Cheesy?

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Kinda cheesy? Yes. I'm not mad about the fonts used here (espesh on the second one), but I do love the idea of choosing a quote which you can base your life around and then sticking it on a wall in big fat letters. 

The ideal quote is short and one that would mean something in any given situation, so that you can life your life according to it. For me the ideal quote would give guidance on how to live lovingly and purposefully. When you are happy, you can make others happy. 

Would you pop one of these up on the wall?

P.S You get to choose the colours on these stickers, so you're not stuck with orange. Click on the links above for more.

Self discipline

With all this talk of self discipline, I fancied taking a closer look at what self discipline really means. 

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
Jim Rohn

Discipline really means our ability to get ourselves to do things when we don't want. Arden Mahlberg

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Chinese Proverb

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.
Harry S. Truman

With self-discipline most anything is possible. Theodore Roosevelt 

 

Rule your mind or it will rule you. Horace

 
There are no short cuts to any place worth going. Beverly Sills

The ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Ellbert Hubbard

We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.
Jesse Owens

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power. Clint Eastwood 

The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust. Josh Billings 

Source 

Knowledge is power

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I don't know about you, but I feel at my best when I'm feeding my brain the good stuff. I have days when I want to be brain-lazy and read mindless gossip or even catch a bit of Eastenders. Strictly between you and me.

However, on days when I seek out information and culture, I feel alive, inspired, invigorated and full of purpose. On days when I read malicious, gossipy, vacuous rubbish, I don't feel so good about myself. I've even felt like my head will explode from reading too much crap whilst my highlights are cooking under foil, but trash can be surprisingly addictive.

Of course there's room for balance in life; for high brow and low brow, but in these days of dumbing down, we do need to self-censor at times if we want to continue our personal and intellectual development. There are plenty of distractions from the path of knowledge - but they say that self-discipline is the path to freedom. 

It's well worth ensuring that some of one's reading material is educational - after all, there are so many amazing things to learn about in this beautiful world. If you're looking to expand your understanding, ask interesting people about what they do and what they believe in; read the broadsheets, go to museums, sit in the library and indulge your curiosity and check out this website which I've just discovered. There are plenty of things we can do at no cost to expand our ideas and appreciation of this intricate life.

Stella's country pad

Clever Sarah posted this pic of Stella's country pad. Had to share. I love this photo of Stella. So refreshing to see a woman looking real, rather than botoxed and airbrushed to bland perfection. 

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Hair treatment

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I'm always on the look out for ways to give my hair some loving, ideally without shoving a load of chemicals onto my scalp follicles. 

Having said that, I take a balanced view towards the use of chemical-laden products; whilst in an ideal world we'd use only organic, natural products, I believe that being stressed and neurotic about these things is worse for one's health than a handful of parabens here and there. It's not always financially viable to stick to the purest of products. I've tried some of the supermarket's own paraben-free products, and to my mind  they smell more toxic than toilet cleaner; it's those cheap, headache-inducing synthetic fragrances which are a bit gross - so sometimes a high-end unnatural product won't be any worse for you than a bargain basement 'healthy' alternative. 

Anyway, I digress. Mlle Berry (of the luscious mane) has recommended this Pukka product (above). She says it soaks in well, smells heavenly, and leaves your locks oh-so-smooth. It's now on my list of items to buy this week. 

It's so good to set time aside to relax with a treatment - pamper time with a good book and a herbal tea is so relaxing. Stick the Pukka oil onto your barnet and pop a face-pack on,  trim those cuticles and cover yourself in shea butter all over. Heaven. A little secret - lots of exfoliating and shea butter will keep your most delicate lady area looking very pretty in between waxes. 

Shea butter, Via

Here's the spiel on Bhringaraj Pukka hair oil, according to Pukka:

‘Bhringaraj’ means ‘King of Hair’ in Sanskrit. This oil is traditionally used in Ayurveda to nourish and strengthen the hair. Its rejuvenating properties help to prevent early greying and balding. Ayurveda's view on these conditions is that due to high testosterone levels, pitta becomes very high and literally wilts the hair roots. The herbs in this oil particularly help to reduce pitta. Bhringaraj is also considered to be very nourishing if early greying is caused by nutritional deficiencies following childbirth or illness.

If you are experiencing hair loss, or want to maximise this treatment, I suggest massaging the oil into your scalp with your head upside down. This stimulates the blood flow to the roots. Generally speaking, exercise will move blood around the body, meaning a pretty complexion, healthy nails and a glossy mane of hair. 

You deserve your love

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I truly wish I'd discovered some of the quotes on this blog when I was in my teens. Back then it wasn't in vogue to talk about self-love, or taking responsibility for your own destiny. The shift towards eastern philosophy, yoga and spirituality gives us plenty of inspiration and choice for our lifestyle and outlook.

Quotes are invaluable no matter where you are in life. Choose your favourite and live by it.

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
Buddha

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.
Dalai Lama  

You're just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You've got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It's all down to you, mate.
John Lennon

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.
Wayne Dyer
 

Simply put, you believer that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.
Wayne Dyer  

If you don't see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.
Zig Ziglar  

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.
Bob Marley  

People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what's bitter and move on.
Bill Cosby  

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Quotes via here. 

Choose your teacher carefully

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It's wise to be cautious when seeking advice. Have you ever found yourself seeking advice from someone when you intuitively know what their response will be? There are some friends who give sympathy and validate every feeling you have, some who will fire you into action just through inspiration, some who will give practical tips (normally a man), some who won't really get what the problem is and some who will tell you to stop whingeing and start seeing the positives. 

It's very nice to have someone reinforce your victim status when you feel the world (or at least one person) is against you, but is it doing you any good in the long run? 

It's worth being honest with yourself about what you need in the situation. Are you looking to let off steam, or would you like to find real solutions in order to move ahead with your personal journey? 

I find that talking to someone who is a genuine expert in their area can be enormously helpful. People are often remarkably kind and helpful when asked advice. It's always worth asking. Being ignored is the worst possible outcome, and you'll deal with it just fine.

Getting succinct information from someone who knows their stuff is a great way to make informed decisions. It's more fodder for your lever arch file on life.

Music muffs

I've been whingeing about having cold ears on my bike and whilst I'm running. It's that old chestnut of having to choose between the ipod or ear muffs. Luckily two of my male pals have pointed me in the direction of a two in one job. Cosy. Yum.

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Craft kid

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Hello (naturally) beautiful, 

I'm loving the trend for homemade everything right now. It's perfect pre-Christmas. I'm so excited about all the goodies I'll be making. Nothing like a day of crafts with carols playing in the background. It's so soothing. Anyway, for some helpful UK based resources and some craftspiration, check out this link. I'm enjoying Kirstie Allsop's Homemade Home and I might just make this tea cosy. I think I'll add some fabric touches though - some pretty floral curtains methinks.