How To Keep Your Integrity

What is integrity? It’s a characteristic that everyone wants, but not everyone can maintain due to a lack of self-control to some degree. The following tips address that issue and will ensure that you remain the best girl (or guy) standing in any situation

Choose your battles. So much energy is wasted when we’re quick to jump in every case where we feel wronged. Save your energy for matters that are most important; let everything else go.

Complain less. It is proven that our attitude alone towards things heavily influence how we feel. You can’t expect to get over anything when you remain in a pessimistic mood. Think positive, feel positive.

Don’t gossip about friends with friends. Resolve issues with a friend before going to the next friend about them. Anything you say about someone in anger can end up coming back to you - or them - just when you’re trying to smooth things over.

Be slow to anger. Keep your cool. Don’t lose your composure. It’s usually not worth it.

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Alternatives To Valentine’s Day Romance

As Valentine’s Day is nearing on Thursday, February 14, many are wondering about what they can do for their sweetheart or what their sweetheart will do for them. But what about those of us who are flying solo or would like to celebrate this day in a different way? Instead of waiting around for flowers, roses, and chocolate, try devoting this day to making some other people in your life feel extra-special.

• Give mini Valentine’s Day surprises to your friends and coworkers. Design crafts to give to friends with scribbles of cute quotes and phrases that you all share. Leave pink and red Hershey’s Kisses at your coworkers’ workstations. Make a scrapbook or webpage collage of photos of you and friends and any other cute things you can think of.
• Throw a Girls’ Night. Go to dinner with the girls or declare a movie night. Create a bonding experience by baking cookies together or doing each other’s makeup.
• Volunteer at a nursing home. Visit local care or nursing homes and pass out cards to some of the residents. Sit with them, listen to their stories…this can turn out to be lots of fun! There are lots of different ways in which you can volunteer.

Happy New Year!

Sensible New Years Resolutions

Start the New Year off fabulously by cleaning out the old and ringing in the new - from your makeup stash to your attitude!

• Chuck any used makeup items that you’ve had lying around for too long. Items like mascara and lipstick are breeding grounds for bacteria. It is wise to throw out mascara that is over three months old, and lipstick over six months old. Eyeliner should be sanitized with rubbing alcohol. And if your liquid foundation is starting to crack…it is probably wise to get rid of that, also.
• Replace your toothbrush and bath loofah. I have an electric toothbrush as well as disposable ones. Needless to say, I don’t like using the same one time after time again. In between uses, it is hygienic to stick your toothbrush in a cup of diluted hydrogen peroxide. This sanitizes your toothbrush. Bath loofahs become icky and fall apart after a while, so depending on frequency of use we should replace these every 1-2 months.
• Start a vitamin regimen - and stick to it! By default I am always at least taking a quality multivitamin. Right now it is Nutrilite Double X Multivitamin with phytonutrients. I love it, I feel that it keeps me in tip top shape on top of eating well and getting moderate exercise. On top of a multivitamin I try to incorporate flax or fish oil pills into my day. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) found in flax and fish oil pampers hair, skin, and nails.
• Rethink the way you treat others and carefully choose your words. It is easy to react to people and situations with the first defense that comes to our minds - often callous words and hasty decisions which may end up hurting the other persons involved as well as yourself. We can benefit by challenging ourselves to be the ‘better person’ in everything that we say and do. Also, remember that we are remembered for our actions and the words that come out of our mouths. You may pride yourself for your ‘badass’ attitude and foul language, but the vast majority of people around you may not find that attractive (at all). Being fabulous coincides with class. Do you have it?
• Aim to incorporate some form of exercise into your daily routine. Walking instead of driving when possible, or even choosing to take the stairs rather than the elevator are steps toward cardiovascular health - and building fabulous legs!

How To Be a Better Friend

How many of us ever think about how we are perceived by others? I have, a lot lately. The second I feel wronged by a friend or someone I care about, I demand an apology for hurting my feelings. But what if what was said or done to me was a direct result of how I mistreated the other person?

When we’re always in defense mode, it’s hard to take a step back and re-evaluate ourselves. What can we do to be better a person? What could we have said or done differently?

Have you ever said something nasty about a friend to another person without thinking, only to have your friend find out later? You felt horrible about it, but you really didn’t intend on hurting your friend’s feelings in the first place. You realize that you should have kept your mouth shut to begin with!

The goal is to act and react so that we can remain blameless in everything we do. To be a better friend - and a better person - we should not be accusable of any wrongdoing. I know we can’t be perfect all the time, but if you just take the time to think before you act and speak, you’re on your way to becoming a better friend.

• Be nice! As hard as it is sometimes not to gossip about something completely outrageous one friend wore, after a while your friends will start to wonder if you gossip about them too. Plus, it’s just a nasty habit to have. Next time you feel like trash-talking someone, chew on something instead. (Sugarfree gum is great).
• Don’t share secrets. It seems so obvious, but how often have you sworn to keep a secret that you eventually told? If you agree to keep a secret, then for everyone’s sake, keep it!
• Don’t swear or promise anything to anyone. Let you yes’s be yes and your no’s be no, especially to those you care about. If they trust you, just your word should be enough. Plus, promises are broken all the time, whether intentional or not. It’s better not to make them. Just try your best to honor your friend, and they will appreciate you for it.
• Wear your heart on your sleeve. Carry your friends’ burdens. I’m not saying that we should be jumping off bridges, but really be that shoulder to cry on if someone is in need. Sometimes the best medicine for your friend’s bad day can be an unexpected hug from you, or a phone call, or Godiva truffles with a ‘Get Well Soon’ card. Whether something simple or more special, just the fact that you took time to care can brighten someone’s entire day.

Bottom line: Treat others as you would want to be treated. Beauty isn’t just skin deep, it radiates from the inside, where your true heart and motives lie ♥

Next in this series: How To Be More Popular