Words of Wisdom

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Words Of Wisdom

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Secrets To Finding Your Joie De Vivre

What makes you happy in life? I believe that each person finds happiness in a unique way. Here are some tips to finding your joie de vivre that I noted while reading Bonjour Happiness.

A beautiful exercise that we all should do...

When you come across things that make you smile -- those "Ahhh life is good moments", write them down. Make a list of the things that you like to savor. It's a fun little project that will remind you about the simple pleasures in life.

• Love yourself, and others. Do everything in love
• Take a bubble bath with rose oil
• Treat simple things like treasures ex: serve your mineral water on a tray
• Take the time to enjoy each bite of food -- notice the taste, texture and smell





• Organize and simplify
• Have breakfast on the porch
• Wear lipstick
• Take a walk and focus on fine details; the color of leaves, tiny blades of grass, and the smell of those jasmine flowers that are blooming nearby
• Volunteer in your community; for your church, your neighborhood, your friends etc. Doing something nice for others will make you feel great too
• Ride a bike





• Sip a cup of coffee with cream while reading a good book or magazine
• Enjoy fires in the fireplace
• Snuggle up with your love and a cozy blanket
• Shop at mom and pop stores or farmers markets
• Practice good posture + being confident in yourself and your decisions = sexy
• Grow your own fruits and vegetables in the summer time
• Hand write your letters and save all the ones you receive





• Cook with fresh ingredients
• Display original art in your home
• Teach, laugh and learn from children
• Learn a foreign language...and use it
• Take a class on a subject that interest you
• Buy or pick fresh flowers for your home







• Don't fight aging, welcome it. Aging is a beautiful process
• Accept compliments instead of denying them, but remain humble while doing so
• Wear French lingerie even if no one sees it
• Take time-off for yourself
• Get pampered once in awhile. "An empty well gives no water"





• Travel
• Practice your handwriting. Make it something to be proud of
• Dress the part -- if your sweeping, wear a kerchief. If your cooking, wear an apron. If your gardening, wear a floppy hat and cute gloves. Become involved and excited about each event.
• Tell others how much you appreciate them and love them
• Find joy in everyday things. Focus on fine details within your daily routines. Find everything special and something to be thankful for.

Things to think about...

  

Joie de vivre is "Loving life, loving people loving to be alive, feeling alive. It's about smiling in your heart and being grateful for the things [and people] in your life: being in good health, being able to hear, to see, to walk etc." (P. 13)

Every day is a new beginning

I hope you are having a wonderful day my friends.

-Brittany

Pictures: Chocolate ice cream, girl on bike, letter, newspaper flowers, hair, flower basket, Paris breakfast

Words Of Wisdom

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Words of Wisdom

 

Words of Wisdom

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Professional Beauty & Makeup Tips

1. "Take a shimmery gloss to the center of your lips, top and bottom - this will attract light to your lips, making them look pouty."-Katrina Barrion, makeup artist for Giella Custom Blend Cosmetics

2. Breakout before a big event? "Take oral cortisone a few days before the event to clear your skin"- Ava Shamban, dermatologist and author of Heal Your Skin.

3. For fuller lips, extend the lip line using a flesh tone lip liner. Be careful not to go overboard!

4. Always use an oil free moisturizer with SPF in the morning.

5. Winter can be especially harsh on your hair leaving it extra dry. Eugene Davis, celebrity hair stylist suggests using an Avocado Hair Mask.

6. "Use your concealer as a base on your eyelids" it will help even out your skin color and keep your liner set for longer.-Melissa Silver, Maybelline makeup artist.

7. When choosing the correct shade of red lipstick keep in mind your skin color. If you have dark to olive skin pick a shade with orange, yellow or golden hues. If you have fair to light skin, pick a shade with a blue base.

8. Drawing thick dark lines all around your eyes will make your eyes look smaller. To avoid this, don't close the lines---line only the outside half of your bottom lid or don't line the bottom lid at all.

9. When using lipstick always be sure to put a tad more product on the middle of your lips. This is the first place where lipstick tends to fade.

10. Brighten eyes with a dot of pale gold cream shadow at the inner corners. “It makes the eyes look wide open and beautiful in the light,” says makeup artist Tom Pecheux.

Words of Wisdom

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Words of Wisdom

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One of My Favorite Speeches

"Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" By: Baz Luhrmann

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage...

"Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that’s a real treat" -- Joanne Woodward with husband Paul Newman

Pictures: Pinterest

Words of Wisdom

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Body Image

 

I wanted to let you in on a conversation I had the other day with a couple of my friends.

AJ recently returned from his week at Burning Man. He was telling Shannon and me about the people he met and the things he saw. He mentioned something about seeing a woman freely romp around in her birthday suit while twirling silk streamers in the wind. “She was Beautiful” he said. Shanny and I laughed at the mental image of running naked in a sea of strangers. I got to thinking... that lady must have had extremely high self-esteem, or she may have just been extremely high, or both -- it comes with the territory of Burning Man I guess. Now don't get me wrong, by no means am I recommending frolicking naked to improve your self-esteem; not a good idea. Public nudity also happens to be illegal ha-ha. I was merely admiring her personal confidence -- girl has hutzpah!

I believe that a large percentage of women these days lack confidence and have a weak perception of their own body image.

Margarita Tartakovsky, MS, author of Weightless, gives some helpful advice.

Things Every Woman Should Think About:

It’s not easy living in today’s thin-is-in society. Thanks to trashy weeklies, skinny celebrities and flashy ads, slowly but surely – the media and our surroundings chip away at our body image. Self doubt creeps in and many women begin to wonder... Am I thin enough, pretty enough etc. Whatever the case maybe, reversing our thought process and developing a positive body image takes time.

1. Consider the impact. Take some time to reflect on how your body image has affected other areas of your life. How does your body image affect your relationships, your work, and overall self-image? Does it prevent you from accomplishing professional goals? And if you have children, consider the message you are sending them about their own self-image. Does your little girl hear you complain about your weight or appearance? What might she think about her own?

2. See the whole you. Many of us rarely look at ourselves as a whole person. We pick apart our bodies and nit-pick at every supposed flaw. Instead, empower yourself to see the entire you.  (Make a list of ten things that you love about yourself…internally and externally)

3. Change your mentality. Our society values a slim silhouette, smooth skin and perfect features, oftentimes at the cost of health. But when we change our mindset, we empower ourselves to pursue good self-care. In fact, it becomes a beautiful cycle: focus on being healthy, and do things that help you feel better about yourself. When you’re taking care of yourself, your mood improves and you look healthier.

4. Focus on strong female role models. Nowadays, we turn to actresses for our outward inspiration – how we dress, what we look like, whose arms, legs and lips we want. Instead, think about the many accomplished, strong women from history and today. What woman do you admire for her accomplishments, strength, character, resolve?

“Women of substance help us remember what really counts: the inner self, values, beliefs, morals, and the ability to love. With this insight, we may gradually see our entire female experience differently.”-Dr. Maine

The change can start with you.

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Words of Wisdom

Well Said...

What Really Matters?

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken away from you.” -Oscar Wilde

What is most important to you -- what are your real riches? Are you spending too much time on things that that don't matter in the long run? How can you manage your time to serve the people and activates that you love most?

Hmmmm? Let's think about this together. What really matters in life?

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Attitude!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
~ Charles R. Swindoll

Simply by choosing to act a certain way, we can change the course of our lives.  By thinking positively and embracing optimistic attitudes, we welcome a multitude of opportunities.

7 Simple Tips For Improving Your Attitude

1. Give Thanks – Be grateful for what you have in life. Give to others that have less than you.

2. Monitor Your Thoughts – If negative thoughts are stressing you out, ask yourself where you learned this thought and if it is true or not. Shed your negative thought patterns by replacing them with something true and positive about yourself and others.

3. Smile More – Smiling is contagious. You’ll find that when you smile others will smile back. Research at Mindlab International in Brighton, England, found that a warm smile can create a "halo" effect, helping us "feel more optimistic, more positive, and more motivated."

4. Help Others — A study conducted in the US found that people who performed the most acts of kindness throughout a week were significantly happier than those who helped less or didn’t help at all. Little acts of kindness can go a long way. Give a sincere compliment, help your friend with the dishes or volunteer for a good cause.

5. Exercise — I studied Psychology in college and my professors always stressed the importance of exercising as a natural method to improving mood. When you exercise your body will produce happy neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.

6. Breathe Deeply – Deep diaphragmatic belly breathing can improve you mood and activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which will calm you down and reduce levels of stress.

7. Set Goals for Yourself – I have always felt that people who have motivation to improve their lives seem happier than those who live day to day. It is important to set goals and follow your passions. Take sometime to work on yourself instead of constantly pouring into others. A dry well can’t give water…am I right? What makes YOU happy and excited about life? Run with it. Set goals, make a timeline and figure out the details along the way.

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