Be Good to Yourself
Grab your drink of choice (mine is coffee), sit beneath a shady tree and listen to the leaves move in the wind.
Take a picture of yourself after a really fantastic workout. Limit your prepping — comb your hair and wipe away the perspiration from your face. Capture a shot that conveys how strong and proud you feel at that moment.
Later, on days when you don’t feel like exercising, look at the photo you took of yourself and try to remember how good you felt at the time it was taken.
Write with a cat on your lap.
Keep a Quote Journal
Keep a lined journal at hand for quotes. When you hear or read something that moves you, write it down or cut it out and paste it in your book — journal sentences, song lyrics, poems, speeches from people you admire, lines from movies and things you hear in everyday life from friends and strangers.
- Oprah Winfrey: “God has bigger plans for you than you could ever imagine for yourself.”
- 15-year old cashier at Target whose cash register broke while 10 people stood waiting in his checkout line: “Ahhh, uhhh. Ohhhhh…” (Yup, I’ve been there, kid.)
- NY Times article on female spiders that eat their mates: “Cannibalize. Copulate. Whatever.”
Take a moment each day to listen to an uplifting song. Let the music flow through your body and mind. If you feel like dancing, go for it.
Wear a new fragrance on an important day in your life, like your wedding or graduation. Strong emotions will reinforce a connection with that fragrance so that years later, just the slightest whiff will bring those old memories back to life.
Hang a copy of Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann, above your desk.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
I hope you have a great Tuesday. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
That is a nice photo shot of Stripes. Are you going to adopt him if you find out he’s not anybody’s cat? He is so cute and chubby, I would have squeeze him all day! Look at that face, who could not love that face? So he likes pink stuff?
Great entry Karen, I always love this kind of posts as they are very inspiring. Take care and please give Stripes an extra pat on his chubby head for me.
I remember that one of my high school teachers gave us a copy of Desiderata before we graduated.
How is your cat doing? Did you take him to the vet yet? He looks so cute in the pic 🙂
Hi Dao,
Thanks, hon. I’m glad that you like these posts. I really enjoy thinking about them and writing them.
LOL, he’s SO CHUNKY! I love that about him, though. He left about an hour ago (I guess he checked his cat CrackBerry and he had to leave for an appointment), but when I see him tonight I will give him a big squeeze for you.
That cat is the cutest!
Hi Brittany!
We are taking him to the vet this weekend. 🙂 Worms be gone! (yech)
How has your day been? I’m leaving for work in about ten minutes. First, though, a visit to Jamba Juice is in order.
Hi Karen B.,
Yeah, he is. I think he knows it, too, and strikes poses for the camera.
How have you been? 🙂
Great post! I absolutely agree that working/writing with a cat on your lap is good for the soul! 🙂
Hey Karen!
Aw, I love these posts – they’re so inspirational 🙂 Right after reading it, I wanted to dash outside and lounge under a tree but..it’s raining in Vancouver (what else is new!). Keep up the great work hun!
P.S. Hope Stripes will be a-okay soon!
Hi Glosslizard,
Yup, a worm-free one would be optimal.
Ahhh, I lurves me some Tabs.
How are your kitties doin? Who watched them while you were on vacay?
Hi Jousy,
🙂 I’m glad you like ’em, Jousy. If I could, I’d send you some California sunshine…
Have a fantastic week. 🙂
Karen,
Thanks for a great post! I am a new fan of your blog, and these posts have been a great pick-me-up in my blog reader. Thanks again!
Hey Karen! I, too, love these posts. So inspiring. I would try to sit my cat on my lap, but she’s very moody… sometimes she wants love, other times not so much.
I wish there was a Facebook equivalent for cats or something. I’d love my cat to meet your Tabs. 🙂
Ariannes last blog post..Product Body, You Make Me Happy.
Hi Karen. Thanks for this. It is a sincere post, and I like it. I will try and be good to myself too!
mmmm Jamba Juice.
I think we often forget to be good to ourselves. Thanks for the reminder Karen.
hey karen,
tabs is hopefully taken off the streets by now? he looks real cute in his pictures and i espeically loved that one where he looked grumpy because the nail polish colors were all wrong or something.
hope you make it to the vet with him without having your eyes clawed out (some cats get very defensive), but if he’s social when he’s at your house hopefully he won’t be too feral.
karen, you make me crave starbucks and shoes– you’re a bad influence on my wallet! jk. i like your inspirational entries– makes me warm and fuzzy inside. i’ll pass on a warm fuzzy to you: 15 reasons why mr. rogers was the best neighbor ever
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/28/mf.mrrogers.neighbor/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
have a good night! =)
Hi Julia,
It’s great to meet you! I’m glad you like the blog and I hope we get to chat again soon. Take care. 🙂
Hi Arianne,
Aww, Tabs is sitting on my lap right now as I type this so he sends you virtual kitty lap love.
LOL, if there was a Facebook for cats (catbook?) Tabs would send your kitty a friend request.
Hi Miss QQ,
You’re welcome. I hope you had a wonderful day!
Hi Marisol,
You’re welcome, m’dear. I am working on trying to be kinder to myself. We’re all a work in progress…
Hi Ines,
We are going to take him to the vet this weekend. We already have a box and I’m going to cut holes in it because I don’t have a cat carrier or anything.
Unfortunately if we try to keep him in all day he gets REALLY CRANKY. He likes to keep an interesting kitty schedule.
I open the door when I wake up in the morning (6:00 today, ’cause I woke up early), then he stays until 10 or 11. Then he leaves and I usually don’t see him until the the sun sets, which is about 7 or 8. He then chills/plays/eats with us until about midnight, and then he gets itchy to leave. 🙁 We’ve tried to keep him in all night but he starts crying and whining at about 2:00. I would like to make him an indoor cat 24-7 but I think he’s so used to roaming the streets. He loves the nightlife, for sure.
How is the dancing going this week?
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for sending this story to me. I am going to cut it out and put it in my quote book. 🙂
You have a great night, too!
Hi. 🙂 I haven’t comment on your blog yet, but I have been reading it for several months now. I couldn’t help commenting on this one since I’ve had a quote journal since I was a little girl. I have this small little notebook that is also filled with stickers (from when I was small XD). One of these days I should upgrade it to a fancier, prettier journal with more pages (the one I have is just about filled up by this point).
I initially started visiting your blog because I was looking for a beauty blog. However, I continue to visit regularly because you seem so real and like one of my girlfriends. I really love these sorts of posts so, yeah, thanks 🙂
One recent form of inspiration for me has been listening to the lectures and interviews of Randy Pausch. There’s now way one can stay in a gloomy mood after listening to him. I think his book will be very inspirational, as has been everything else he has done.
Hi Rosemary,
So nice to meet you! Glad you decided to say hello today. 🙂
That’s really wonderful that you have something that you’ve had since you were young. I lost my childhood journal long ago (I think it disappeared into the same black hole my awesome Hello Kitty lunch box went into). Do you have a favorite quote from your book?
Hiya Okyanus,
Aww! You made my day. I really feel like we all get to know each other, too. I feel like my circle of girlfriends has grown since this blog started. Women need their friends! It’s important! 🙂
I haven’t heard of Randy Paush. What is his book called?
Our kitties are all frolicsome and friendly now that we’re back (even Lily is unusually purry)! We hire a local pet-sitting service to take care of the kitties when we’re gone. It’s great because they don’t just come in, put food out and leave, they actually schedule time to play and interact with the pussycats! They also leave long letters letting us know how everything went and do e-mail updates every Thursday! All that and they bring in the mail and water the plants too! 🙂
We had our neighbors swing by to put goldfish in our snake’s bowl too (the little girl next door was so excited) and they also spent some time with the kitties, so they were roundly spoiled while we were gone! As it should be! 🙂
Damn you Karen! Always making me teary-eyed! Hahahah!
And I wanted to say that I’ve noticed how the comments have grown over the past few months. You’ve gained quite a following! And it’s really no surprise! You are the totally positive, uplifting, and luminescent (can I use that to describe a person?) girlfriend (and beauty expert) we all need. And even though I really can’t afford to buy any new beauty products these days, I still read your blog… and still love it because of posts like this one!!
Miss Karen, your real-life friends are so lucky to have you…and even your Interwebs peeps love you too!!!
Much love to you! And thank you for such a lovely post!!!!!!
PS- Your kitty is really rocking the eyeliner huh!!! How vamp!! What a beauty!!!!
Thanks for the ideas Karen, i love the photo after exercising idea
Thanks for the ideas, i love the exercising photo one!
Karen, only you can write these posts so well, without them being cheesy or over the top 🙂
I have 5 kitties but you know, they are all pretty naughty when it comes to resting on my lap. Grr!
Hey Karen. I’ve been lurking for a while but still here 🙂 I definitely needed this post. As always, thanks! Hope you’re doing well.
Karen,
I do have a favorite quote from my book. I’ve used it for both my high school and college year book quotes.
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees, and diplomas, but for scars.” Elbert Hubbard
Hi Glosslizard,
Wow! Your pet sitters are full service. That’s great that your kitties can still have stimulus while you guys are away. El Hub and I worry about Tabs now, and what we’d do with him if we left for a long vacation. 🙁
Ha ha, I bet that was the highlight of the little girl’s day! 🙂
Hi Saltie,
Oh my gosh, sweetie. I really means a lot to me to read lovely comments like this. *big hugs*
That cat’s a rock star with the smokey eye look, huh? 😉
Hi Jo,
You’re welcome, m’dear! 🙂 Have you taken your snapshot yet?
Hi Jot,
🙂 I’m going to take one of myself this week sometime after dance class. I’ll have to comb my crazy hair though, first. Did you take your picture yet?
Hi Rowena,
Thanks. 🙂 I’m really glad you like them.
Five kitties… WOW! I am jealous. What are their names? Do you have a favorite?
Hi Mrs. Lynne,
Hey sweetie. 🙂 I’ve been lurking on your end, too. It looks like it’s our destiny to meet on this side of the ocean. Will you be here in the North Bay? Say YES!
Hi Rosemary,
Thank you for sharing that one with me. I just added it to my book. 🙂