Is there really a difference between feeling beautiful and looking beautiful?
I would say so, yet they go hand in hand.
How many girls in our world struggle with self-esteem?
How many women struggle with being a little thinner ? a little younger? a little less grey? an a little more of what they are not?
I bet each of us has had moments of self-loathing. I bet guys struggle with these as well.
I have recently come to the conclusion that practicing extreme self-care is one way to get to the feeling beautiful part of my life and the looking beautiful ends up as the lesser important result of this practice.
Some may find it indulgent and selfish,but I assure you that when I started really taking care of myself as I would care for someone I loved or as I would a guest in my chair, I started feeling beautiful, and I had more to offer others.
So I don't feel guilty when I book myself a massage,or a pedicure,or a facial.
My body needs massage to prevent injury, work out stress and it feels good.
A pedicure keeps my feet healthy because I stand on them all day long. Not only does it make me feel good but my feet look pretty after.
A facial revives my face and helps slow down the aging process in a non-sergical way. My skin looks more radiant and feels so good after I get one.
These monthly treats help me to feel good and contribute to feeling beautiful, and I haven't changed a thing. I have catered to what I already have.
I have been eating healthy and I consider this part of my extreme self-care project. Cooking lean proteins and preparing complex carbohydrates, snacking on fruits and nuts and skimming on other indulgences has given me more energy. I eat more often than I used to, smaller portions, and the effect on my mood is remarkable.
I won't pretend it's easy beacause as a stylist I have gone full days standing behind my chair without leaving it even for a bathroom break. So learning to care for the necessities, making time for them, when time is the one thing I didn't have, meant I needed to change some important ways I did things and what I prioritized. Planning and preparing in advanced has become a way of life. I had to down size my to do list, curb my ambition, quit spending frivolously, and ask for help. It sounds like a no brainer, but I had to change everything I did, and the way I was living.
With this change in lifestyle came the biggest changeof all: EXERCISE. I grew up with an active lifestyle,and took it for granted. When I was becoming the success I dreamed of, exercise was the first thing to go. I was running out of hours in the day, with so many demands on me, I just didn't have time.
Ten years went by, and I was living on adrenaline, which is so bad for aging. I no longer felt anything but exhausted, pudgy, and weathered. I smiled less and socialised rarely, and almost everything around me was falling apart. I felt traped and in a corner, and I didn't know how I was going to get out of it. Then The Universe"" decided for me. I went to the doctor for a fibroid and because I was anaemic and the decision to have a hysterectomy became my saving grace. This decision meant I had to take 6 weeks off work, and in my industry that was devastating.
Believe it or not it was what I needed.....the operation was the only way I would have ever taken this time.
I began to change the way I was living. I got my mind healthy by having time in my day for nothingness. I made time for eating right, for exercise, for taking care of my body, for reconnecting to friends and family, for romance and especially for FUN.
I realise now that sometimes the worst things that you think can happen to you may be the Universe giving you the ultimate "WAKE UP GIRL" call. You can play the victim or you can embrace the call and change your mindset and find a little peace in the fact that you can make everything good if you choose.
Do I feel more beautiful?
Yes i do.
In response I smile more and a smile make anyone look more beautiful.
