Today’s Workout: Impromptu Rest Day (due to severe exhaustion)
All right, my friends, listen up. Over the past two months since I’ve started blogging, I have found a really great support system of friends. You’ve been really supportive, listening to me while I ramble on about my day to day workouts, what I’ve been eating, and hearing about how I didn’t eat for years (on and off) before I started running.
And whether you know it or not, I’ve been listening to you. If you’re a blogger who’s commented on here, or are following me, or have liked one of my posts, I’ve been trying to follow you, too. As much as I can. And when I do read your posts, I hang onto your every word. There are many things that I’ve learned about you, and I can tell that for the most part, you’re a very happy person. But, from time to time, you are going to get that nagging feeling…you know, the one that’s making you feel insecure and unhappy. But before you let that one thing start to fester up inside of you, STOP, and read on. Here are a few things you need to know to find true happiness.
1. You are beautiful. So before you start thinking about that one flaw about yourself that bothers you, whether it’s having pasty white skin (guilty!), frizzy hair, large booty, etc., just stop. You might not be crazy about that one particular body part, birthmark, etc., but there is someone that finds it to be your most attractive feature, whether it’s your husband, mother, girlfriend, etc.
2. Get Over It. You’ve recognized that flaw (that most likely only you consider to be a flaw), now get over it and move on. If it’s something you can control (like a weight issue), then do your best to try to improve it so that it makes you happy. But chances are, if you don’t recognize that flaw, accept it for what it is, and move on, you’re never going to be happy.
3. Guilt is the root of all evil. This pretty much ties in with item #2. I know that a lot of the people who read my blog are women, and we are notorious for grieving over things we haven’t done but wish we did, or feeling guilty for those things we did, but wish we’d never done (like eating that entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s). Well, it’s done with now, and there’s nothing you can do about it, so it’s time to move on. There’s always tomorrow…and if you did eat an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s, I just hope you enjoyed it while it was going down. I know I sure did!
4. You need to learn to love yourself. That’s right, you heard it straight from the horse woman’s mouth. Not to sound too corny or anything, but you need to learn to love yourself before you can earn the love of somebody else. So next time you take a look in the mirror, instead of saying, “I hate (blank) about myself” say, “I love myself because of (blank).” Of course, you need to fill in the blanks. Keep this habit up, and you ‘ll be feeling better about yourself in no time.
5. Do Unto Others. That’s right, this one came straight from the Bible, and there’s a reason why. Doing good for others can help you feel better about yourself, too. So the next time you find yourself in a slump, find something you can do to help others who are less fortunate than you. It will help you not only put things in perspective, but will also give you that warm and fuzzy feeling you’ve been searching for. Whether it’s volunteering at a local animal shelter, Special Olympics, or spending time at your Church’s soup kitchen, there are many opportunities out there for helping others. And seeing what good the people around you are doing is likely to bring you happiness, too.
6. Take a walk. Or a hike, or a run…
If you read this blog, my guess is that you’re already physically fit, or are at least hoping to get physical. If it’s the latter, it all starts with baby steps. But you’ve seen the movie “Legally Blonde,” you probably already know that exercise helps release endorphins, and endorphins make people happy. Enough said!
7. Don’t believe everything you read…
As someone who works as a magazine editor, and has seen celebrities up close and personal, I am not lying when I say they are people just like us. They have flaws. Thy get zits, have bellies (or don’t and it’s most likely because they’re anorexic and really need a pork chop!), burp, fart, and have bad hair days just like the rest of us. They don’t really look like the people in the pictures you see in magazines and on TV. Those people are airbrushed and are wearing way too much makeup. So the next time you’re comparing yourself to a celebrity on the cover of a magazine, just remember that they’ve probably been botoxed, airbrushed, and had way too much makeup applied, and that if you saw them in real life, they would probably look funny to you. Maybe even frighteningly so. (Ohh how I wish I could drop names here!).
8. …Or see, or hear.
And by the way, don’t let any rumors you may have heard tear you down, either. I’m way past high school, but just remember that if you feed into drama, it will most likely take over your life. If you hear a rumor, chalk it up to being just that, until you get the cold, hard facts.
9. Remember that things will get better.
While we’re on the whole high school subject, let me just tell you that things do get better. You might not be the most popular kid in school, but the smartest people of today usually end up being the successors of our future. So if someone calls you a dork or a geek for studying, or enjoying to read, etc., just be strong and ignore them. Chances are, those people are just insecure. And if you don’t get the best grades and are in high school, there’s still time for improvement. There’s always time for improvement in life, whether you’re in high school, college, or even trying to work your way up the ladder in your career.
10. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.
This is something I learned early on in life, and it has served me well. I think that going to an all-girls school where there wasn’t really a pecking order kind of helped me realize early on that it was OK to just be yourself. There are lots of people out there (probably most!) who are going to like you for who you are. And then there will be a few who don’t, but there probably isn’t much you can do to change there mind about you (and if they don’t like you, they’re probably losers anyways!). So, just always be true to yourself, because if you’re not, you most likely won’t be happy.
There’s so many more words of wisdom that I would love to share with you, but you’ll just have to wait for those in another post. In the meantime…don’t forget to sign up for my First Week of February Giveaway sponsored by ZYM!
Have you ever found yourself falling victim to the aforementioned issues? If so, what were they, and how did you try to make yourself feel better?
OR
Have you found yourself practicing the aforementioned pieces of advice…and if so, which ones?
26.2 x 2 
I needed to read this today. I have had a terrible weekend due to a situation I am unable to even blog about because I don’t want the person involved to read it. Short story is that an aquaintence was extremely rude to me in front of a group of people. My feelings were hurt so much that I ended up leaving the get together shortly after that. The aquaintence then bashed me on social media, saying I was making a big deal out of nothing- claiming I don’t “get” her sense of humor. Augh. The ironic thing is I didn’t make a big deal out of anything… I didn’t breath a word about what happened except to my husband or best friend. I didn’t mention anything about it online (except for on here, but I don’t think anyone I know will see this comment…) And unfortunately all I can do is just sit back and not get involved in the drama… I am hoping that trying to be zen about the whole thing is going to make me happier… and that this other person must not be happy at all if this is the type of stuff she fixates on…. Okay, thanks for listening!!! 🙂 ps. I am a pretty happy person, but I hope I don’t come off as fake happy in my blog. I mean, obviously I would love to write about this situation and how unhappy it has made me the past couple days… but I really can’t risk certain people reading about it.
You definitely don’t come off as fake happy in your blog, you come off as happy happy! 🙂
I’m sorry that you have to deal with that crap. When someone brings unwanted drama in my life, I always just try to ignore that person (unless it’s a family member, then it’s kind of hard to do). But being the bigger person – which it sounds like you are doing – makes the other person look like an @ss. And if others can’t see that that person is being a total jerk, then I say screw them all!
That’s what I am trying to tell myself! It’s so hard being the bigger person though… I agree when it’s family it’s different because you HAVE to have those people in your life. This person… not so much.
I think I beat myself up sometimes when I feel as though I am not living up to my potential. I am working on making changes as opposed to just picking on myself about it.
These are great things to remember! Especially #10. I don’t think I truly knew what that meant until I moved across the country to a place where I knew no one. I grew so much out of that, learned to always be myself, and made some of the best friends I’ll ever have that know me better than anyone.
I am trying to learn to love myself. I have 3 daughters and I don’t want them to pick up on my insecurities (the twins are 12 and my youngest is 3). It has started getting better in the last month or two (for me). I started taking selfies and posting some of them on instagram and my blog. At first it was really really really really hard. I felt like such a narcissist. I even made a comment in one of my blog posts about how I hate the full body selfies because I was hating on how my body was looking and I was tired of angling my body to make myself look better. It felt dishonest to post them.
I’m not sure if my body is tightening up or if I’m just becoming more comfortable with how I look now because I’ve even taken a couple of full on, no angled hips shots and I love them. I’m still a work in progress but it feels good to kind of let go of some of these insecurities I’ve had since middle school.