I love this! Are you Yankee or Dixie? Take the quiz and see.

My Yankee bellefriend Dena Marino from Staten Island, NY, sent me this quiz. You remember Dena don’t ya? She’s was the woman I blogged about that loves to toot, toot, toot her northern horn full out and on her terms!

Dena is 48% Yankee, that’s according to the quiz, not Dena. Dena would tell you she is 100% Yankee. My score was 61% Dixie, a definitive Southern score according to the computation. I think 61% reflects a little southern rebellion don’t you?

Give it a try….it’s fun! Are you Dixie or Yankee?

100% is pure Dixie and 0% is pure Yankee. 

Access the quiz here. Be sure to let me know your score!

I have been having a blast over at my “fearless self-expression sister”, Nancy Tierney’s Unconditional Confidence blog this week. She has taken up the Complaint Free World challenge, and given it an unconditionally confident twist.

The Complaint Free World challenge is to order a bracelet and then…..live a complaint free life…… for 21 days!

If for any reason whatsoever, you find yourself complaining during those 21 days, your job is to switch the arm you’re wearing the bracelet on. The purpose? To get the world to be a more positive place.

Read more about it here and be sure to order your bracelet. I got mine.

So, my friend Nancy has issued a counter challenge – an appreciation challenge to create a World Drunk on Appreciation. Here’s how it works. Anytime you find yourself getting grumpy or starting to complain, switch your bracelet, then….. find 5 things in your life to appreciate. Really appreciate. Five things that absolutely rock your world!!!! Like Nancy Tierney, her humor and her fearless self-expression! You rock Nancy!

Come along and join us for the challenge……let’s go get drunk…..on appreciation that is!!

Have you all seen the Ford commercial that’s been playing a while now? It caught my attention the 1st time I saw it and I loved it!

Here’s how it goes:

• Bold Moves
• Bold Is a Journey
• Bold Rocks the House
• Bold Is Tradition
• Bold Overcomes
• Bold Works Hard
• Bold Is a Blast
• Bold Is Miraculous

Remind you of anyone?

Let’s add one more…….Bold is Full Out Self-Expression…Rock On!

Okay, so… Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me… Happy Birthday to me!

This past weekend, I celebrated my 54th birthday, and it felt FABULOUS! As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much more comfortable celebrating me and allowing myself to be showered with love, affection and adoration from the people around me. Celebrating who you are IS the Rebel Belle’s first step in Discovering Freedom and Bold Self-Expression, you know. And, these days I’m much better at poking fun at myself and having a boatload of fun.

Last summer, I hosted my first The Rebel Belle Rocks the Weekend party and workshop. A blast was had by all. I tailored the workshop from Suzanne Falter-Barns’ How Much Joy workshop, a fabulous piece of work.

Well, this year for my birthday, I decided to keep the fun going and see just HOW much joy and fun we really could stand. Being that I’m into bold self-expression and all, I asked my guests to create and wear a hat that expressed the essence of who they were.

I’d like to share a few of the pictures with you. Are these hats creative or what? This is truly southern bold self-expression at its finest!

Here I go again. I have a new word and I love it. I have been pondering a catchy name for affirmations for a year now and I got one….AFFIRM-ITUDE!!

What’s an AFFIRM-ITUDE? It’s an affirmation that’s spoken with an attitude of gratitude.

And what’s an affirmation? An affirmation is a positive statement that claims whatever we are affirming, in present time, right?

And, why an attitude of gratitude? Well, why the heck not? An attitude of gratitude feels good and creates a positive emotion and vibration in you. What does positive emotion and vibration attract to you? Why, great things, of course!!

My guess is we all know about affirmations by now. We know how to write them, speak them, visualize them, carry them around on little cards, and stick them everywhere in order to remember to affirm them.

Now, do they work? That’s a great question. Over the years I have listened to and read many different perspectives on the power of affirmations. And, I’ve changed my mind about how they work, whether they work, when they work and why they work.

I’d like to ask a question. How do you feel when you are focusing on what is positive in your life? How do you feel when you think about your children, for example? How do you feel when your heart is full of gratitude for the people, things and blessings in your life? You probably feel great, right?

I know when I look at pictures of my children, my heart expands and is full of gratitude and love for the opportunity to experience my connection with them. In those moments I am filled with an attitude of gratitude. It feels amazing!

So, when an affirmation is spoken from a perspective (attitude) and emotional feeling (gratitude) that warms and expands your heart, you direct enormous power into what you are affirming. That’s power!

That’s AFFIRM-ITUDE!

Last month I included, Are You One of the 55? in my newsletter. I loved the originality and creativity in some of the responses. Thought I’d share the responses and from wince they came:

OF CRUOSE I MA!
LUV YA!
lES

I could read it all the first time except for the word strange in the first sentence. I can only guess that strange doesn’t fit the rest of the sentence somehow.
Bonnie Hinman
Joplin, MO

Read it with no problem-or raed it wtih no polbrem.
Works best with longer words. a 2 letter word doesn’t change. Interesting study. I wonder if age is a factor?
Pat Lewis-Life Coach

Count me in! I always knew I had a strange mind–this just proves it, LOL!
All the best,
Leanne Beattie
Marketing Consultant/Copywriter
Fergus, ON, Canada
http://www.newcenturycommunications.ca/

Amazingly I had no problem reading the jumbled up words.
In fact I think I read it faster than I would normally do it!
Go figure.
Carmela
Claim Your Birthright of Health and Wealth
http://www.youngliving.org/carmelacongdon

Very kewl! Thanks…sure can read it, hehehe!
Blessings, Alana in New Zealand

Why yes! This was effortless for me to read and understand. If there were spelling errors in it, with a ‘normally’ written paragraph, I would see the errors right away. Is it my high verbal & comprehension skills that make me one of 55? Is it attention to detail? My English degree? This is interesting!
Meg Haworth, Ph.D.
Transpersonal Psychology - Author of “Become Who You Are” workbooks
http://www.lifelessonsfromyoursoul.blogspot.com/
Life altering workshops and sessions available via telephone world wide.
“Become who you are and just BE that.”

yeap i sped read it….i am one of the 10
Rev. Maggie Self
Parenting and Raising Spiritually Authentic Children
http://www.childrenofspirit.org/

I can read it!
Angela Howard MBA RSMT, manager
Art in Motion, LLC
“Committed to Personal Growth and Environmental Development”
http://artnmotion.org/