Saturday, February 27, 2010
Covergirl's Stand Up for Beauty Video Contast
Check out Covergirl's Stand Up for Beauty Video Contest & sign the declaration...go to http://www.covergirl.com/stand-up-for-beauty/?_requestid=16390351
Monday, February 22, 2010
A BEAUTY PARTY!! - pingg.com
A BEAUTY PARTY!! - pingg.com Come see what all the fuss is about....Thursday February 25th...all day...just click on the link above & RSVP!!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
20 Ways to love your body! Compiled by Margo Maine, Ph.D
This comes from the National Eating Disorders website...www.nationaleatingdisorders.org...
1. Think of your body as the vehicle to your dreams. Honor it, Respect it. Fuel it.
2. Create a list of all the things your body lets you do. Read it and add to it often.
3. Become aware of what your body can do each day. Remember it is the instrument of your life, not just an ornament.
4. Create a list of people admire: people who have contributed to your life, your community, or the world. Consider whether their appearance was important to their success and accomplishments.
5. Walk with your head held high, supported by pride & confidence in yourself as a person.
6. Don't let your weight or shape keep you from activities that you enjoy.
7. Wear comfortable clothes that you like, that express your personal style, and that feel good to your body.
8. Count your blessings, not your blemishes.
9. Think about all the things that you could accomplish with the time and energy you currently spend worrying about your body & your appearance. Try one!
10. Be your body's friend and supporter, not it's enemy.
11. Consider this: Your skin replaces itself once a month, your stomach lining every five days, your liver every six weeks and your skeleton every three months. Your body is extraordinary, begin to respect and appreciate it!
12. Every morning when you wake up thank your body for rejuvinating itself so you can enjoy the day.
13. Every evening when you go to bed tell your body that you appreciate what it has allowed you to do throughout the day.
14. Find a method of exercise that you enjoy & do it regularly. Don't exercise to lose weight or to fight your body. Do it to make your body healthy & strong and because it makes you feel good. Exercise for the three F's: Fun, Fitness & Friendship.
15. Think back to a time in your life when you felt good about your body. Tell yourself you can feel like that again, even in this body at this age.
16. Keep a list of 10 positive things about yourself without mentioning your appearance. Add to it!
17. Put a sign on each of your mirrors saying "I'm beautiful inside & out."
18. Choose to find the beauty in the world & in yourself.
19. Start saying to yourself, "Life is too short to waste my time hating my body this way."
20. Eat when you are hungry. Rest when you are tired. Surround yourself with people that remind you of your inner strength & beauty.
DON'T WEIGH YOUR SELF ESTEEM, IT'S WHAT INSIDE THAT COUNTS!!
1. Think of your body as the vehicle to your dreams. Honor it, Respect it. Fuel it.
2. Create a list of all the things your body lets you do. Read it and add to it often.
3. Become aware of what your body can do each day. Remember it is the instrument of your life, not just an ornament.
4. Create a list of people admire: people who have contributed to your life, your community, or the world. Consider whether their appearance was important to their success and accomplishments.
5. Walk with your head held high, supported by pride & confidence in yourself as a person.
6. Don't let your weight or shape keep you from activities that you enjoy.
7. Wear comfortable clothes that you like, that express your personal style, and that feel good to your body.
8. Count your blessings, not your blemishes.
9. Think about all the things that you could accomplish with the time and energy you currently spend worrying about your body & your appearance. Try one!
10. Be your body's friend and supporter, not it's enemy.
11. Consider this: Your skin replaces itself once a month, your stomach lining every five days, your liver every six weeks and your skeleton every three months. Your body is extraordinary, begin to respect and appreciate it!
12. Every morning when you wake up thank your body for rejuvinating itself so you can enjoy the day.
13. Every evening when you go to bed tell your body that you appreciate what it has allowed you to do throughout the day.
14. Find a method of exercise that you enjoy & do it regularly. Don't exercise to lose weight or to fight your body. Do it to make your body healthy & strong and because it makes you feel good. Exercise for the three F's: Fun, Fitness & Friendship.
15. Think back to a time in your life when you felt good about your body. Tell yourself you can feel like that again, even in this body at this age.
16. Keep a list of 10 positive things about yourself without mentioning your appearance. Add to it!
17. Put a sign on each of your mirrors saying "I'm beautiful inside & out."
18. Choose to find the beauty in the world & in yourself.
19. Start saying to yourself, "Life is too short to waste my time hating my body this way."
20. Eat when you are hungry. Rest when you are tired. Surround yourself with people that remind you of your inner strength & beauty.
DON'T WEIGH YOUR SELF ESTEEM, IT'S WHAT INSIDE THAT COUNTS!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Mermaid or Whale?
I got this email from a friend & I thought it was so good that I wanted to share it!
A SMART WOMAN'S THINKING FOR A HAPPY LIFE...
Recently, in a large city, a poster featuring a very young, extremely thin, dramatically tanned woman appeared in the window of a gym. The caption on the poster said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"
A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym. This is what she wrote:
To Whom It May Concern:
Here are the facts:
Whales are always surrounded by friends such as dolphins, sea lions, even curious humans. They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins, stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and have virtually no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.
On the other hand, Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because, according to mythology, they kill any men who get close to them. And, hello? how could they have sex? Just look at them ... where is IT? Therefore, they aren't able to have any precious babies either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.
P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. So, as of today, when I look at my butt in the mirror instead of whining, I will think: Good grief, look how smart I am!
A SMART WOMAN'S THINKING FOR A HAPPY LIFE...
Recently, in a large city, a poster featuring a very young, extremely thin, dramatically tanned woman appeared in the window of a gym. The caption on the poster said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"
A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym. This is what she wrote:
To Whom It May Concern:
Here are the facts:
Whales are always surrounded by friends such as dolphins, sea lions, even curious humans. They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins, stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and have virtually no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.
On the other hand, Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because, according to mythology, they kill any men who get close to them. And, hello? how could they have sex? Just look at them ... where is IT? Therefore, they aren't able to have any precious babies either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.
P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. So, as of today, when I look at my butt in the mirror instead of whining, I will think: Good grief, look how smart I am!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Beauty Within Awareness Event
I received an email the other day requesting my help so I told her I would post this email. I don't have any more information on the event but as soon as I get more information I will post.
Natalie~ Hi! My name is Natasha Hernandez my mom was recently diagnosed with type 4B endometrial cancer. The doctors told us that this type of cancer is one of the worst cancers there are and that it is not curable but they would do their best to control it. From the looks on their faces it looked like odds were not good for her making it. My mom is a fighter and a strong believer of miracles (as am I.) My brother & I stepped out to talk to the doctors and find out how long they thought she had left. They told us she might not make it to 5 years. My mom doesn't know we talked to them, she doesn't want any negative ideas in her head. She believes (as do we) that she is going to survive and that this is just an obstacle she has to over come in this life.
Our family has learned a lot from her about staying positive and keeping faith. She has had her 2nd chemo-therapy appointment which has made her hair fall out left and right from one of the MANY side effects of chemo. She was having a really hard time with the hair especially. In general most women think of their hair as a security blanket and with my mom that was the case. She couldn't take it falling out everywhere and having bald spots. As we were preparing to shave her head she broke into tears thinking that she wouldn't be pretty anymore. She was afraid that her husband wouldn't look at her the same way and that people would look at her as less of a woman. Of course that was not the case with her husband, he loves her no matter how she looks but the society and pressures of this world needing to be a perfect size 2, long beautiful hair, tan flawless skin etc. makes her think that she wouldn't still be beautiful.
What I would like to do for my mom, cancer patients, women in general and myself is shave my head to show that hair is just hair. What really makes us beautiful is who we are on the inside. We are having an awareness dinner and auction on February 20th 2010 at 6:00pm in Salt Lake City Utah to raise money that will go towards women and their self worth, a portion of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. We will be having dinner, an auction, speakers, and people who will shave or cut their hair to donate to locks of love. I have read over your web page "the beauty within" and I am so happy to see that you are making the same kind of stand!! We would be honored if you could support us at this event. If you have any ideas that could help they would be greatly appreciated! Please contact me as soon as possible if this is something you would be interested in.
With much appreciation and love,
Natasha Hernandez
If you would like more information or would like to contact Natasha, please let me know & I will get you her contact information!
Natalie~ Hi! My name is Natasha Hernandez my mom was recently diagnosed with type 4B endometrial cancer. The doctors told us that this type of cancer is one of the worst cancers there are and that it is not curable but they would do their best to control it. From the looks on their faces it looked like odds were not good for her making it. My mom is a fighter and a strong believer of miracles (as am I.) My brother & I stepped out to talk to the doctors and find out how long they thought she had left. They told us she might not make it to 5 years. My mom doesn't know we talked to them, she doesn't want any negative ideas in her head. She believes (as do we) that she is going to survive and that this is just an obstacle she has to over come in this life.
Our family has learned a lot from her about staying positive and keeping faith. She has had her 2nd chemo-therapy appointment which has made her hair fall out left and right from one of the MANY side effects of chemo. She was having a really hard time with the hair especially. In general most women think of their hair as a security blanket and with my mom that was the case. She couldn't take it falling out everywhere and having bald spots. As we were preparing to shave her head she broke into tears thinking that she wouldn't be pretty anymore. She was afraid that her husband wouldn't look at her the same way and that people would look at her as less of a woman. Of course that was not the case with her husband, he loves her no matter how she looks but the society and pressures of this world needing to be a perfect size 2, long beautiful hair, tan flawless skin etc. makes her think that she wouldn't still be beautiful.
What I would like to do for my mom, cancer patients, women in general and myself is shave my head to show that hair is just hair. What really makes us beautiful is who we are on the inside. We are having an awareness dinner and auction on February 20th 2010 at 6:00pm in Salt Lake City Utah to raise money that will go towards women and their self worth, a portion of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. We will be having dinner, an auction, speakers, and people who will shave or cut their hair to donate to locks of love. I have read over your web page "the beauty within" and I am so happy to see that you are making the same kind of stand!! We would be honored if you could support us at this event. If you have any ideas that could help they would be greatly appreciated! Please contact me as soon as possible if this is something you would be interested in.
With much appreciation and love,
Natasha Hernandez
If you would like more information or would like to contact Natasha, please let me know & I will get you her contact information!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I Think I Can....
Do you remember the story of "The Little Engine that Could?" We all feel at times that we can't do something that is asked of us, but like the Little Engine: "I'm not very big & I've never been over the mountain, but I will try." We should always try. The little engine then pulled & tugged & said: 'I think I can, I think I can.' For her this was an arduous task but because she thought she could, she overcame her olbstacle & made it over the mountain.
Always remember that the mind is a powerful tool & when put to work will bring great results. If you think you can, YOU WILL!!!
Always remember that the mind is a powerful tool & when put to work will bring great results. If you think you can, YOU WILL!!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Body Image and your Kids: Your body image plays a role in theirs
Body ImageLoving Your Body Inside and Out
Body Image and Your Kids: Your body image plays a role in theirs
Get more body image information for your daughter from girlshealth.gov
Body Image: Loving Yourself Inside and Out Home
Body Image and Your Kids
"On a diet, you can't eat." This is what one five year-old girl had to say in a study on girls' ideas about dieting. This and other research has shown that daughters are more likely to have ideas about dieting when their mothers diet. Children pick up on comments about dieting concepts that may seem harmless, such as limiting high-fat foods or eating less. Yet, as girls enter their teen years, having ideas about dieting can lead to problems. Many things can spark weight concerns for girls and impact their eating habits in potentially unhealthy ways:
Having mothers concerned about their own weight
Having mothers who are overly concerned about their daughters' weight and looks
Natural weight gain and other body changes during puberty
Peer pressure to look a certain way
Struggles with self-esteem
Media images showing the ideal female body as thin
Many teenage girls of average weight think they are overweight and are not satisfied with their bodies. Having extreme weight concerns — and acting on those concerns — can harm girls' social, physical, and emotional growth. Actions such as skipping meals or taking diet pills can lead to poor nutrition and difficulty learning. For some, extreme efforts to lose weight can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. For others, the pressure to be thin can actually lead to binge eating disorder: overeating that is followed by extreme guilt. What's more, girls are more likely to further risk their health by trying to lose weight in unhealthy ways, such as smoking.
While not as common, boys are also at risk of developing unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders. Body image becomes an important issue for teenage boys as they struggle with body changes and pay more attention to media images of the "ideal" muscular male.
What you can do
Your children pay attention to what you say and do — even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. If you are always complaining about your weight or feel pressure to change your body shape, your children may learn that these are important concerns. If you are attracted to new "miracle" diets, they may learn that restrictive dieting is better than making healthy lifestyle choices. If you tell your daughter that she would be prettier if she lost weight, she will learn that the goals of weight loss are to be attractive and accepted by others.
Parents are role models and should try to follow the healthy eating and physical activity patterns that you would like your children to follow — for your health and theirs. Extreme weight concerns and eating disorders, as well as obesity, are hard to treat. Yet, you can play an important role in preventing these problems for your children.
Follow these steps to help your child develop a positive body image and relate to food in a healthy way:
Make sure your child understands that weight gain is a normal part of development, especially during puberty.
Avoid negative statements about food, weight, and body size and shape.
Allow your child to make decisions about food, while making sure that plenty of healthy and nutritious meals and snacks are available.
Compliment your child on her or his efforts, talents, accomplishments, and personal values.
Restrict television viewing, and watch television with your child and discuss the media images you see.
Encourage your school to enact policies against size and sexual discrimination, harassment, teasing, and name-calling; support the elimination of public weigh-ins and fat measurements.
Keep the communication lines with your child open.
Taken from www.womenshealth.gov/bodyimage
Body Image and Your Kids: Your body image plays a role in theirs
Get more body image information for your daughter from girlshealth.gov
Body Image: Loving Yourself Inside and Out Home
Body Image and Your Kids
"On a diet, you can't eat." This is what one five year-old girl had to say in a study on girls' ideas about dieting. This and other research has shown that daughters are more likely to have ideas about dieting when their mothers diet. Children pick up on comments about dieting concepts that may seem harmless, such as limiting high-fat foods or eating less. Yet, as girls enter their teen years, having ideas about dieting can lead to problems. Many things can spark weight concerns for girls and impact their eating habits in potentially unhealthy ways:
Having mothers concerned about their own weight
Having mothers who are overly concerned about their daughters' weight and looks
Natural weight gain and other body changes during puberty
Peer pressure to look a certain way
Struggles with self-esteem
Media images showing the ideal female body as thin
Many teenage girls of average weight think they are overweight and are not satisfied with their bodies. Having extreme weight concerns — and acting on those concerns — can harm girls' social, physical, and emotional growth. Actions such as skipping meals or taking diet pills can lead to poor nutrition and difficulty learning. For some, extreme efforts to lose weight can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. For others, the pressure to be thin can actually lead to binge eating disorder: overeating that is followed by extreme guilt. What's more, girls are more likely to further risk their health by trying to lose weight in unhealthy ways, such as smoking.
While not as common, boys are also at risk of developing unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders. Body image becomes an important issue for teenage boys as they struggle with body changes and pay more attention to media images of the "ideal" muscular male.
What you can do
Your children pay attention to what you say and do — even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. If you are always complaining about your weight or feel pressure to change your body shape, your children may learn that these are important concerns. If you are attracted to new "miracle" diets, they may learn that restrictive dieting is better than making healthy lifestyle choices. If you tell your daughter that she would be prettier if she lost weight, she will learn that the goals of weight loss are to be attractive and accepted by others.
Parents are role models and should try to follow the healthy eating and physical activity patterns that you would like your children to follow — for your health and theirs. Extreme weight concerns and eating disorders, as well as obesity, are hard to treat. Yet, you can play an important role in preventing these problems for your children.
Follow these steps to help your child develop a positive body image and relate to food in a healthy way:
Make sure your child understands that weight gain is a normal part of development, especially during puberty.
Avoid negative statements about food, weight, and body size and shape.
Allow your child to make decisions about food, while making sure that plenty of healthy and nutritious meals and snacks are available.
Compliment your child on her or his efforts, talents, accomplishments, and personal values.
Restrict television viewing, and watch television with your child and discuss the media images you see.
Encourage your school to enact policies against size and sexual discrimination, harassment, teasing, and name-calling; support the elimination of public weigh-ins and fat measurements.
Keep the communication lines with your child open.
Taken from www.womenshealth.gov/bodyimage
Friday, December 4, 2009
Chasing Beauty
I stumbled across this story today & thought it was something that everyone needs to hear. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34272772#34272772 I wanted to share this excerpt from the book written by Jamieson Dale (known as Laura Pillarella) called "Chasing Beauty"
"I think that I am finally pretty. I have a hard time writing that, and an even harder time saying it. I still feel ugly. It took fifteen cosmetic surgical procedures over ten years, costing a total of $61,000, to realize that average is okay, and certainly simpler. What began as my ordinary bad hair, bad skin, bad bone structure, bad teeth, and bad self-esteem was rearranged into surgical freakishness and finally into probably attractive. The bad self-confidence remains. To try to escape my common flaws, I have undergone repeat upper and lower "eye jobs"; a chin implant augmentation; a lip lift; collagen injections; several surgical lip augmentations; a nose job; a TCA chemical peel; laser peels; Alloderm cadaver implants; dental braces; jaw advancement; chin genioplasty augmentation; two cheek lifts; a mid-facelift; an eyelid canthopexy; and a lateral brow-lift. My Result is that I now know that scalpels, syringes and lasers are not beauty tools--or worse, toys--as I had once felt. They have each cut and injected into more than my skin, crafting with each painful healing a personal character from which I had wished that surgery would save me from developing. I had only wished to be one-dimensional by chasing beauty and its easy, breezy image. Far from that, I'm now something scarred: Wise. I am only 35 years old. ···························································My journey appears to be over. My eyes appear sloe instead of sleepy or "scooped out" as I was once told. My nose is smaller. Most of my acne scars have been burned away, and my skin has a healthier glow (or what I suppose "glow" looks like). I have a jawbone less subtly defined than before. The lips look poofy without manual poofing, but not too poofy. I step back from the mirror. My cheeks have been rescued from their steady slip into jowls (a distasteful word to match distasteful facial betrayal and one that my orthodontist misspelled as jowels on my initial visit chart and which I didn’t have the stomach to correct) and put back where cheeks should be. The legacy of my wayward chin is over; it has submitted into proportionate, finally getting along and blending with the rest of my features. Appearances are deceiving. Pretty is a poor cure for insecurity. I still obsess, out of habit or because I’ve compared myself with the ubiquitous teen model in my favorite magazine or watched magnified movie-star perfection or because I’m bloated or having a bad hair day or had a fight with my husband or just because. Today is one of those days. Moving closer to the glass now, I wonder: are those broken capillaries I see etched across my cheeks? Is that a double chin? I scrunch down my face, tucking my chin, trying to see my collarbone. The effect confirms the presence of ugly submental fat ("submental" being one of the many unfortunate technical terms attached to female fear that have assimilated into my own vocabulary over the years). Stretching my mouth into a grimace produces crow’s feet wrinkles around my eyes. I frown, making it worse. Where is the smooth brow of my youth? I wonder, as I tug my hair off my forehead. Didn’t my hairline used to be lower? Is everything where it should be?Despite my harsh surgical history, I still sometimes fall for the siren call of instant cosmetic gratification. Maybe just a little Botox? I think as my fingers mimic its smoothing paralysis effect on my facial muscles and skin. It looks so good on the media world, and good in imitation. Ooh, that’s better, I now see, feeling calmed by the effect.Quickly coming down, and closing the bathroom door behind me, I regret that good hygiene will bring me back in here, back before the mirror before long. I guess that it will take time for me to not only say that I’m pretty…but to actually believe it. Without Botox. I at least know that I’ll never again ask a cosmetic surgeon if I am. Ten years of cosmetic surgery - ten years of swelling and distortion and bruising and financial deceit and high anxiety and downtime and pain and disappointment and marital strain - haven’t answered my question: Who am I? It has only prolonged the search for it.I may finally look okay, but I feel worked over, and I still don’t know the answer.This book is the way that I remember asking."
Let's all remember to take a good, hard look at ourselves in the mirror & learn to love what it reflects! We are all beautiful in our own special way!!!
"I think that I am finally pretty. I have a hard time writing that, and an even harder time saying it. I still feel ugly. It took fifteen cosmetic surgical procedures over ten years, costing a total of $61,000, to realize that average is okay, and certainly simpler. What began as my ordinary bad hair, bad skin, bad bone structure, bad teeth, and bad self-esteem was rearranged into surgical freakishness and finally into probably attractive. The bad self-confidence remains. To try to escape my common flaws, I have undergone repeat upper and lower "eye jobs"; a chin implant augmentation; a lip lift; collagen injections; several surgical lip augmentations; a nose job; a TCA chemical peel; laser peels; Alloderm cadaver implants; dental braces; jaw advancement; chin genioplasty augmentation; two cheek lifts; a mid-facelift; an eyelid canthopexy; and a lateral brow-lift. My Result is that I now know that scalpels, syringes and lasers are not beauty tools--or worse, toys--as I had once felt. They have each cut and injected into more than my skin, crafting with each painful healing a personal character from which I had wished that surgery would save me from developing. I had only wished to be one-dimensional by chasing beauty and its easy, breezy image. Far from that, I'm now something scarred: Wise. I am only 35 years old. ···························································My journey appears to be over. My eyes appear sloe instead of sleepy or "scooped out" as I was once told. My nose is smaller. Most of my acne scars have been burned away, and my skin has a healthier glow (or what I suppose "glow" looks like). I have a jawbone less subtly defined than before. The lips look poofy without manual poofing, but not too poofy. I step back from the mirror. My cheeks have been rescued from their steady slip into jowls (a distasteful word to match distasteful facial betrayal and one that my orthodontist misspelled as jowels on my initial visit chart and which I didn’t have the stomach to correct) and put back where cheeks should be. The legacy of my wayward chin is over; it has submitted into proportionate, finally getting along and blending with the rest of my features. Appearances are deceiving. Pretty is a poor cure for insecurity. I still obsess, out of habit or because I’ve compared myself with the ubiquitous teen model in my favorite magazine or watched magnified movie-star perfection or because I’m bloated or having a bad hair day or had a fight with my husband or just because. Today is one of those days. Moving closer to the glass now, I wonder: are those broken capillaries I see etched across my cheeks? Is that a double chin? I scrunch down my face, tucking my chin, trying to see my collarbone. The effect confirms the presence of ugly submental fat ("submental" being one of the many unfortunate technical terms attached to female fear that have assimilated into my own vocabulary over the years). Stretching my mouth into a grimace produces crow’s feet wrinkles around my eyes. I frown, making it worse. Where is the smooth brow of my youth? I wonder, as I tug my hair off my forehead. Didn’t my hairline used to be lower? Is everything where it should be?Despite my harsh surgical history, I still sometimes fall for the siren call of instant cosmetic gratification. Maybe just a little Botox? I think as my fingers mimic its smoothing paralysis effect on my facial muscles and skin. It looks so good on the media world, and good in imitation. Ooh, that’s better, I now see, feeling calmed by the effect.Quickly coming down, and closing the bathroom door behind me, I regret that good hygiene will bring me back in here, back before the mirror before long. I guess that it will take time for me to not only say that I’m pretty…but to actually believe it. Without Botox. I at least know that I’ll never again ask a cosmetic surgeon if I am. Ten years of cosmetic surgery - ten years of swelling and distortion and bruising and financial deceit and high anxiety and downtime and pain and disappointment and marital strain - haven’t answered my question: Who am I? It has only prolonged the search for it.I may finally look okay, but I feel worked over, and I still don’t know the answer.This book is the way that I remember asking."
Let's all remember to take a good, hard look at ourselves in the mirror & learn to love what it reflects! We are all beautiful in our own special way!!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Changing Paradigms of Beauty
It's been a while since I have posted! Life has been busy but great!! I found this article through a pageant email that I receive every week & thought it was very interesting. It seems that although beauty is defined differently by everyone, one thing we all can agree on is that mostly beauty comes from within. It's kind of along article but very well worth it.
Go here: http://mag.cmhmag.com/featured/360-discussion-changing-paradigms-of-beauty/
Go here: http://mag.cmhmag.com/featured/360-discussion-changing-paradigms-of-beauty/
Friday, September 18, 2009
Butterfly
Butterfly~
Once upon a time in a land far far away.There was a wonderful old man who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects....
One day while walking through the woods the nice old man found a cocoon. Feeling lonely he decided to take the cocoon home to watch its beautiful transformation froma funny little cocoon to a beautiful butterfly.
He gently placed the cocoon on his kitchen table, and watched over it for days
Suddenly on the seventh day the cocoon started to move. It moved frantically! The old man felt sorry for the little butterfly inside the cocoon.He watched it struggle and struggle and struggle!
Finally the old man feeling so sorry for the cocooned butterfly rushed to its aide with a surgical scalpel and gently slit the cocoon so the butterfly could emerge.
Just one slice was all it took,and the butterfly broke free from its cocoon only to wilt over in a completely motionless state. The old man did not know what to think.Had he accidentally killed the little butterfly? No, it's still moving a little bit.! Maybe it's sick! Who the heck would know? He was dumbfounded, and quite perplexed! What should I do, he said. Well he felt so sorry for the little creature that he decided the best thing he coulddo for the butterfly was to place it gently back into its cocoon.
He did so, and placed a drop of honey on it to seal the cocoon, leaving the butterfly to nestle in its natural state. Well the next day he noticed that the cocoon was moving again. Wow, he said! It moved and moved and struggled and struggled.Finally the butterfly broke free from its cocoon and stretched its wings out far and wide. Big time yawn! Its beautiful wings were filled with wonderful colors! It looked around and took off! It was flying! Its so beautiful! The old man was jumping with joy! Wow!
Go Baby, Go! And that wonderful butterfly did that just that, it flew and flew till it was almost out of the old mans sight. What a joy, he exclaimed!But then he started to think. What did I do wrong by trying to help that beautiful little butterfly out at first?
The old man went into town. Found the library, and read every book he could on butterflies and cocoons. Finally the answer appeared.The butterfly has to struggle and struggle while inside the cocoon. That's how it gets its strength. That's just what they are designed to overcome in order to be strong and beautiful.
Well needless to say the old man was shocked, saddened, and somewhat relieved.
Now he knows the reason why they do what they do. It was only his perception that made it appear that the butterfly was having a hard time. Well from then on the old man knew that loving something sometimes means to pray for it and cheer it on!
He realized that God was wonderful, and that sometimes appearances aren't what they seem to be. That we all are beautiful butterflies, even though we have our apparent struggles in life...
Author Unknown
Taken from www.cuttyhunkroseinspirations.com
I don't think I need to expound anymore on what the moral of the story is. I bolded it & italicised it so it would pop out. Because appearances really aren't what they seem are they?
Once upon a time in a land far far away.There was a wonderful old man who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects....
One day while walking through the woods the nice old man found a cocoon. Feeling lonely he decided to take the cocoon home to watch its beautiful transformation froma funny little cocoon to a beautiful butterfly.
He gently placed the cocoon on his kitchen table, and watched over it for days
Suddenly on the seventh day the cocoon started to move. It moved frantically! The old man felt sorry for the little butterfly inside the cocoon.He watched it struggle and struggle and struggle!
Finally the old man feeling so sorry for the cocooned butterfly rushed to its aide with a surgical scalpel and gently slit the cocoon so the butterfly could emerge.
Just one slice was all it took,and the butterfly broke free from its cocoon only to wilt over in a completely motionless state. The old man did not know what to think.Had he accidentally killed the little butterfly? No, it's still moving a little bit.! Maybe it's sick! Who the heck would know? He was dumbfounded, and quite perplexed! What should I do, he said. Well he felt so sorry for the little creature that he decided the best thing he coulddo for the butterfly was to place it gently back into its cocoon.
He did so, and placed a drop of honey on it to seal the cocoon, leaving the butterfly to nestle in its natural state. Well the next day he noticed that the cocoon was moving again. Wow, he said! It moved and moved and struggled and struggled.Finally the butterfly broke free from its cocoon and stretched its wings out far and wide. Big time yawn! Its beautiful wings were filled with wonderful colors! It looked around and took off! It was flying! Its so beautiful! The old man was jumping with joy! Wow!
Go Baby, Go! And that wonderful butterfly did that just that, it flew and flew till it was almost out of the old mans sight. What a joy, he exclaimed!But then he started to think. What did I do wrong by trying to help that beautiful little butterfly out at first?
The old man went into town. Found the library, and read every book he could on butterflies and cocoons. Finally the answer appeared.The butterfly has to struggle and struggle while inside the cocoon. That's how it gets its strength. That's just what they are designed to overcome in order to be strong and beautiful.
Well needless to say the old man was shocked, saddened, and somewhat relieved.
Now he knows the reason why they do what they do. It was only his perception that made it appear that the butterfly was having a hard time. Well from then on the old man knew that loving something sometimes means to pray for it and cheer it on!
He realized that God was wonderful, and that sometimes appearances aren't what they seem to be. That we all are beautiful butterflies, even though we have our apparent struggles in life...
Author Unknown
Taken from www.cuttyhunkroseinspirations.com
I don't think I need to expound anymore on what the moral of the story is. I bolded it & italicised it so it would pop out. Because appearances really aren't what they seem are they?
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