Something to Smile About

The DP41 blog is now about six weeks old, and has surpassed 5,500 hits! This blows me away. This makes me think, It's Not Just Me! There are women out there, really looking to change their lives, turn themselves around, connect with themselves and lose weight! 

The blog has readers in the USA,
United Kingdom
Ireland
Denmark
Turkey
Singapore
India
Canada
Jordan
Taiwan
Latvia
Ukraine
Spain
and Indonesia.
(and who knows where else?)
How outrageous is that?

I am excited and honored knowing there are women all over the place, stopping by, checking in and pausing (hopefully!) to think, ponder, consider and "try" what they read.

Every woman reading,
is Incredibly Unique.
No two are the same.
We represent different cultures, countries, faiths,
economic status, family status and life experiences.

But we have things in common, as well.
For one,
We all crave beauty.
All cultures have a standard of beauty.
Seen in the eyes of the beholders,
this standard is different from person to person,
culture to culture
woman to woman.

Beauty in nature
Beauty in art
Beauty in appearance

I am getting ready to spout out some beauty tips here.
One in particular,
I have been preparing you for
(and hopefully you've been preparing yourself for)
for the past month.
You've been tucking away a dollar a day, in your journal, RIGHT?
You now have, well over $30 in that envelope, RIGHT?
Well, just a few lines from now, I'm going to tell you what to do with that money.
How to spend it.
What to do for yourself,
for the next 14 days,
to make a visible difference, in YOU
and it won't require you to sweat.
or measure food.
or think about your next meal.

But first, my story:
When I started to CHANGE ME, now well over 2 years ago,
I knew I wanted to change things in my heart.
I knew I wanted to change things in my head.
I knew I wanted to lose weight.
I wanted to lose 80 lbs.
But I also wanted to change other things.
I wanted to look better.
I wanted a clearer complexion
I wanted longer hair.
I wanted softer skin.
I wanted to get rid of callouses.
I wanted better eyebrows
I wanted betters arms.
I wanted a defined style.
So, I went to work on all these things,
while I was working on ME
and My Body.
I worked on my beauty.
Yep,
The Superficial Shell.
I went to work on The Total Package.

Because I wanted to be:
The Total Package.
And to this day,
I work (almost) every day
on
The Total Package
because that is still who I want to be
and
how I want to stay.

With 80 pounds to lose,
the first few pounds didn't make a huge impact on the overall ME.
In fact, even though I knew I had lost weight,
and my clothes fit differently
(and even started to not fit at all),
it really wasn't until I had lost about 35 pounds,
maybe even 40,
that anyone truly noticed my weight loss

Do you know what they DID notice?
My Smile.
For the first time
EVER (that I could remember),
people started complimenting my SMILE
and telling me how HAPPY I looked.
I know I was smiling more.
I was Happier!
I was feeling GREAT!

And since I knew I was happier
and smiling more
I decided to bite the bullet,
drop the thirty bucks
and buy Whitening Strips for My Teeth.

And I used them
for 14 days
day and night
for 15 minutes
Just Like The Package Said.

And
It
Changed
My
Life!

Because I changed my smile.
No lie.
White teeth, made my face change.
My confidence change.
My countenance change.
And I found it easy to make the decisions I WANTED to make about FEEDING and DANCING!

And people started telling me I looked GREAT.
And FINALLY, asking if I was losing weight.
Because I had white teeth!

So.
That's what your cash envelope is for.
Run out and buy yourself some teeth whitening strips
and use them!
And take the time required each day, to sit, and reflect, and connect with YOU.
Take that 15 (or 30) minutes in the morning and evening,
to think about Who You Want to Be.
How Incredibly Unique You Are.
And How You Can FEED yourself during those minutes
(since it's impossible to EAT during that time!)

Listen to music
Read
Journal
Plan
Draw
Color
Pluck your eyebrows
Maybe even paint your toenails
and
Take Care of You!

This will take commitment.
This will require you to stay consistent for two weeks
and you will see results
YOU WILL SEE RESULTS,
quicker with your teeth,
than you may be seeing with your weight.
or the other changes you are wanting to make with your life.
With and in YOU.

I am hoping you will do this.
I am really hoping you will try this...
so you can point to SOMETHING in you,
about YOU
that is different in just 14 days!

Think of how great your lipstick is going to look surrounding those
Pearly
Whites!
Imagine your new smile!

So,
simple assignment:

1) Snap a picture of yourself with NO MAKEUP! Get someone to do this for you, if you dare.

2) Put on a full face of Make-up (whatever that means to you). You do not have to glam-out, if you are not the glamming-out type. You can be YOURSELF, but with whatever make-up you typically wear--having added that extra 15 minutes to your getting ready time, we talked about last time! Put on your FABULOUS and get your picture taken.....in the Same Position as your make-up-less face in #1.

3) Get these pictures printed, and paste them in your journal, on the next empty page.

4) Look at, and study these pictures. WITHOUT criticism. Just look at them. Take them in. Look at your teeth, because those teeth are about to change! And look at your eyebrows. Check them out. Look at your lips and your neck. No criticism. Just look at them. And notice the differences between the two pictures. Notice the improvements. Notice the changes. Then start thinking. Start thinking about your skin. And your eyebrows (again). And how you want your hair to look in your holiday pictures and six months from now, and next year at this time. And those teeth.

5) On the next fresh page in your journal, make a short list. No more than five items in length. Make a short list of things you'd like to Pay More Attention To (NOT get "fixed" or areas of HATRED), just some details about YOU and Your Face, that you'd like to spend some of those Fabulous 15 minutes, tending to. Write them down, and start taking care of them. Start taking care of you.

6) On the NEXT fresh page, number the margin 1-20
Jot down 20 (yes, TWENTY) things (AT LEAST) that make you smile. Look outside at the changing seasons. Look in the eyes of your children, friends and loved ones. Think about your favorite Hunk on TV or in your favorite movie. Refer to the lists you made about your favorite scents and songs. And make your list. SMILE as you think. SMILE as you write them down. Smile. Smile. Smile!

7) On the first page of your journal, where you are printing all those Great Reminders to focus on as you host your own Dance Parties, please print---in a downward arch, that looks like a SMILE:

I have so much to smile about, so I am going to smile more!

8) BUY your Teeth Whitening Strips! The pack that takes 14 days to work (or whatever you can afford). AND USE THEM!


Nothing too heavy or deep to dwell on or dissect this time.
We all need a break now and then,
to just breath
and enjoy
and look in the mirror
and smile about what we see.
So THAT is what you get to do this time.

I'll throw something else your way,
Next Time.

Until then, think about the women around the world,
in the state next to yours,
and in your town,
who have started the journey with you.
Who are hosting their own Dance Parties for One.
Who are finding out who they want to BE,
and beginning the work to BECOME those very women.
SMILE, that you are part of something bigger than you realized.
You are in good company.
Smiling, changing, becoming.

Who else needs to be here?
Who else needs to be at the Party?
Who do you know, who started following this blog, but needs to be invited back?
Who do you know who would love an invitation to be here, but hasn't found us on her own, yet?
Invite them
Invite her
Call her
Send her the link
Share your smile with her
She will thank you
and you will have even more to smile about...knowing you have made a difference!

That's all.
Be Your Best,
Becky