Beautiful - adj. having beauty; possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, thnk about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind. interj. wonderful; fantastic
Our family is definitely "living beautifully"! However there are times that I don't always think that. Our family deals with struggles on a daily basis and I swear for every step forward we take, we take two back. I am not always the greatest mom and say things to my children that I later regret. I compare myself and even my children to others way to often. And I doubt some of the decisions my husband and I have made throughout the last 14 years.
But when the going gets tough and I start doubting whether or not we are "living beautifully" I try to focus my thoughts on the positive rather than the negative. Over the years I have gotten much better at this and I have also gotten better at not micro managing the future. On those tough days I remind myself why we are "living beautifully!" We have a house over our heads and the basic necessities to live comfortably. My husband has a secure job. I am able to be a stay at home/homeschool mom. My children and I are able to get out of the house every week for fun learning adventures. And I have the greatest kids and husband ever! Sure there are things I want to improve in our family and our lives, but it takes baby steps and it doesn't mean we aren't already "living beautifully".
Recently I found this quote on living which really inspired me on our journey...
“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark. —AGNES DE MILLE”
Here are 25 things I do to help our family with "living beautifully":
- Define what "living beautifully" means to you and start taking the steps to get there.
- Spend time with family and friends on a weekly basis.
- Take a hike...literally get out and go exploring. Did you know that being in the outdoors can do wonders for stress?
- Appreciate the little things in life.
- Live your own life and don't compare yourself to others. We are all special and individuals and do not fit in the same mold or box.
- Do something special for yourself. Go get a new hairdo, perhaps do something drastic like change your hair color. Go get a manicure or pedicure. Buy a new shirt. Whatever makes you happy!
- Discover your dreams and passions and go for them. You are never too old to make a change and do what you love.
- Remember that the road to living beautifully can be a long one and there will be ups, and downs. Take a look at where you are and the progress you have made and feel good at what you have accomplished. Make adjustments as needed, chances are your thought's on living beautifully will change over the years.
- Count your blessings each and everyday and be happy with what you have. Sometimes the worst things can turn out to be blessings. I often talk about our foreclosure and bankruptcy as being a blessing. We found out our home had black mold and was causing a couple of us to have health issues. So we made the decision to leave immediately. We found an apartment to rent and moved what we could and sold the rest. The home was foreclosed on and we ended up having to file bankruptcy as well to make sure we were completely absolved from any mortgage debt. It ended up being a blessing because we were once again completely debt free which meant I was able to become a stay at home mom.
- Smile. My son has an amazing way of making me smile even on the worst days.
- Express yourself. Writing posts for my blog has done wonders for my self esteem!
- Hug and/or kiss someone you love. Even us non-physical touchers need a hug sometimes!
- Learn something new every day. Because of my amazing, inquisitive children I am always learning something new.
- Remember the 3 L's - Live, laugh, love and learn!
- Embrace your imperfections. Guess what no one is perfect in this world.
- Help others. Helping others in need and volunteering can do wonders for the soul!
- Don't dwell on the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate on the present.
- Be forgiving. I cannot tell you how many times a day our family asks each other for forgiveness.
- Have perspective, but don't be afraid to be flexible on your point of view. It is important to explore multiple perspectives and adapt to new situations.
- Expect the best not the worst. This is a hard one for me because well every week something bad seems to happen.
- Travel whenever you can.
- Create a beautiful living space.
- Look and feel beautiful by taking care of your health and appearance. If you are anything like me you live more beautifully when you look and feel beautiful. Who doesn't love a new amazing hair cut and outfit?
- Have a purpose and direction in life!
- And lastly enjoy and capture the moments. You can start by taking a family selfie, then follow the instructions below to enter the #SuaveFamilySelfie - Living Beautifully To Live Better Sweepstakes.
Entering is easy and your family will be entered to win a Suave Friday Family Selfie prize pack.
Step 1: Take a family selfie (or use a recent one!)
Step 2: Post it on Instagram using these 3 hashtags: #suavefamilyselfie #LB2LB #Walmart
Step 3: Fill out this form and submit your Instagram link.
*To get your Instagram link visit instagram.com, log in, and find the link to your photo. It will be in the format of http://instagram.com/p/YOURPHOTOID.
*To retrieve the link from your Instagram mobile app, go to your profile picture on the app, click the "..." in the bottom right hand corner, and then select "Copy Share URL".
Enter the sweepstakes weekly to increase your chance of winning. Each week 6 new winners will be drawn to receive a $175 Walmart prize pack. Once you have submitted your image you will receive a coupon via email for $1 off Suave at Walmart. Sweepstakes ends October 21, 2014.
Good Luck!
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