Feeling Beautiful

Feeling Beautiful is Empowering

Have you ever worn something new and felt wonderful in it? Did you have a much better time when you wore the new outfit? The way you felt when you wore it felt natural. You felt natural because this is the way you should feel all the time.

The world is full of beautiful people. You are one of them. Some days are better than others though, and a bad mood, a red pimple or a pair of jeans that are a little too tight can cause us to easily forget about our own beauty.

Beauty is among the greatest concerns for men and women around the world. As a society, there is a constant drive to appear more desirable and attractive to others, which is why the beauty industry is thriving. There are more than 250,000 beauty salons in the United States, with the industry employing more than 845,000 people. While cosmetics are one way to help improve your appearance, there are several natural ways to improve your looks.                              

Smile. The number one thing you can do to feel beautiful is to smile more often. This will automatically put you in a better mood, and you'll receive more positive energy from other people as well.When you smile, your whole face radiates beauty, so smile as often as you can. You may also find that by smiling more often, you end up having a more positive and happy attitude. There are ways to improve your smile if you are self-conscious. Teeth whitening can improve the brilliance of your smile and is more affordable than ever with the availability of over-the-counter whitening kits. To avoid discoloration, brush your teeth often, use a straw when you drink dark liquids and avoid smoking. Don't let dental flaws discourage you. Flaws like gaps can be a signature trademark. Smile, laugh, and stay positive! Remembering these three factors, helps draw the right people in your life and give you a beautiful glow that make others want to be around you.

Be Confident ~ One of the simplest ways to convey beauty on the outside is to have a healthy and positive self image. There is no sense in looking beautiful on the outside if you don't feel beautiful on the inside. If you are confident in yourself, it will reflect in the way you compose yourself. You are likely to carry yourself with good posture and smile more often, which make you look physically more beautiful. Walk and talk with confidence. It is much more attractive for a person to walk and talk with confidence than for her to slink back away from the world. Don’t be afraid to initiate conversations or stand up for what you believe in. Having more confidence in yourself will make you a more attractive person.

Think of your body as an instrument. Stop looking at your body as an unmovable object and start thinking of it as something that can be tuned. Little tune-ups every morning (moisturizer, chapstick, a wink and a smile) will improve your sense of beauty.

Eat healthy and exercise. Keeping your body in shape and eating healthy food can do wonders for you not only physically, but give you tremendous energy to be active and fit. Also taking vitamins and supplements is overall good for your body, skin, and hair. Exercise on a regular basis. Exercise is good for you both physically and mentally. Physically, it will help you stay healthier and can tone your body, as well. Exercise is good for you mentally because you get a feeling of achievement and self-satisfaction as you meet your exercise goals each time you work out. Exercising is a way to release stress, also. Exercising on a regular basis can help you to feel and look like a more attractive person.

Maintain personal hygiene ~ On a daily basis, shower, do your hair, and do your makeup (if you are a woman). Spray on some perfume or cologne before you head out the door. If you feel attractive, you will appear more attractive to those around you.

Go shopping. Treat yourself by buying a new outfit, pair of shoes or a beautiful necklace or earrings to give an extra boost in the way you look. Our self-esteem is closely linked with our consumerism. Your budget may allow you a $6 shirt or a $60 shirt; either way, a new article of clothing will give you a confidence boost.

Get a new haircut. Often times, a change in hair style will help you feel more attractive and will look more attractive, as well. Tell the stylist what you want and she should be able to figure out what shape, length and possibly color works best for your face shape, body shape and skin type. Speak up if it is something you don’t want or don’t like.

Moisturize ~ Use a good moisturize on your face and body every day to give your skin a natural radiance. Try to apply a moisturizer as soon as you get in the shower. According to 1sthealthsource.com, "moisturizers rehydrate and replenish your skin's natural radiance, no matter what condition your skin is in." Moisturizing helps replenish the skin with vitamins, minerals and collagen-elastin, which improves skin's elasticity and helps prevent wrinkles. The natural glow of a moisturizer on your face can also reduce the amount of makeup you need to wear every day. Use a lotion with a sun protection factor to protect your skin from the sun's rays, which can cause wrinkles. Drinking plenty of water is a natural way to hydrate skin; it also helps to flush toxins from the body.

Wear makeup. Makeup can help improve a woman's appearance, but wearing too much makeup can have the reverse effect. Wear enough makeup to accentuate your features and hide flaws without appearing as though you're wearing a mask. Light concealer and foundation, simple eye makeup, mascara and a natural lip shade are usually all you need to improve your appearance. If you use blush, apply it lightly or simply pinch your cheeks to give your skin a natural, blushing look. Look for makeup products that are made of natural materials and contain SPF to protect your skin from sun damage.Try applying on a little mascara or lipstick if you want to feel hot. On the other hand, if you want a completely new look, get yourself an over the counter make over at a department store or ask a makeup consultant to help you find makeup or lipstick that best matches your skin tone.

Pamper yourself every once in a while. Coerce your partner into a massage. Light some candles, and take a bubble bath. Curl up in bed with a good book. Engage in your favorite relaxation technique. Beautiful people find time for themselves. Spend time for yourself. Everyone needs to pamper himself or herself once in awhile and if it is going to a spa or something simple as trying, a new hairdo can improve greatly on how you feel.

Sleep ~ Beauty rest is not a myth that was created as an excuse to sleep in. Getting plenty of sleep re-energizes the body and prevents rings and dark circles around the eyes. The amount of sleep needed varies with each person, but if you get enough sleep, you'll be able to see the results in the way your body looks and feels.

Stay less stressed. Situations in our life at times can leave us on the edge and feel physically, mentally, and emotionally strained. Try yoga, mediate or soothing music to ease and relax your mind and body. Do whatever that works for you to prevent constant worries.

Work on your relationships with friends and family. Many studies have shown that positive, fulfilling relationships help people maintain a sense of inner and outer beauty.

Kill them with kindness. Remember--the most beautiful people are usually the nicest and most appealing to be around for reasons other than their beauty.

Age is on your side. Many people report feeling more beautiful as they get older.

Wear outfits that reflect your personality. Your inner comfort will reflect on the outside.

Be content with yourself. The best method to staying beautiful is being comfortable in your own skin by having confidence and thinking highly of yourself (but not to the extreme where you are arrogant). Accepting that you are an unique individual with great gifts can definitely change other areas in your life for the better.

Perfectly Imperfect

Embracing the Imperfect

“The problem is not that there are problems.
The problem is expecting otherwise and
thinking that having problems is a problem.”
         ~Theodore Rubin


It occurred to me that there might be a gift in all of this for others – the gift of exposure and vulnerability.

Here’s the thing: I’ve had more than a few experiences where, when I “out” myself as imperfect, the response to that is for someone else to use that to feel smug, better-than me, or more put-together.

Perhaps they even tell others that “Dawn isn’t really who you think she is” because they’ve been privy to my struggles or they’ve seen some inconsistency show up between my vision for my life and my actions on a particular day.

This is exactly why we tend not to get vulnerable and why we hesitate to claim or accept our imperfections. We’re afraid of this response.

This is also exactly why it’s the place to practice courage and to get vulnerable.

Choices

When I’ve had this experience of someone mis-interpreting (or outright mis-using) my transparent admissions that "Yes, I still experience fear", or "Sometimes I don’t feel enough", or  "I get frustrated when my business doesn’t perform the way I want it to", I have a few choices.

YOU have a few choices:

• You can run back into yourself and hide, duly chastened and embarrassed, and go back to the exhausting role of “I’ve got it all together.” or
• You can take a deep breath, and sink even more deeply into whatever your truth is in that moment, even if your truth is that you’re not on-point.

The Most Powerful Parts of Us

The most powerful part of who I am, and of who you are, is actually not the part where I’m “put-together.”

The most powerful part of who we are is where we accept that within us which is “falling apart.” Being honest about being an imperfectly perfect human being creates such an enormous expanse of freedom.

That level of honesty is core-shaking. It’s freedom from the Stories about ourselves and freedom from what others think.

It’s the space where compassion begins when others judge, for the empty endeavor of using someone else’s low to fuel their own artificial high.

Your truth–even if it’s a miserable one–becomes powerful when you embrace it. Own it fully.

The great paradox is that when we embrace the things that are difficult, the things that are difficult have the space for actual change.

When something is ready to transform, it transforms.

Last Stop: Your Job

It’s my job to own where I’m at, and to accept where I’m at. It’s other people’s jobs to own where they are at, and to accept where they are at.

So really–It’s actually not anyone else’s job to accept you, so that you can be okay with you.

Translation: It doesn’t do much good to try and wait for everyone else to be okay with our truth before we’ll expose our truth. Waiting for that moment keeps you trapped in caring about what other people think.

Waiting for other people to approve, first, is a form of wanting other people to create safety for you, but only you create safety in your life. Safety starts and ends within you.

That’s why I’m willing to expose myself, to share honestly that in this moment, as of writing this, that I am not perfect ~ sometimes I don't even like myself.

Don’t know how I will feel in five minutes, don’t know how I will feel in five days – but this is where I am, right now. Right now, I am Embracing my Imperfectness.

I stand before you, open and vulnerable, yet grounded in my truth. It’s the safest place to be.

Steps to a Happy Life (conclusion)

Steps to a Happy Life with Positive Attitude

Parting Words on the Positive Attitude Habit

When you start feeling like the idea of being a positive person is daunting, tell yourself this: “If someone who really used to struggle with a negative attitude, turned her life around with these five steps, then I can too!”

If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would be writing an article about developing a positive attitude and living a happy life, I would have laughed right in their face. I would have said, “Why in the world would someone want me to write about positivity?”

But here I am, writing this post, believing in these words, and knowing that every single day I am getting closer and closer to living the happy life I’ve secretly dreamed of living. If I can do it, you can do it. Believe in yourself and remember the most important lesson of all… a positive outlook is a choice. Choose to be positive. Choose to be happy. Life is short.

 

 

Steps to a Happy Life (part 5)

Steps to a Happy Life with Positive Attitude

Step 5: Share Happiness with Others

Not only do you need to be positive with yourself for this new positive attitude to really take effect, you also need to be positive with others. You have to share your wealth of positivity with the world.

The best way I’ve found to do this is quite simple and basic: be nice. Be nice to other people, no matter what. Tell someone he or she looks nice today. Tell someone they did a great job on that presentation. Tell your parents or children (or both!) how much you love them and how great they are.

When someone is feeling down, do what you can to cheer him or her up. Send flowers. Write notes. Don’t gossip. Be kind to all living things. All of these things sound basic enough, but they don't always come easily. Not even for me.

 

In the past, I didn’t wanted to see the good in myself and, therefore, didn’t want to see it in others either. I used to be critical and condescending. Now I strive to be encouraging and supportive. I try not only to treat others, as I would like to be treated, but also to consider how they would like to be treated.

People appreciate positivity and the more you are sharing it with others, the more you are practicing it and reinforcing it in your own life. The best way to multiply your own happiness is to share it with others!

Steps to a Happy Life (part 4)

Steps to a Happy Life with Positive Attitude

Step 4: Reinforce Positivity in Yourself

Once I started thinking more positively and adapted to a more positive attitude, I realized I had to reinforce these thoughts and behaviors in myself so they would stick. As with any sort of training, practice makes perfect, and, yes, you can practice being positive.

The best and easiest way to do this is to be positive when it comes to who you are. Tell yourself you’re awesome. Tell yourself you look good. Tell yourself that you love and accept yourself completely. Tell yourself you did an awesome job at work or raising your kids or whatever it is you do.

 

 

Be honest with yourself, but do your best to look for the good. And, whatever you do, don’t focus on the negative. Nothing good can come of telling yourself that your butt’s too big or your latest career goal wasn’t met.

It’s okay to not like everything about yourself (yet), but don’t spend energy dwelling on the negative. Remind yourself of the good in you. We all have positive attributes and it’s up to you to remind yourself of them every day.

Steps to a Happy Life (part 3)

Steps to a Happy Life with Positive Attitude

Step 3: Look For the Positive in Life
There is the positive aspect in everything. In every person, in every situation, there is something good. Most of the time it’s not all that obvious. We have to look. And sometimes we have to look hard.

The old me just sat back and allowed things to happen by default. If I saw negative, I went with that feeling. I didn’t want to look harder or think too much about the good. I found it much, much easier to sit back and just accept what I saw.

Now, when I’m faced with a difficult or challenging situation, I think to myself, “What is good about this?” No matter how terrible the situation might seem, I always can find something good if I take the time to think about it. Cancer diagnosis? Leads you to appreciate life more fully. Disaster? Look at all the people that run to aid the ones impacted –- people care.

Everything –- good and bad -– is a learning experience. So, at the very least, you can learn from bad experiences. However, there’s usually even more to it than that. If you really take the time to look, you will usually find something good, something really positive, about every person or situation.

Steps to a Happy Life (part 2)

Steps to a Happy Life with Positive Attitude

Step 2: Rid Your Life of Negativity

If you want to live a positive, joyful and happy life, you cannot –- absolutely CANNOT -– be surrounded by negative people who are not encouraging your happiness. Negative people attract other negative people.

When I decided to make the change to live a more positive life, I had to rid my life of all of the negative people in it. This, as you can imagine, wasn’t easy. Getting rid of people hurts -– even when you know they aren’t good for you or your current lifestyle.

Not only did I have to get rid of the negative people, but I also had to get rid of the negative things too. I had to stop doing certain things that were causing negativity in my life. I had to take a step back and examine which behaviors were good for me and which were not.

I learned to focus on the positive things I was doing and let go of the negative ones. This process was not easy and to be honest, is still ongoing, but I know this: having negativity in your life prevents you from living a truly positive existence and from being truly happy.

Steps to a Happy Life (part 1)

Steps to a Happy Life with Positive Attitude

 

Step 1: Believe Happiness is a Choice

For me, this was a hard one at first. I thought that people were either unhappy or happy (and I was one of the unhappy ones). I used to blame this on all kinds of outside forces –- fate, experiences, parents, relationships –- but never really stopped to think that I could choose to be happy.

Sure, this isn’t always easy, but it is always, always an option. Teaching myself to see that happiness is a choice has been one of the greatest things I’ve ever done for myself.

Now when I find myself in a bad situation, I know that it’s up to me to find the good, to be happy regardless of what’s happening around me. I am no longer pointing fingers, placing blame. I realize that everything happens how it happens and it’s up to me to choose how I want to feel about it. I am in control of my happiness level and no one can take that away from me.

Life

LIFE

1. the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally. 
2. the sum of the distinguishing phenomena of organisms, especially metabolism, growth, reproduction, and adaptation to environment. 
3. the animate existence or period of animate existence of an individual: to risk one's life; a short life and a merry one. 
4. a corresponding state, existence, or principle of existence conceived of as belonging to the soul: eternal life. 
5. the general or universal condition of human existence: Too bad, but life is like that.

We all want a happy life, and we all know that having a positive attitude feels better than a negative one. But for some reason, we are all attracted to and can be easily drawn to the negative side. How do we go about to establish a more positive attitude as a daily habit?

Even for someone like me, a naturally positive person, having a positive attitude is not always easy.

I still sometimes see the world through a negative perspective, focusing on the bad and ignoring the good — especially when things aren’t going the way I had hoped. As I’ve been struggling with this lately, I’ve been reminding myself that it really is possible to change my perspective.

About a year ago, I decided I was going to make a change in my life. I was going to start looking for the good, seeking the positive, and striving to make every day a joyful experience.

This was something I would have never imagined myself doing, but it’s something that has impacted my life every single day since then. I’ve had to do a lot to get to where I am right now, and I still believe I have a long way to go.

I’m not searching for any particular end point, however. All I want is to be happy, to live a life that focuses more on the good than the bad (though I do believe you need both to have a happy life).

On this road — this twisting, turning road to happiness — there have been many ups and downs. There have been challenges — cancer, my daughter's thyroidism, my husband's diabetes, etc. There have been inspirations — beauty around us, music, art, my daughters, good friends, etc. There have been many amazing experiences that I never would have had if I had not made the choice to live a positive and happy life.

Recently, as I struggle to be positive about certain challenging situations in my life, I’ve been giving some serious thought to how I transformed my outlook from negative-focused to a more positive-focused one. (Note: I don’t always see the good. Like everyone, I have good days and bad days, but, for the most part, there has been a BIG shift in my attitude over the past year or so).

Though I have to admit that there are many, many factors involved in my personal development — such as my business, the countless books and blogs I read, creating my blogs, and surrounding myself with happy, supportive people — I can say that, at the most basic level, choosing to be positive has helped me the most in terms of becoming the person I want to be.

When I think back on my transformation now, I recognize that there are certain steps that lead to the best ways to begin stumbling down that path to happiness by establishing a habit of positive attitude.

Over the next few days, I will expand on my journey and talk about those steps — and the impact on my photography and craft business. Join me on my journey.