Ups and Downs Of Life

Life is like a roller coaster. Especially right now. Things have been up, then down, then add a few loops.. Suddenly there is a slight calm, where you feel just utterly exhausted.. and all of the sudden. Whiplash. Back again folks. Ups, downs, loops, water splashed in your face... 

hopefully it wasn't someone else's gum, or spit. But, that's life.

 A big bunch of ups and downs. And spit from other people.

Have you noticed.. when you get off the roller coaster you are happy. You enjoyed it. Maybe moment by moment it's rough. But overall it was a pretty fun ride and you are ready to hop back on. 

And that's pretty similar to life.. 

Other than the consciously getting off and hopping back on part. 

(That I'm aware of anyways..) 

So, how can we enjoy the ups and downs? The ups are lots of fun.. but what can we do about the downs? 

Part of me wants to hide under the couch like how Wicket hides from Fireworks. 

Part of me wants to mildly freak out... cry.. take a nap.. You know? 

What can we do to enjoy the ups AND downs? 

I guess here are some of my personal tips for facing the rough times..

1. Smile. Smile. Smile. 

Smiling can not hurt you or anyone else.

Smile for 20 seconds. It releases endorphines that actually MAKE you happy.

Plus, you smiling at nothing, might actually make you laugh at yourself.. that's good too! 

2. Count your blessings.

Don't focus on what you don't have. 

Don't look around the house thinking of things you wish you had.

Focus on the things you do have.

And better yet, remember.. the best things in life aren't things.

3. Think positive about the situation you are in.

I promise there is always something positive in the situation you are in.

If it's lack of money, think of it as a game. 

Whatever bad happens, think of it as a plot twist in your story.

Be playful. Be strategic. 

4. Remember, life is a journey, not a destination.

You are on your path, learning. 

Everything happens for a reason. 

5. Remember the balance in life.

There is balance in everything. Without the downs, there would be no ups.

Without the bad, there would be no good.

I promise, this will pass. 

Good things come in waves, and therefore... so do bad things. 

Just wait. 

This list could go on and on, but I think these 5 sum things up nicely. Have fun. There is still fun to be had during rough times. Play, laugh, joke and smile.

Nothing lasts, so why would the bad? 

And also remember, there are always people who love you..
who are willing to help. 

Sometimes it's hard to ask for help..
I am the most prideful person I know.
It's very hard for me to ask for help, but when I do, 
I'm astounded by the love and support I receive. 

"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

Sarah Williams

And of course.. Remember that misery brings more misery.

Joy brings more joy.

And with that, I'd like to share that I added a few more hats to the shop! 

 

 Some of my favorite hats are back, and I'm all smiles over these ones. To help with my bit of "downs" I decided to run a sale in my hat shop. 

This is a hat shop only sale. I'm offering 25% off in the hat shop for about one week. Enter the code 25SALE at checkout and get yourself a cute hat!

It's never too late to be a bear. Or a monkey. Or a pixie. Or a monster. And if you aren't into that, I've got some slouchy beanies, and 20's style cloche hats. 

Much love everyone. 

Enjoy the ride we call life.

Downs can be fun too. 

Self Love

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. 

You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

 ~Thich Nhat Hanh

If we are lonely while we are alone, we don't truly love ourselves.

Despite all of the things you think might be wrong with you.. love yourself. 

This is so much easier said then done.

I know. 

I'm always on the path of self love.

I struggle with it. I do.

There are times someone says something nice to me, and my immediate reaction is they are just SAYING that because they are THINKING another thing..

Like, Wow, her hair looks awful, "Oh, your hair is so cute!"

Or they are lying, or can't see right.

Or any excuse..

And I feel bad when I snap back "no..." when I'm told I'm pretty, or any compliment.

But, it's habit.

And a lot of us can't help it.

We are conditioned to believe we aren't perfect.

We are brainwashed to believe in a false idea of beauty.

So, what do we do?

I am not exactly sure.. It's something I struggle with myself.

But, I can tell you, 

We have to accept our flaws in order to concur them. 

Our imperfections define us. 

I'm working on accepting my flaws, and accepting compliments.

It's hard, and it makes me want to cry out in frustration sometimes..

There are sometimes that we need to remember how little and innocent we are..

We are like children.. 

now, before your click off my page, just keep reading. 

Our souls need to be treated with sensitivity. Like a 6 year old child. 

Would you tell a 6 year old child they are ugly?

No way! 

Would you tell them they are a monster and need to gain or loose weight?

No! 

We would tell that crying child that they are perfect just the way they are. 

We wouldn't tell a child that they don't deserve happiness, 

that they deserve this pain, and sadness. 

We want that child to be happy.

It's like when you refer to your inner child...

You ARE the inner child. 

It's time to treat our souls with some sensitivity. 

As I Began to Love Myself – Self Love Poem by Charlie Chaplin

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering
are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth.
Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody
As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time
was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this
person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life,
and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow.
Today I call it “MATURITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance,
I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens
at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm.
Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.

As I began to love myself I quit steeling my own time,
and I stopped designing huge projects for the future.
Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do
and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in
my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for
my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew
me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude
a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since
I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry
about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING
is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me
and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my
mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this
connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems
with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing
new worlds are born.Today I know THAT IS “LIFE”!

True Freedom

Years and years of cultural conditioning has told us the terrible belief: Happiness must be "earned." And it can really only be "earned" by enduring unpleasantness. The term endure is even an unpleasant one.

Suffer patiently.
So, our happiness is earned after we suffer unpleasantness. It's earned after we suffer through a lot of work, pain and unhappiness.

But, how do you know if you've endured enough unpleasantness to finally deserve your happiness?
Do we really have to endure to the end? Suffer patiently until the end of our lives?

Another sad part of this enduring game is that we must be "responsible adults." And responsible adults can never really endure enough unpleasantness to really deserve happiness. Maybe when we retire we can finally get our long awaited reward of happiness. Maybe.


But, then put on top of us needing to "earn" our happiness, the idea of buying happiness is laid on top.

Ever tricked someone by making caramel apples and hiding a caramel onion in the batch?
This is the same thing...
This is the equivalent to the caramelized onion.


If you spend enough money to give you the illusion and conditions for happiness, you start to taste the onion in the form of worry, guilt and needing to work even more.


And we all know that worrying is the easiest and most popular way to frighten away happiness. So, we never stop working, we never stop spending money, we never stop worrying and we are never really happy.

Perfect conditions for a slave economy. 

Happiness is a fleeting little bird that keeps flying just out of reach.
It's the light at the end of a dark never ending tunnel.

It's the thought that, "When I have ______, then I will be happy."

But the truth is, 

there is no real way to happiness. 

Happiness is the experience in living fully and in the moment. 

Making the most of what we have now. 

Making our current situation beautiful.

Exploring all that this moment has to offer. 

Happiness is the journey, not the destination. 

So set yourselves free. 

Decide to be happy in this moment and experience true freedom. 

Wear Sunscreen

 I stumbled upon this last week, and thought it was just too good not to share.

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen
would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved
by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more
reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this
advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You
will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until
they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at
photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much
possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You
are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying
is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things
that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you
at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead,
sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's
only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank
statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with
your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22
what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most
interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them
when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children,
maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the
funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do,
don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it
or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument
you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living
room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel
ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone
for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your
past and the people most likely to stick with you in the
future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people
who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you
soft. 

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians
will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll
fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable,
politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust
fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when
either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it
will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over
the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Mary Schmich