Reboot Your Life - Step Up

In skin care, the protection stage is the one that I left out for too many years. I joke that growing up my skin care routine was zinc oxide and Cover Girl Shimmering Shell lipstick. I didn't know that the sun, the heat, the air conditioning, the everyday elements could increase wrinkles, freckles, and blemishes! In the past few years, I've found that SPF and foundation are the most important ingredients to protect my skin from the daily elements.

A friend of mine once explained that protecting your skin from the elements was as important as painting the exterior of your home. If you neglect the exterior, your home will deteriorate before your eyes. 

If you don't protect your new decisions, your new direction, your new vision, your new habits, they will deteriorate before your eyes. Negativity, discouragement, life can chip away at your resolve. One of the most important ways to speak what you believe.

One of my favorite scriptures is: 


Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. [Ephesians 4:29]


Words are so powerful. When used for building yourself or others they can change your world: your way of thinking, your habits, your character. I aspire to this verse because I've found when I speak positively it's like I can form a layer of protection around my dreams.


What are you saying to yourself? What are you saying to others? How can you protect with your words, today? 

Makeover Your Life

I'm not writing much tonight. I'm not even going to write about how to protect your skin, or your new life, or your new idea or attitude. My entry tonight is simply a list of links to makeover sites. Here are a fun few sites to check out a new hairstyle or makeup look for the spring.


The Daily Makeover


Virtual Makeover


The Hairstyler.Com


I'm off to continue the torture that is watching Carolina and Duke play basketball!

Reboot Your Life - The Next Step

In basic skin care, you cleanse, exfoliate, freshen, then moisturize. Whether you have dry, combo  or oily skin, it's important to moisturize. This is the first step that add something back into the skin. It's more than: just add water; but, most products renourish and restore. Most products today simply hydrate, firm, and smooth your skin. Many provide up to ten hours of hydration, prevent flakiness and strengthen the skin's protective moisture barrier. Some are filled with antioxidents that neutralize damaging free radicals (the rascals that cause skin to age).


Fine! But how do we apply that to our lives? If the freshen stage means we get to decide the next right step - what comes next? For today, I picture just adding water. In fact, I picture nourishment for the decision we've just made.


I guess it's could still be part of the planning step or it could be nourishing the follow-through, but today I'm imagining the nourishment is building up the resources. Tending your made-up mind. Today, I'm going to throw out one way to nourish the new plan: surround yourself with the right people. 


As a short anecdote that may or may not explain what I mean, I'll admit that this has been a bad week of  training for my upcoming triathlon. Not comfortable on the bike, knee aches, hamstring ache, very slow times in the pool. Yesterday, in the pool (a handy water reference), I moaned to the others that I was slow. Discouragement seeped out. After practice, one of the women in the group made a point to say: don't let this get you  down. It's an off day. Don't let it play with your mind. I decided she was right and quickly changed my attitude from: I should have never gotten in the pool to even with a slow time, I am  faster than I was a month ago! That was my fresh new thought.


This morning, my knee was hurting (different than an ache). I felt winded two minutes into my run. My 5K pace was impossible (eight-ish minute mile) and even my half marathon pace (ten-ish minute mile) felt like a chore. I simply kept thinking to myself: don't let this get you down; don't let it play with your  mind. I had been nourished the day before by a positive comment, from a  positive team member. She had poured into me and restored my confidence even a day later!


That's one way you can build your resources. Surround yourself with positive influences. I once was encouraged  to make a list of all the people in my life that I spend the most time with (either in person or on the phone). Once you make that list, put a + sign by the people who - when you're with them - make you feel better about your life, who pour in positivity and love and joie de vivre! Put a - sign by the people who make you feel worse when you're with them. Put an = sign by those who are neutral. Your next right  step: start spending more time with the + people  in your life!  

Reboot Your Life - Next Step

This week, I've explored what it would look like to REBOOT a facet of your life. To reload your operating system in an area of your life where things are running slowly or you keep getting error  messages or the software keeps shutting down.

For clarity's sake (mainly mine), I'll review and revamp what I've found. 

Step One: Cleanse   Shut down the system. You can shut down the way you've been operating. Even if it's for 10 or 15 minutes you can stop what you're doing. If you're operating out of fear, or discouragement, or pride, or depression or negativity; you can stop for a moment and stop what you're thinking or feeling. 

Next  Step: Exfoliate  [Like how I've turned my computer reference into makeover references?] In cosmetology, exfoliation involves removal of the dead skin to reveal the healthiest, youngest skin. Get out a journal or even your blackberry, go to your therapist, call on your best friend. List, describe, rant, dig. Rough yourself up with the questions: Why do I need a makeover? Why am I operating like this? What have I done? What triggered it? How do I do to get restarted? What have I got?

Next Step: Freshen   In skin care, a freshener is used to remove excess dirt, makeup and residue after the cleansing step. It rebalances the pH in the skin, reduces the look of pores and gives the skin a clean sensation. This may be my favorite step in the makeover! This is where I get to decide what I will do from where I am. I love to make a plan and set a goal.  What will I do differently now that I know what I know? What is the next right step? 

My next right step in the midst of my race disappointment was inevitably enter another race. Not just any race, but a half marathon!  I knew that it would give me direction, help me set a new training plan and me satisfaction. I want to operate out of that! The first one I found was sold out! However, this past Tuesday, the very race that was cancelled in February offered a half-price registration deal for runners in 2011. You can bet I took the step! Excitement, direction and satisfaction. How's that for a makeover?! 

What is your next right step?


COMING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS: Moisturize & Protect!

Reboot Your Life - Another Step

I decided [between this post and last] that there is another first step in the rebooting process.  On your computer the first thing required to RESTART your operating systems is to actually turn it off. You can press the control+alt+delete keys or the power button to shut down the software you're running.

In your makeover manual this might look like: CLEANSE. In a cosmetic makeover, the first step is usually to take everything off your face: foundation, mascara, blush, lipstick, sweat, tears, daily gradoo and schmutz, etc.  That cleanse reveals it all - blemishes, skin tone, freckles, acne, etc. But, it's fresh. It's true. It's you. Recently on Oprah, Carson Kressley attempted a make-under. One woman from Canada had hidden her true self behind a Pamela Anderson look-alike facade for years. Getting ready each day took up to FIVE hours! One major step to reboot her look was to cleanse it all: and keep it that way for one week. Kressley's rule: "Until I see you in Chicago, no makeup—foundation, coverup, eyeshadow, lipstick—no tanning bed, no bronzer," he said.

Can you CLEANSE the facets of your life? What does that look like? Certainly, you can't rinse your life of your job if you need to reboot your professional life. You can't sanitize your life of all your friends and family if you need to reboot your operating systems for relationships. But there must be a way to cleanse your physical, spiritual and professional life. 

I'll have to revisit this concept for each facet in the future. For now, I'll uncover what I did to cleanse my spiritual life in recent days. I did one simple thing: I got quiet. It took a few days, but I found about an hour last week. The house was empty, the dog was on the porch, hubby was on the golf course, the Olympics weren't on the air and there were no errands to run. I sat on the floor of my bedroom for a bit. I usually pray with pen and paper and that day was no exception. I asked for forgiveness and guidance and blessings for all the people in our lives. Of course, that led to the next step (which I wrote about yesterday)!

After her week-long cleanse, Dawn went on the Oprah Show for a make-under. She rebooted her look and this is the result:

Reboot Your Day - Step One

BOOT: [verb] to cause to load (especially an operating system of a computer) and start the initial processes; see also BOOT UP. REBOOT: [verb] to restart the boot process; in serial fiction, it means the discarding of much or even all previous continuity in the series, to start anew. ..


Have you ever wanted to reboot your life? Discard much or even all of the previous continuity in the series of your life and start anew? Realistically (and thankfully), it can't be done. You wouldn't want to discard all that came before - all that formed you and the life that you live. You wouldn't be you.


Lately, though, I've felt like I've needed a reboot button for a couple of areas of my life. Physically and spiritually, I've needed a reset. I've noticed that this often happens when I reach a milestone or a goal I've set. For instance, I set a goal to run a half marathon in mid-February. I actually didn't reach that goal because the race was cancelled due to snow! I felt out of sorts and disappointed afterwards. It took me a few days to access the good, the bad and the ugly of an unexpected outcome. 


Spiritually, I've needed a reset, too. I stopped practicing the things that keep me in step with my walk with God. I skipped a Sunday at church. I skipped a few homework lessons to prepare for my small group. I skipped a week of tracking gratitudes in my journal. 


Like a computer glitch, one of these things alone is not enough to make me want to pray for a restart. But all together, it added up. I needed a hard reset in both cases. I needed a  control/alt/delete: I had to create a way to get my operating system back on track. 


Here are a few steps I found to reboot:


Step One - Get Grateful: A wise man once said: maturity is marked by gratitude and stability. The one thing I was not doing in either case was looking at the gratitude in what I did have. In the case of the race, I started listing all the things that I was thankful for: my feet were not cold and wet and blistered, the wind was not in my face for nine miles, I did not have to run 13.1 miles, I got to eat pancakes, I could go home early and play in the snow with my dog, I could go home early and pick up my nephew from my parent's, I was not going to be sore for three days, etc. Eventually, I felt like I was handling it like an adult.  Plus, I'm still adding to my list. AND, I'm ready for next year!


STAY TUNED TOMORROW FOR STEP TWO!

Make it a Habit

I've heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I don't know what happens in those 21 days. Do you fall in love with action? Do you simply begin to make time for responsibility? Does second nature take over?



I've decided to embark on a 31 day adventure in blogging. I am inspired by a friend and brand-new blogger. She spent the past month writing about her adventures and the about the attitude that makes every day an adventure. I want to see how I can makeover my habits and round them into something that makes each day an adventure. I made the decision to spend my March writing for this blog. Let the habit-forming begin.


Anything you do with repetition and emotion will become your reality. If you’re not satisfied with your current experience, examine your habits. - Dr. Andrew Weil


Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny. -  Tryon Edwards