency to go even deeper in my Spiritual life. I feel like a Spiritual Sponge and want to soak up new teachings, ideas, tools and practices in order to keep growing and understanding my true purpose and what God has planned for me.  I believe we are a “work-in-progress” until we take our final breath and there’s still so many old mindsets from the past that I wish to overcome and concepts that no longer serve me and my highest good.  Woohoo for outgrowing old mindsets!  It’s a liberating time as well as a challenging one and many times, we get bogged down in the complexity of it all.  I often judge myself and over -analyze what I’m thinking.  But, the truth is…it is all quite simple.  We need to just open our hearts, be like a little innocent child and then just LISTEN.  Have you felt what I’m describing?   All of these concepts are brilliantly taught by one of my fave Spiritual teachers, Marianne Williamson.  She has a gift for articulating profound Spiritual principles into easy-to-comprehend teachings to apply to your life.  I recently watched older episodes of her appearances on the  “The Best of The Oprah Show”  on OWN and I highly recommend that you do yourself a favor and watch it!  Life-changing.  I have read many of Marianne’s books and they are the type you need to read every few years.  I wanted to share this beautiful Morning Prayer from her book, ILLUMINATA.  If you struggle with getting your day started right and then continuing to come from a place of Love VS. Fear throughout the day, I encourage you to print this out and read it every morning:

Dear God,
I give this day to You.
May my mind stay centered on the things of spirit.
May I not be tempted to stray from love.
As I begin this day, I open to receive You.
Please enter where You already abide.
May my mind and heart be pure and true, and may I not deviate from the things of goodness.
May I see the love and innocence in all mankind, behind the masks we all wear and the illusions of this worldly plane.
I surrender to You my doings this day.
I ask only that they serve You and the healing of the world.
May I bring Your love and goodness with me, to give unto others wherever I go.
Make me the person You would have me be.
Direct my footsteps, and show me what You would have me do.
Make the world a safer, more beautiful place.
Bless all Your creatures.
Heal us all, and use me, dear Lord, that I might know the joy of being used by You.
Amen.

Here’s a candid video sharing my thoughts on not beating yourself up if you have negative thoughts– because they can actually be a GREAT MOTIVATOR!

Quick style tip to keep in mind when you start shopping for new fall items: Rock patent leather preferably in the Burgundy, Wine + Red family!  Either a great jacket, boots or handbag will jazz up your wardrobe for Fall 2012!

Please invite your girlfriends to join the Style Sisterhood!  We are all growing and getting more fabulous together.

Walk Tall.  Be Unapologetic for Your Fabulous-ness.

Love Yourself.

xo, Tiff

DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY plus Beauty + Haircare Answers

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Hey Happy Hotties!

Are you a worrier? Or are you a happy girl, naturally? Of course, at different seasons in our lives we may tend to be one over the other.  Really, we all have so much to be happy about in the grand scheme of things, but why is it we so often battle with unnecessary worry which drains us of energy, vibrance and joy.  When I’m worried, I feel as if I have a dark cloud over my entire life.  NO THANK YOU!  Bring on the blue skies and sunshine please!  Which sounds better to you? HAPPY(adj.) enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment. WORRY (v.) to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.  It is truly a conscious choice to stop worrying and choose happiness.

P.S. You girls who have won the AHP limited-edition EP, my hubby wrote a song on this very subject called “Nothing But Blue”- Enjoy!

There’s been lots of talk of HAPPINESS lately and Oprah’s even launching a “Celebrate 30 Days of Happiness” campaign to get us all focusing on our happiest moment of each day.  I love this and I’m joining in! I have to admit, I’ve been pretty lazy with my journaling and this is exactly the kick-in-the-bootie I need to get back to it. I know myself and I am much more peaceful and joy-filled when I write down happy moments and things I’m grateful for. Some people think journaling is just a venting session and a cathartic vomit of the negative junk in our heads. Ok- yes, someday’s that is what’s required to keep our sanity, BUT for the month of August– let’s all join Lady O and celebrate the things that make us happy. I want to see some comments below and on Facebook saying YES, I’M IN TIFF!

NEW WEBISODE

Here’s my A’s to Shannon’s Q’s:

 

For the latest hair tips plus inspiring + encouraging videos, make sure to check out

HAIR WITH HANNAH on Facebook and YouTube!

{Hannah’s Top Pick}

{My drugstore fave’s by Garnier}

{I always go back to Morcoccan Oil}

{My Fave Foundation}

{Loving the healthy organic line Sia Botanics}

{The one facial product I will not go without}

I’m sad to say this friday is the last full SOS Summer Swag Bag Giveaway.  It has been such a blast giving away such awesome products and helping promote these fabulous companies!  We will have a few more smaller giveaways with great books from SOUND WISDOM plus a few surprise goodies from me!  Make sure to check in on the FACEBOOK COMMUNITY and make comments.  This has been such a fun way for us all the get to know one another better and strengthen our Style Sisterhood.

Celebrating a very Happy August,

Tiff

GRATITUDE. A love note to you.

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Hi Gorgeous Girls!

Over the past week or so, every fiber of my being has been flooded with HUMONGOUS GRATITUDE.  The kind that gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling complete with goose-bumps, hair raising on the back of my neck, girlie giddy excitement in my belly and a tear in my eye. Have you ever felt such bigtime gratefulness before?  Want to know the reason for mine? It’s because of YOU.  Yep, you girlfriend!

When I began a deep spiritual journey to figure out what the heck I was meant to do- it was exactly 10 yrs ago this month.  In the summer of 2002, I walked away from my TV career in LA, gave away most of my clothes and all my furniture and went back to Texas to get my head on straight. {GRATEFUL} That is when I birthed my idea (well, God really planted the seed) to help women through a community, website and TV show. Can you believe that was 10 years ago? I can’t! I had no idea how to get started or what the heck I was doing, but I just started putting it out there with child-like naivety. I laugh now because I thought I was ready to do a show back then and got totally pissed off that it wasn’t happening faster.  I had to go through MAJOR healing, changes and growth first.  I was a mess, but I had this BIG vision. After a 6 month sabbatical in Texas, I headed back to LA with this new dream!{GRATEFUL}

Within these 10 years, I have hosted several TV pilots geared for young women (one production company spent over $1 Million on our pilot) and they never went to air on TV.  Grrrr!  (This is where I give gratitude for the doors God closes!)  This was long before Facebook, YouTube, Blogs and the Flip camera. Now it’s easy for anyone to start taping their message and blast it to the world. Whew, I wanted to give up so many times, but a God-given dream just doesn’t leave you alone. It really is like you are pregnant with this idea/purpose/vision. I just couldn’t abort this dream!  I had this mad, crazy drive to help women…somehow, someway. I collaborated with several different producers with the hopes something would work. It never did.  When I finally realized it just wasn’t the right time, I decided I had to do something…..ANYTHING! I started teaching a self-development class and created a curriculum for 13-17 year olds as well as working in a fun, girlie boutique on the weekend. Gals would come sit in the boutique and chat about all the different life issues we girls love to talk about. Wish I had a camera in that boutique back then. It was like a talk show in there! Little did I know, these opportunities turned out to be an amazing training ground and preparation. {GRATEFUL} I still hoped and prayed to work on camera again, but shelved my show idea for a while (true surrender) and just lived life…WITH EXPECTANCY!

The reason I’m telling you all of this is the seed has grown slowly over the years (a little too darn slow at times) into a bud and then 2 years ago-this month- I pitched my show idea in front of one of the biggest television producers, Mark Burnett of The Apprentice, The Amazing Race and Survivor, for a show he was producing for Oprah.  Holla!  Yes, I almost crapped my pants that day, but…. I DID IT!  It’s as if it made it all REAL. It was no longer this concept that swirled around in my head driving me coocoo for coco puffs.  I put it out there! There was no taking it back. The universe had a hold of it. I went all the way to the last 20 finalists, but wasn’t chosen for the show. Again, thank God for the closed doors. After I caught my breath from that 3 month audition process, I finally had the guts to start taping my ideas. The only video camera I had at the time was the one on my blackberry. I had no idea what I was doing (I still don’t really), but I had to start somewhere. Then my brave hubby offered his help as camera man and we got a decent little video camera. Our first attempt at a light set up was a nightstand lamp with a white sheet as a reflector. Ha! We have come a loooooong way! {GRATEFUL}

Here we are today. I’m grateful for the ease of Facebook, WordPress, YouTube and the ability to create the community that we have.  I had to stop and send YOU a heartfelt thank you for sharing, joining, watching, subscribing, and reading. Thank you for allowing me to try different things and discuss different topics, all with the pure intention of helping you build confidence, believe in yourself and truly love yourself and your own unique beauty + style. My dream of creating a SISTERHOOD is becoming a reality. Thank You God. Thank You Aaron (my hubby). Thank You Girls.

WHAT ARE YOU TRULY GRATEFUL FOR TODAY?

I highly recommend making gratitude lists on a regular basis. It will change your life. It’s simple:

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR___________________.

I hope you can also be grateful for your journey and remember, never give up.

Love, Tiff

EAT YOUR WAY TO GLOWING SKIN

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HEY GLAM GIRLS!

After a much needed vacay and short hiatus- SOS is back with a fresh batch of beauty & style love!   I take an annual trip to Texas to refuel, connect with my BFF’s  and spend QT with my folks.  This ALWAYS helps me recharge and refocus!  Thank God my skinny jeans still fit after 10 days of TexMex, Mom’s biscuits and gravy and many decadent meals in Dallas! 

I am SO excited about the new webisodes and I’m busy editing them as we speak.  This week’s topic is all about the key foods we should be eating to keep our skin healthy & glowing.  I’ve introduced you to my stunning girlfriend, professional model- Julianna Geldien in previous blogs (remember she took an awesome missionary trip to Peru and then shared a yummy recipe for kale salad) and I’m thrilled she stopped by to share her tips for keeping her gorgeous glow! 

WATCH WEBISODE:

REMEMBER!  There’s one more day to enter to win my new find- Voluminous False Lash Mascara.  I’m giving 2 fashionistas a tube!   ENDS WED, NOVEMBER 16th.

WATCH THE MASCARA SHOWDOWN FOR MORE:

LAST THING:

I’m reading an amazing book by Iyanla Vanzant called “One Day My Soul Just Opened Up” and I highly recommend it!  I’ve been watching her on Oprah’s Life Class and her insight is life changing…

“Everything that happens to you is a reflection of what you believe about yourself. We cannot outperform our level of self-esteem. We cannot draw to ourselves more than we think we are worth.”
― Iyanla Vanzant

Sharing the beauty, style + inspiration,

xoTiff