Be. YOU. tiful

I have been contemplating this word beautiful lately. My friend Allie posted something on her blog about it so I felt it was time for me to do the same. Thanks for the inspiration, Allie!

 I believe that we are all our worst critics. We always see the bad before we see the good. We are so unfair to ourselves.

I was one of the tallest girls in school, from kindergarten on. I was called skyscraper, jolly green giant, big foot, etc.....I think the only thing that made me feel better about the fact that I was a giant was the that I had a friend that dealt with the same thing. We fought the battle together. We told ourselves that boys would eventually hit their growth spurts and we would stop being overseen. That's exactly what happened. Maybe not until junior year of high school, but it eventually happened. lol

That friend always told me that we should stand tall for ourselves, literally and mediphorically. We are now 5 feet and 10 inches of beautiful because we have embraced our gift of height. I don't have the gift of wonderful thighs or clear skin, both I actually dislike very much about myself, but I am 5 feet 10 inches of me. I never used to wear heels because I was always taller than all the boys I dated and even my ex husband. First thing I did after my divorce is bought 5 pairs of the tallest shoes I could find and I continue to wear them proudly.

I am getting older and I see things with my body changing. I gain weight in different spots. I can't eat like a cow like I used to and have it go no where. Cellulite is now a factor. My skin isn't as tight. Maybe this is with age too, but I have grown to appreciate my body a lot more. I made a vow to myself last year during my divorce that I was going to start from the inside out and make myself love....me. Beauty starts from the inside and I truly believe that. I cut my losses, removed the negativity in my heart, and focused on myself for once. I realized that my thighs might not be perfect and my face might still have acne (at freakin 26, almost 27! Ugh.) but I have gained a different confidence. I started to really see....me. A strong willed, independent, concur all, live through much, 5 foot 10 inches, woman.

Be. YOU. tiful :)

Love,
Remarkable Be.You.tiful ME

Happiness Skill #18

This is a fun little activity and something that should bring a smile to your face as well as to the faces of the people you involve. Life is full of small accomplishments which, when added up create a very positive result. Most of us feel really good when we accomplish a large goal or achieve an accolade for something big we have done. This gives us a great feeling of accomplishment and happiness. The problem is, these large goals or accolades come so rarely that we end up ‘starving’ for praise, a ‘good job’ or acknowledgment for the little things we have done.

Today’s activity has two parts both of which should be a lot of fun for you.

Here they are:

Part 1 – Beginning today, pay close attention to ANY positive accomplishment you make and give your self a little ‘mental praise’. Your accomplishment can be ANYTHING no matter how small it is. Something like, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, reading on your lunch break or helping a co-worker with a project. It doesn’t matter what you do, if it is positive, then praise yourself. You can also reward yourself when you reach a certain number of ‘praise worthy accomplishments’. Maybe 10 accomplishments = a candy bar. Come up with some way to praise and reward yourself for the positive things you do.

Part 2 – As you look for things you accomplish and praise yourself for, keep a lookout for things OTHERS do that are praise-worthy and be the one to notice and offer praise to them. This goes hand in hand with the concept that one of our most fundamental NEEDS as human beings is the need to be acknowledged and recognized. If you like, make the second part of today’s activity extra powerful by praising people your normally have a difficult time being around. This could be a co-worker, family member, neighbor or anyone you come in contact with. Pay attention to the things they do and give them praise for any positive effort they make.

Notice how you feel when giving praise to yourself as well as to others and see how your praise impacts your day. Celebrate the little things in life…and have a great time with this one.

You have to be your biggest fan. Notice your accomplishments regularly.

Love,

Remarkable, positive ME

Happiness Skill #15

Meditation

I like this one. I have been thinking about doing this for a while and I think this helps give me an easy route on a beginning stage.

Why meditation? There are plenty of reasons to meditate but the one benefit I hope each of you experience is stress relief and relaxation. The less stress we have and the more relaxed we are the happier we will be. And, believe it or not, meditation is a lot of fun.

So, here is the assignment:

Commit to two minutes of ‘breath meditation’ per day for one week. Pick a time of day you would like to mediate…morning, evening, after the kids have gone to school, etc. You do not need to pick a specific time like 7:00 am. Just the general time of day will be great.

Find a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed for 2 minutes. You may need to wait until the house is empty or you are in your car alone…however you do it, find a place for 2 minutes of uninterrupted time. Be sure to turn your phone off or at least to vibrate and leave it in a different room.

Sit comfortably and focus on your breath for 2 minutes. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breath deeply…as deep as you can. Keep your eyes open and focused softly at the ground. If you prefer to close your eyes then close them. As you breath count ‘one breath in…two breath out…three breath in…four breath out’ etc. When you get to ’10 breath out’ start over. Repeat this 4 times. That should be close to 2 minutes so you don’t even really need a timer.

The counting of your breath and the feeling of the air coming in through your nostrils and out through your mouth should be the only things you think about for the two minutes. If you find your mind thinking about other things, and you will, start over again with ‘one breath in…’ and see if you can make it all the way to ’10 breath out’ without being distracted by other thoughts. It is tricky and you may not be able to do it the first few days…but keep at it and you will have a calm, focused mind.

Happy meditating! : )

Remarkable, calm ME

I choose to be happy

Live by it

You can be excellent in every way. You can be first class. There is no need for you to be a scrub. Respect yourself. Do not feel sorry for yourself. Do not dwell on unkind things others may say about you. Polish and refine whatever talents the Lord has given you. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life and look for its opportunities. ~ Gordon B. Hinckley                   

I heart Gordon B. Hinckley.

Happiness Skill #7

I know I have skipped a couple. All of the skills are great things to share, but I have decided to just share the ones I think I need the most in my life. I really like this one because it fits with my moto from last year....bad juju out good juju in. Bring more positivity in your life. Shed the negativity coat.

It is far too easy to view and focus on the weakness of others. It is my belief the reason this is so easy to do is we instinctively (or conditionally) see and know our personal weakness and we don’t want to be the ‘only person we know with so many weaknesses’. The truth is, we all do have weaknesses but we also, every one of us, have some very powerful strengths we can share…once we begin to see them.

The easiest way to begin to ‘see’ our own strengths is to look for the strengths in others…the things we ‘like about them’.

Today’s activity:

For the next 7 days find 3 people per day, 2 you really enjoy being around and 1 that may be more of a challenge to be around, and find at least one thing about each of these people you ‘like’. Then simply share the thing you like about them with them. You can make a simple comment like ‘Do you know what I really like about you?’ Then tell them.

Be sincere…as sincere as possible. A statement I like is, "kill them with kindness".

Sounds refreshing, doesn't it? All of us have our woes, struggles, hardships, and trials. You never know what weight people are holding on their shoulders. We all have more in common than we think.

Love,

Remarkable, good juju ME