Meditate on This!

I have been doing a ton of thinking the past few months as I work out the details of my life redesign.  I'm not sure what it will look like yet, I just know I'm headed in the right direction and that's part of the fun.  But I do wonder where it will lead me.

One thing I've noticed during all this thinking is . . .

 that I am always thinking!

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

Trying to work the details out in my head...

Trying to make sense of how it will all look...

and feel...

and function...

I think all day long about it.  

I wake up in the middle of the night,

and I think about it.

I say my morning and evening prayers

praying about it...

then thinking about it some more.

One morning I woke up with the thought in my head...

"Whoa!  You're right!" I said.

"Thank you!" 

I love it when the spirit teaches me!

I have been so wrapped up in my head!

And I wasn't stopping to listen.

I would pray for answers and then immediately be off

in my own head again, trying to reason it out! 

I imagine He might be trying to get a word in,

but I'm dominating the conversation!

The Lord's plan may be completely different

than what I think my plan should be like.

So I just need to stop.


And listen.

What Grounds Me

Early in the morning ...

When the birds are chirping...

And the world is still fairly quiet ...

And the sun is just barely coming up . . .

~ ~ ~

I like to sit.

And ponder.

And meditate.

~ ~ ~

It grounds me.

~ ~ ~

Lately, I love to sit in this 

cozy corner of my yard.

On the table.

Don't worry, it's a heavy duty granite table 

that can hold my weight! 

Besides, it's hard to sit cross legged / meditation style

in a patio chair!

~ ~ ~

What grounds you?

Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day!  What a day!  I woke up feeling a little down today, not because I don't have loves in my life, but because I was feeling like a bad mom.  You know, not the crafty, super cute mom who goes all out and does a cute Valentine activity every single day leading up to the big day with her kids, makes amazing homemade Valentine cards and teacher gifts, and then decorates their rooms all cutesy while they are either sleeping the night before, or while they're away at school.  And then!  I didn't have a cute pink breakfast planned and bla, bla, bla. 

I used to try to be that mom when my first child was young but all it did was stress.me.out.  Big time!  I just don't have the energy for all of that.  And that's ok.  That's when I remember that I don't have to try and mold myself into an image that I think I am supposed to be.  I don't have to be super woman.  Letting go of those expectations of myself is such a relief!  I laugh, giggle, and have a good time with my kids without all that extraneous stuff and we are all pretty happy! 

So tonight we will be having a lovely homemade dinner {guaranteed to hit the spot with my husband because it includes bacon} and a lovely strawberry shortcake I bought from the bakery because that's about all I have the oompf for this year.  The kids are each getting a small gift and I think I'll just make a trail of skittles leading up to my bedroom for my husband!  It's his favorite candy you know!

There!  

Valentine's Day at my house this year! 

Nothing too fancy this year.

But it's good enough for me!

~ ~ ~

Listening to this song today!

~ ~ ~

I hope your day has been filled with

love and laughter today!

image via sxc

The Love Language of Service

Believe it or not, Valentine's Day is about a month away.  This seems like a good time to review the Five Love Languages.  I love this book.  It has revolutionalized my relationships with my husband and my kids.  This book is about how you give and receive love and by knowing the love language of your spouse, or kids you can show them love in a way that really speaks to them. 









The 5 Love Languages

After 17 years of marriage  my husband and I decided to try and figure each others out.  We thought we knew each other pretty well, so it surprised us when we figured out how both of us truly do feel the most loved.   After my husband thought about it, he decided he feels the most loved when I serve him by making sure he has clean clothes to wear, a clean house to come home to, and yummy meals.  I wanted to clarify.

"You mean, you feel more loved by this than if I tell you how awesome and manly you are??? {the language of praise/words of affirmation}"

Uh, yeah.

 "Or you really feel more loved by this than if I gave you a backrub??? {the language of physical touch}"

Yes, but then he had to clarify that one which we won't go into here, because this is a family friendly blog y'all and I know my nieces and nephews read this too!  ;)  Anyway!  Moving on!

Anyway!  So I am having a really hard time wrapping my head around this one.  I know my husband said he feels loved and cared for when he comes home from work to a clean house, and a hot meal with clean clothes put away in his drawers, but honestly?  These don't feel like love statements to me.  They are chores for me.

So if he comes home to a messy house, does that mean I don't love him?  If I'm too frazzled to cook a meal, does he feel any less love?    Intellectually I get it I guess.  I can see how being taken care of would make you feel loved ~ obviously.  I'm just having a hard time getting past the chore aspect of it day in and day out.  These are things I feel are just expected of me anyway ~ not grand gestures of love!  And the daily cleaning of the house, the never ending laundry and always trying to think of something to cook for dinner ... aren't they things you just don't notice after a while if they are always being done?  Will he still feel loved even then?

So in thinking about this, I've decided I should put more thought into the tasks to make them feel like I am personalizing them for him.

I can make more of an effort to cook him a special treat that I know he likes.  Or his favorite meal more often.
 
I've even decided maybe I should make cleaning the bathroom even more special and fold down the toilet paper like they do at the hotels I've visited.  Lol!

And!  I've been haunting the stores for cute little heart shaped trinkets I can put in his drawers when I put his clothes away.  Right now is a great time to find them {or when they go on clearance after Valentine's}.

 These are all from Hobby Lobby

My favorite one is this little envelope you 

could put personalized little notes in.

Or if you wanted you could create fun little printable messages or print these cute ones from The Happy Home Fairy:

More on my pinterest page

I don't know.  Maybe that is straying a little into the gifts category of showing love but it makes it seem a little more as if I'm saying I love you when I put his clothes away.

Anyway!  So my love language is quality time.  {So when the Hubs asked me to accompany him on a business trip to Washington DC last year?  Yeah, I was swooning!  :) }

And for those who need a little review of the 5 Love Languages, they are:  Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch.

Do you know yours?

Your husbands?

Your kids?

Do tell!

Older and Wiser Now

Last March I posted an exercise I had done in 2004 about creating a perfect day in my life which is used to help you focus on what you really want.  In March I wrote that most of it still rang true but that I would probably update it now that I'm older and wiser, and the beginning of a new year seems like a good time to review it.  So here we go ~ my older and wiser version ~ with commentary this time.

Let me introduce you to ~B.  At first glance she may seem like a traditional sort of girl, but upon closer inspection, you will soon realize that she is quite unexpected with her jazzy sense of style.  Let’s take a peek into what a typical day is like for her. 

Unexpected and jazzy sense of style. I still like this! I like to think my new, emerging DYT T1 style is starting to bring this out more and more so that it doesn't seem to take you by surprise. I feel like my outsides are beginning to match the inside of me finally!

One thing you will notice immediately about her, is that she takes the time to indulge herself in the little luxuries of life.  The fresh cup of hot cocoa in the mornings before pulling on her wellies, fetched from a neat little row, as she heads out the door into the crisp morning air with her chocolate lab hot on her heels ready for a brisk walk along the river near the nature preserve.

  via

 

Little luxuries? Heck yeah! I'm all about mindfully chosen little indulgences! But that dog stuff~I'm really just not a dog person and I'm glad my family realizes that now! So that part is now out! I will still take that walk please, thank you very much!

On her way home, she can be spotted at her local neighborhood farmers market,  where they know her by name and set aside the best produce for her, knowing that she will soon be there.  Today she has collected some fresh eggs and veggies for a delightful omelet she will savor outside on her brick patio underneath the grape filled pergola.

This paragraph is my lovely little provincial dream! I love to eat as locally as I can and with the freshest produce possible! It was a huge focus for me back then and still is. I love supporting and knowing my own farmers. It just feels gooood and makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! And I'm happy to say since originally writing it, that I do have my own grape filled pergola on a brick patio ~ this one has been a dream come true!

She relishes the change of the seasons as she sips a cup of fresh apricot nectar she made herself, listening to the many flocks of birds and geese honking overhead as they migrate along the major flyway she lives under.

via

Yep! The seasons are lovely here and I still love to hear those geese honking by. Oh and by the way, fresh apricot nectar is like summer in a glass! It is the nectar of the Gods! Just sayin'....

Her home sits on a green and leafy estate and is filled with a mix of traditional and quirky items that hint of a surprising swank little European hideaway.  It nods to her rich Danish, English and German heritage and love of history but has a very forward thinking approach as she contemplates her own legacy. 

This and the following home decorating paragraphs are still a work in progress but are a good reminder to me of my focus and what I like.

She has thrown open her large, tall leaded windows so that the breeze will gently blow the beautiful window treatments in a graceful manner as she contemplates what to read from her beautiful collection of classics, and charming old etiquette books. 

Her house is not cluttered with ambiguous items, but each thing is carefully chosen with an eye for aesthetics and function, as in the leather bound photo albums she has created with beautiful gold embossing their spines.  Because if there is one thing she understands keenly, is that the details make all the difference on the whole. 

Leather bound photo albums ~ check! Details definitely do make a difference and is something one must constantly be aware of. I need to refocus on this as I whip my house back into shape again!

Her closet is neatly organized and one gets the feeling of stepping into a chic little boutique.  It is filled with classic clothes with clean simple lines, yet the first impression can quite deceive you for while it is classic, it is never stuffy or boring.  Upon closer examination you will notice that each piece is set apart by exquisite and unexpected details that make them truly as unique as the girl who wears them. 

This paragraph is very interesting to me. It was written pre-DYT when I really wanted to be the perfect little Audrey Hepburn. But I'm not Audrey Hepburn and I think I knew that. I knew I wanted unexpected details. I think I wanted to bring the fun back into my wardrobe and life even back then. I am much happier with a jazzier, fun wardrobe.  I guess you could say I'm more like Muzzy Van Hossmere from Thoroughly Modern Millie ~ ha!  But not quite as crazy!  ~wink~wink~ 

The majority of her wardrobe is filled with casually elegant clothing that give off the air of being on holiday all the time.  It is what she considers “Park City Chic”, resort-like, casual and comfortable.  For this truly fits her active lifestyle as a mother.  She looks equally at home whether casually strolling the streets of Park City galleries, chasing children and dogs, or running to the local PTA meeting. 

I still like the idea of "Park City Chic" because it can be outdoorsy, casual and still look appropriately grown up. And who doesn't want to be on holiday all of the time???  Hello!  Sign me up!  I just need to translate this with a a lighter fun factor in mind. :D

She treasures her friends and family, and often you will find multiple people and impromptu festivities going on.  Tonight however, she will spend a quiet night with her family, helping her daughter with her homework after a lovely dinner of butternut squash soup, crisp salad and bread.  Later they will play quiet board games and  maybe take a peek into the telescope before the children head off to bed.

via

Oh yes! I love a good party with my close friends and family and I still love those quiet evenings with my family. But I don't really like board games ~ sorry! I tried to like them, but that part has to go! This part also reminds me that it has been way too long since we pulled out our telescope. Isn't there a meteor shower sometime soon? I hope I didn't miss it!

Once the house quiets down, ~B. settles into her cozy little nest of a bed with her sketchbook and sketches out the details of her new eveningwear collection.  And of course, she snuggles with her husband while sounds of Paolo Conte waft through the air.

Aaaahhhhh! I love to snuggle with my husband!  But that eveningwear collection has never materialized onto paper yet, but be assured, it is absolutely exquisite in my head!

~ ~ ~

This was good to reflect on.

All in all, this still shows what is important to me

and is still how I endeavor to live my life.

In lieu of resolutions, this is another method

you could use to map out what you want this year.

Making My List...

The new year is rapidly approaching, and I don't know about you, but I'm a total resolutions kind of girl!  I have been thinking about them since mid-October so that I could get real clear on my intentions of what I want to accomplish this year.  I usually make my resolutions with a theme that tries to embody everything into one little word.

In 2010 it was...health

In 2011 it was...peace

This year it will be ...

{drumroll please}

CLEAN!

Clean?  What does that even mean in regards to my resolutions you wonder?  Well a lot of things really.  This year I want to clean up my act in a lot of ways:

I need to clean up around my house.  

Well, this one seems like an obvious one, right?  Things have started to get a little out of hand as I've lost my focus on cleaning and organizing around here lately.  I intend to get things back under control.  It makes me happy, my family happy, and my house happy when it's clean and organized around here!

I want to clean up my diet even more.  

I'm already pretty good about not eating a ton of processed foods and getting rid of processed sugars from my diet but I'm ready to take it up a notch.  Now I'm getting serious about how my meat is raised.  I want grass fed, free range, happy animals that got to live the life they were supposed to live rather than pumped full of steroids and growth hormones and bla, bla, bla!  I also want to get rid of the amount of my exposure to pesticides on fruits and veggies.   I also really want to start making my own sourdough breads and get more of the good bugs into my diet through homemade yogurts and kefirs.

Clean up my style

This means further refining my style to more accurately reflect who I am inside.  I feel like I made some huge leaps in this area this last year but there is still more I can do and learn.  A few of the items I would really like to do is to keep editing and upgrading my wardrobe, find an awesome pair of jeans and to play with scarves more to name a few things.

Cleaning up my spirit.

Aww! David Archuleta is such a cutie {with a dreamy voice}! And I'm a sucker for a good song and this one illustrates this aspect of my goals perfectly!  This is an ongoing goal as I try more and more to become more Christlike.


So there you have it!  Some of my goals for 2012.  How about you?  Do you make resolutions?  Care to share any of yours?

Linking to The Lettered Cottage

spray bottle, and cow via sxc

Christmas Miracles!

I eluded to this in my last post, but a few days ago we were rushing to Southern Utah to say our goodbyes and begin planning a funeral as my sweet mother-in-law was in respiratory failure.

But she's one tough cookie.

We were able to pull her off the ventilator 

and now we're discussing long term care!

It's a Christmas miracle!  

We're not out of the woods yet, 

but we have her here with us 

for just a little bit longer!

Sing with me now!

Let's hear the Hallelujah chorus!

{image via)

Where My Heart Is . . .

On this beautiful Sunday I'm

listening to the soulful tunes of the cello:

and enjoying the breathtaking 

scenery from my home state!

My heart is here today:

Some of my favorite people are in

Southern Utah right now and I

wish I could be with them today.

~ ~ ~

Check out The Piano Guys on YouTube.  

They are amazing!  You will be so glad you did!

November Love

The other day on Facebook I declared November as my absolute favorite month of the year!  It truly is!

I love November because it finally turns crisp and cool.  It is high canning season to get the grapes, apples and other fresh things squirreled away for winter.  And the house is cozy and warm.  But most of all the air is filled with gratitude, thankfulness and thoughts of home.  I love that!

Today is a perfectly blustery sort of day!

{Say "perfectly blustery" real fast 10 times! I dare ya!}

 I hope you are all staying cozy and warm!

Inspiring Interiors: Way To Be in the Kitchen!

So I stink at doing things on a schedule apparently and forgot to post a new Inspiring Interior on Sunday!  Oops!  So here you go!

{click to enlarge}

I told you the Way To Be theme had multiple design ideas, so this time I am showing you another kitchen design, this one a little more cutesy.    I envisioned it in a cute black, white and green type of kitchen sort of like the inspiration picture shows, but I wanted the walls painted in a fun green color.  I would keep the black and white tiled floor just because it is so fun and then I would obviously pair all this with white cabinetry and furniture.   I would actually place vinyl decals of the 9 Be's somewhere prominent on a wall and then bring in some fun bee accessories in on things like dishware, hand towels or some other cute little bee decals randomly placed on the walls even. 

To me this would be a fun, playful reminder of how to live your life!

Inspiring Interiors! goes to Provence

I really liked the name Vanessa from Luxuria came up with for this new little series of mine.  She said she wasn't creative with that sort of stuff but I beg to differ!  She really came up with some great options for me!  Thanks Vanessa!  You are a sweetheart!  I really appreciate it!  Now  I know a lot of my readers already know Vanessa, but if you don't,  then please get to know her and check out her lovely blog!  I think you will enjoy her as much as I do!

So in this little series I am showing you design ideas I have come up with that are either centered around gospel themes, scriptures or positive thoughts, so this time I thought I would do one that is focused on the nine Be's that I try to govern my life by and have even named my blog after.  They are taken from a darling little book that really encourages you to be a better person!

This one is easy to jump off with different ideas from ~ in fact, I have several different design ideas and styles to show you for this theme alone.  When I think of Way To Be!  it is easy to jump into a theme with bee's, which for some reason reminds me of Provence, so that is where this particular board will take us.  

Click on picture to enlarge

The dining room on my inspiration board evokes the sort of feeling I would try to achieve for a kitchen or dining room. I like the rustic, old world mix with beautiful fabrics that seems to welcome and envelope you in the imagery of a beautiful French country home.  I would bring in the Bee reminders through small elegant touches like the lampshade, on the glassware or a decorative bee skep.  To me, the bees are rather subtle reminders in this particular style instead of the main design feature.  A French Country or Provencal theme can be a very beautiful way to remind yourself of the nine Be's to govern your life by.

Stay tuned until next Sunday

for my next design idea for  you!

Au revoir!

Weird start to the day!

I had grand plans yesterday.

I woke up bright and early.

Thought about putting in an AM workout dvd.

Decided to stay in bed just a wee bit longer.
{It was deliciously warm and cozy!}

Finally got up to get the kids going for school.

Made breakfast.

Packed lunches.

Kissed them goodbye!
{and "have a fabulous day at school!"}

Started sorting laundry.

Then things started getting crazy.

The school bus forgot to pick them up.

So we quickly piled them into the car and sped off.

Got to school about 15 minutes after it started.
{Luckily, excused tardies were in order for the whole busload of kids!}

But I ran over a grasshopper on the way out the driveway.

Three more were waiting for me when I got home.

Staring me down.

Ready to jump on me.

Everywhere I went there was a grasshopper.

Waiting for me.

The sidewalk into the gym.

The porch at my friends house.

Yep.

Grasshoppers.

They are out to get me!

 The day just got weirder from there.  You don't need to know all the details {some of it includes cleaning up children's poopy accidents!  I wish I didn't need to know that hydrogen peroxide works wonders for getting poop out of carpets in such a quick and awesome way!}, but by the end of it all I just needed to go peace out a bit, clear my mind and relax.  PM Qi Gong did just that and now I'm in a much better frame of mind.  The laundry never did get started though.  ~sigh~

Those grasshoppers may be out to get me,

but they aren't going to get me down!

I am going to channel some of my inner Chumbawamba!

Take that grasshoppers!

Here's to a better day!

Need something catchy for this new series...

A few months ago I taught a class of women at my church about creating a Christ centered home.  One of the things I thought about from that lesson was how we choose to decorate our homes.  Do we decorate them so that our children know what we believe?  Are there subtle / sneaky / subliminal {or not so sneaky} reminders throughout our homes so that our families "do not doubt what we know"? 

A few years ago I started coming up with ideas to decorate around gospel centered themes or scriptures.  It all started with the following scripture. . .

"Fear not little flock; 

for it is your Father's 

good pleasure to 

give you the kingdom". 

~Luke 12:32

And a nursery idea was born!

I love the imagery this scripture gives me, and that we are called his little flock.  So the theme I came up with was a darling little nursery decorated in creamy pinks and greens with sheep accessories and pictures of  The Good Shepherd on the wall.  It seems like such a comforting theme for a baby.

So each Sunday I will post one of my idea boards for you until I run out of ideas.  Now I just need a catchy series name.  So help a girl out and give me some ideas!   Ready...set...and GO!

Inspiring words from an inspiring man

What true words.  

It is something we should all remember and internalize.  

 It is also a concept I am learning more and more to trust.
And a concept I wish for my kids to learn and trust.

He leaves behind quite a legacy because of it.  

Watch the inspiring words and commencement address here.
There are so many gems within ~ it is definitely worth watching!

The world lost a true innovator 

that changed our generation 

and the way we do things.

Thank you Steve Jobs.

Breakfast on the Patio!

This morning I had a quiet little breakfast all to myself in this cozy spot on my patio.  The breeze was gently blowing crisp, cool air and I could hear the sound of migrating geese honking by overhead.  It was a slice of heaven ~ so peaceful and calm!  Now why do I want to leave this place and go to Brazil again?  I mean, I live in safe little Mayberry where I have fabulous neighbors, great friends, a house that I love, and a place that is safe for my children to grow up!

Oh yeah!  Because in my heart I know that God is calling us back there again!  I've known it all my life.  I have always been connected with Brazil ever since I was a little girl.  Even my husband has known that he would someday go back, when the time was right to do so.  When we first got married, we tried to get jobs back there again before the kids were born.  Nothing panned out.  The timing wasn't right.

And now?  We have had so many experiences, feelings and impressions that are prompting us to go back lately.  So we thought long and hard about it and decided, how can we ignore such strong promptings again and again?  If we want the Lord to lead us, we need to be willing to go where He wants us to go.  So in our hearts we said "yes, we will go"!  And then my husbands new job opportunity dropped right into his lap! A job we feel is a very strategic career move with our end goal in mind!  Coincidence?  No.  I think the Lord has a plan in mind!

It amazes me how much the Lord wants to bless us if we are willing to follow Him and let Him guide us!  I know He has a plan for each of us!  Isn't that exciting?  So yes, I will miss this place when the time comes, but I know there are exciting adventures waiting for us in Brazil!

~ ~ ~

Some have asked us when we will be leaving and our goal is within the next 1-5 years.  My husband has been hired to work on a specific project that may take that long ~ could be sooner, or it could be on the later end.  We will stay until he finishes that project however long it will take and then make our big move then.  But it does entail making some life changes here already so that when that time comes we will be ready to pick up and go. Hope that helped answer a few more of those questions! :)

Celebrate Your Beauty Conference

Last weekend I was at the Celebrate Your Beauty conference and it was AMAZING!  I got to hang out with so many beautiful women who all appreciate you for your own unique beauty both inside and out!

It was amazing because I felt absolutely no judgement or criticism from any of them!  This is true feminine power my friends!!!  I once was jaded and cynical towards women ~ we can be so catty and critical towards each other sometimes and I had been hurt and wounded before.  But beauty is not a competition!  I believe we are all beautiful!  And I believe in the sisterhood of women! 

See?  Look at these beautiful ladies!!!

We had lots of different classes 

from understanding our own 

gifts and talents through the 

Energy Profiling system, 

to how to accessorize and build an outfit, 

to hair styling,

 a parade of beauty runway show 

and even health and fitness specific to our types.

And the food???

oh.my.goodness!!!

To~die~for~YUMMINESS!!!

I came away with so many ideas!  First ~ that I want to play with colors and patterns more.  Second ~ that there are many layers of self acceptance:

1~ It's OK to be me!

2~ It's FUN to be me!

3~ It is actually a GIFT to be me!

4~ That there is actually a PURPOSE 

for me to be ME!

But my absolute favorite part of the conference was this:

The beauty mantras!  

Remember when I told you mine?  Well, we all brought ours and wrote them on a banner and let me tell you, reading all those declarations of inner and outward beauty in their own handwriting nearly brought me to tears!  It was so remarkably moving!

I was on a high all weekend long!  Let me tell you, this woman can really put on an event!

This is a conference I want to take my daughter to next year!  There was such an amazing atmosphere of love and acceptance! I left feeling truly affirmed, safe and accepted for just being myself. It is such a gift to feel that and I wish every woman could feel that way about themselves. Imagine how different the world would be if everyone truly knew that!

 ~ ~ ~

If you have ever doubted your worth or your own unique beauty, then you owe it to yourself to learn more about the Dressing Your Truth system and how amazing you already are!  It is so much more than just fashion advice!  Then we could hang out together at next years event! 

{images via Thinkfirst and DYT}

Teenage Self Perceptions

Monday was the start of a brand new school year in my neck of the woods!  While eating breakfast that day, my daughter commented about a friend of hers who feels like an ugly duckling.  :(  It's sad because she is a dynamic, energetic and beautiful girl!  But the thing about junior high, is that I totally remember exactly how it felt to be an awkward, insecure little teen just trying to figure myself out.  I didn't feel pretty either. 

It's funny though because last week I began to do some catch up on my scrapbooks and worked on finishing up my junior high through high school pictures.  Looking back now I realized how cute I really was and I didn't even know it!

These days I always get lots of compliments on my smile and guess what!  I had that same great smile even back then!

 Teenage ~B!

Instead of all that insecurity and time spent measuring myself against others, I wish I had realized that I was ok all along!  And not just on the outside!  On the inside too!  I think sometimes we are way too hard on ourselves and we need to learn to practice more kindness.  If you were to talk to your friends the way you talk to yourself, would you have any friends?  The words and thoughts we use are very powerful!

We each have specific gifts and talents we were born with, our core essence if you will, that we were destined to live!  I wish all women and girls everywhere could feel the gift of feeling safe and accepted just for who they are! 

Looking back, 

what do you wish your 

teenage self would have known?  

~ ~ ~

Want some more support?  Watch this:  It's not too late to feel beautiful as a teenager!

Always Remember

"Promise me you’ll always remember: 

you’re braver than you believe, 

stronger than you seem, 

and smarter than you think." 

~ A.A. Milne, Winne the Pooh

via

A Good Reminder

My friend posted this on Facebook the other day and I absolutely loved it and asked permission to repost it here for you.  Thanks for the reminder, my friend!

Why is it that so many people feel threatened by
the success, achievements, attributes, and abilities
of those around them?

We are not any LESS successful, beautiful, talented, blessed, or happy if those around us also enjoy those same things, even if they may enjoy them in larger quantities than we currently do. Life is not a competition with only a finite amount of success to be shared by the entire human race. There is not less talent available to you because someone else increases their own talent.

We should not measure ourselves against those around us and only derive satisfaction from having MORE than someone else. We don't need to keep up with the Joneses and we can ALL be happy without everyone else having to be sad. 

No matter how hard you try, there is always going to be someone more talented, richer, more beautiful, more skilled, or lucky than you are. What's wrong with that? There are also tons and tons of people equally or even less fortunate than you as well. 

Be happy with what you have, whatever it is, and do it without comparing yourself to others. That doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to better ourselves, but we don't have to feel threatened when others do the same (even when it comes easier for them). 

Our success, happiness, beauty and skills should be measured and enjoyed on an individual basis, not in comparison to the relative success, attributes, or abilities of others. There is plenty to go around! 

So the next time someone tells you about a fun vacation they are planning, just be happy for them... don't feel jealous that you aren't going there yourself or feel the need to tell them about a funner vacation you went on. If you see someone that looks especially fit or attractive, compliment them instead of feeling animosity towards them because you are somehow less attractive because they exist.

When your neighbor gets a raise at work, celebrate with him instead of complaining that you deserve a raise more than him and thinking of all the reasons why he isn't as deserving as you. And don't withhold help, support, and compliments that would benefit others. To do otherwise would be prideful and selfish. ;-) I will try to do better myself.

~ Jacom Stephens

Regrets of the Dying

In my life I know people who are battling colon cancer, brain tumors, and a dear friend who just had her second kidney transplant last week {so far she seems to be doing great!!  Hip!  Hip!  Hooray!}. 

Well, a good friend of mine sent me a link to Regrets of the Dying the other day.  {I think she must have been inspired because I doubt she knew of all the people in my life who are facing these serious health issues.}  It is about five of the most common regrets of those who are dying.  My favorites from the list:

I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 

and

I wish that I had let myself be happier.

People experience an incredible amount of growth when they are faced with their own mortality.  And everyone's time here is limited.  We only get one shot at this life.  Why not learn from their experiences and realize that your life is all about the choices you make.  You are creating your own experience here on earth.  You have the choice to choose love and happiness.  You can choose to be true to yourself and be who you were meant to be!  Go for your dreams!  Improve your life!  You can live a life without regrets!  Don't let your dying days be the ones when you realize these truths. 

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life.
Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly.
Choose happiness.

Please, go read the article.

{soon to be a book!}

What can you learn from those who 

have already faced their own mortality?

And because I can't resist a great song: