My life mantra is the title of this post. I do my best to live by it every day. I've mentioned a few times on this blog how I feel that I've grown a great deal during my adult life, I've gone from an immature, irrational, emotional crazy person to someone that is calm, passionate and positive. I am amazed at all of the fabulous people, things and situations that I have attracted into my life. I thought I would share with others in case it will at all help you on your own journey.
The quality of our lives and our identity is our own to shape. Being a "victim of circumstance" is a terrible myth and while that may alarm some people to read, it is also the most powerful thing you can ever know. Life of course has it's ups and downs but you choose how you react to them. Either way, we choose the person we are, how we approach every situation (good or bad) so why not choose the be the absolute most fantastic version of yourself?
I think the person that we are meant to be enjoys life, picks the ripest fruit from every tree and savors every bite, lives each day to the fullest, loves to the fullest, goes after their dreams, is happy, can always find a reason to celebrate and sees the champagne glass half full.
Nearly a decade ago I heard my fab friend Ryan E. say:
"you're hot, you're rich, love your life bitch"
He may have been just being facetious and spouting his hilarious quotables always but little did he know those words would become how those words would come to officially govern my outlook on life!
It may seem a bit of a superficial on the surface - but it's fun...it rhymes, and it works for me! Every time I think it or say it I have to smile. Let me break it down though so you have a full understanding of what this all means in my head. (note: after I began writing this I realized I will probably need to do a separate post on each of these so I'll do a light overview of each for now).
How to be HOT
I'm pretty sure that Doutzen is my spirit animal...
Yes, living hot does mean...looking HOT! It means being the most hot version of you, however you see it! It doesn't mean conforming to society's view on what hot is, it means actually embodying the person in your head that you dream of being. Above all it means feeling hot. It means embodying total CONFIDENCE (if take nothing else from this post, confidence is the KEY to everything!)
If it helps, channel your inner Victoria Secret Angel, or Sophia Vergara, or Beth Ditto or whoever you think is hot! It doesn't matter just start adopting some of their swag and sexy ways and make it your own. If you don't feel the confidence or hotness right now, fake it until you make it! And trust me, you WILL make it.
To me when I look good I feel good, which allows me to approach each day with confidence. And you really have to tell yourself that you are amazing and beautiful - look in the mirror and actually say it (which may at first seem very odd, but it really works). It might be seen as a bit "cocky" to tell yourself "I'm hot" but honestly, we are in this life and this life only, may as well be happy and make it a priority to feel like you are on fire every single day.
Being hot means more than just looks though. It means truly loving yourself (and others) and appreciating all you have to offer. Knowing your worth. And I don't JUST mean staring in the mirror and drawing lipstick hearts around yourself (that will help though!). A quick summary of what it means:
♥ It means embracing YOU, loving yourself and talking positively about yourself, seeing how fab you are.
♥ It means treating your body with the utmost respect: eating foods that nourish your body, working out because it makes your body happy, doing all your due diligence with personal care to make your body immaculate.
♥ It means not overdoing it with alcohol and drugs (anything beyond a glass or two and a bit here and there is escapist behavior and if you are living your life to be amazing...wtf do you need to escape from?)
♥ It means nourishing your brain by reading and being curious about the world around you, a sharp mind can strike when the iron is HOT.
♥ It means having respect for all other people, lifting others up rather than pulling them down (no gossip, no shit talk, etc - so not hot).
♥ It means surrounding yourself with a group of people that make you FEEL hot/good/positive.
I can go on forever...but I'll save it for the HOT post.
How to be RICH
This is about seeing abundance in all areas of your life. Seeing richness all the time. Some of you might be reading this and have no problem seeing the wealth in your bank account but perhaps there is an opportunity for you to see how wealthy you are in other areas of your life (love, family, career, etc).
Some you might be thinking you are not rich at the moment, you are down on your luck, someone always has more, it's not fair, you don't come from a rich family, bla bla bla you were born with 2 pennies to your name (sorry but when did that stop anyone from doing insane and amazing things with their lives...NEVER). Ditch the sob story and start seeing how gloriously lucky you are! If you even have the mechanisms to READ this blog post you are rich and have so much more than most of the planet.
It is ALSO about money though. Because let's face it, money makes the world go round. Appreciating each dollar (or penny) you have. There is enough money in the world that everyone can live amazing lives - so just realize that and seize as your own! And look - you may have had money troubles in the past (or even right now) - but you are still here and swimming! You have always made it through, there was always enough money for you live life thus far. More of it always seems to come. At the end of the day it is numbers on a screen, it's little pieces of paper. Do not let that have power over you, extert your power over it! If you are looking really harness your financial situation there are a million books on it.
The thing I've realized though about RICH-ness is that the more richness I see in non-$$$ related things the more $$$ I see in my bank account. It's not a coincidence, I know this to also be true for other people around me as well.
Start by just noting each area of your life and how lucky and abundant you are. I think about it each day when I wake up:
♥ So blessed to have this comfy luxe bed to sleep in
♥ So blessed I have clean running water to brush my teeth in and drink
♥ So blessed to take a hot shower and have pretty smelling soap
♥ So blessed to have amassed all these different clothes and shoes to wear
♥ So blessed to have all this healthy food to eat for breakfast
etc etc I do it all day.
Sometimes I will have an irritating though like "grr I'm so cold walking to work" then I will switch it like "I'm so blessed that I live in a city where I CAN walk to work, so blessed to walking in such a gorgeous city, so blessed that I don't have a long commute, so blessed I can get my blood pumping by walking first thing in the AM, so blessed its warm enough to be outside for more than 5 minutes, so blessed I have a fab coat to keep me warm" etc etc I make it a point to replace one naughty thought with 5+ positive ones that make me see how rich my life really is.
It's even about seeing just the sheer...MASS of things. So many leaves on a tree, so many hairs on my head, so many threads in my shag carpet rug, so many drops of water in the ocean, so many pennies in a dollar...And it all starts with ONE thing, one positive thought, one idea, before you know it you are living your dreams. Just have to practice and you will see it too!
LOVE YOUR LIFE
Someone that loves their life for sure embodies the HOT and the RICH that we discussed before. They also just seize the day, take every opportunity and see how amazing life is!
They love to engage all of their senses by:
♥ Wearing luxurious fabrics, lounging on plush pillows and surrounding with other lovely things to touch
♥ Seeing and truly how beautiful the world is in font of them - whether it is the brilliance of the leaves that have just turned for fall, the meticulous brush strokes of an artist's work at a gallery, or the unique bone structure of someone just walking by!
♥ Tasting and exploring all the most delicious foods of the world.
♥ Breathing in the fresh air on a beach, stopping to smell the flowers on a storefront, or spritzing themselves with the most divine perfume.
♥ Stopping to listen to a man playing spanish guitar on a street corner, dancing to their favorite new song at a club (or in their kitchen), or getting dressed up to take in a night at the opera.
These are all just examples. Mostly people that love their lives are in the moment. They are not...in the middle of a dinner party with friends glued to their iphones, they are not at Carnival in Rio thinking about their psycho gf/bf back home, they are not hiking Machu Picchu thinking about how they are going to pay rent, they are not sitting at the water cooler pointing out other's shortcomings. They are out loving life! They KNOW everything is going to work out. They know that whatever is out there that has created us has set us on a meaningful path that we are supposed to enjoy. They aren't worrying or lost in their heads they are engaged and living life in the now.
I know many people reading this might be having some quite stressful and real situations going on in their lives right now. Trust me I have things going on too! The way I see it though is that...some things are inevitable. Life has a path for me and everything happens for a reason. I'm going from point A to point B and I can either go bat-shit crazy kicking and fighting to swim upstream and exhaust myself, or I can chill out and float downstream in a comfy innertube wearing my Burberry Bikini, and get excited for where life is taking me.
If we approach some bumps along the way, look at them with positive eyes, like some sort of clue. Have the belief that the universe is consipiring in your favor...not against you! Because the only person that gets in the way of you having a life you love is yourself.
BITCH
This is the back of a BAD ASS BITCH
And the "bitch" part of this? I really don't think Bitch is a bad thing. A bitch is someone that puts herself first, doesn't compromise her values and morals for anyone, and will not stand for anything but top-quality people, surroundings and life. That being said she does not do so while trampling on others to get there. She just knows where she stands.
This behavior is not necessarily what we were taught growing up as young girls. If you were - you are very lucky! But sometimes people find it a bit alarming and they are not used to it. so you know, you become a bitch. I'll take bitch over doormat though, thank you very much!
This way of thinking has made SUCH a difference in my life I really can't even say. I will go more into it in each post. I hope even a small part of it strikes a chord within you and you can see how amazing you really are.
As a disclaimer, I also want to say the following: No one is expected to be perfect all the time. Everyone may go a little off center at times or drink a bit too much, eat too many chocolate croissants, or even gossip a bit. It's not the end of the world BUT it is about realizing that those things are not serving you in having the life of your dreams. Don't beat yourself up over it but choose to do better going forward. I'm not an angel by ANY means but looking back I did all of those things at times where I was not feeling good about myself. Now I make better choices more easily, and if I fall down I bounce back alot quicker.
Stay tuned for more in depth posts breaking down each part!
