Hi guys! Welcome to episode 329 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! Thank you for listening and sharing and subscribing. It helps me reach more people. Short podcasts that make you think and help us be better are valuable, and with stories it makes it relatable so I hope you’re enjoying and if you are someone else may too so be sure to share them!
So I’ve been having my nails shaped lately in the almond shape. I love it. But it’s taken me some months to be able to wear it this way because well It takes thought and a certain slowness and grace to all of my movements to wear that shape because that too will break fairly easily. It’s my real nails and I don’t do shellac I just get a manicure so they don’t have that thick protective covering of the shellac. So I can’t just shove my hand into the cabinet to grab something because I could break a nail. I have to gracefully reach in to get what I need. Same thing for turning on lights or getting clothes out of the washer. I have to move with intention and grace. It’s taken me some time to get used to but I am getting the hang of it.
You see though. I love having my nails long and healthy and beautifully shaped It makes me feel a little more graceful and it makes me feel beautiful. Those little things matter. A lot.
There are lots of things I do every single day that make me feel the way I want to feel. Not only on the outside but on the inside too. And when I don’t do them I notice. Someone else may not. But I do. That’s the thing that matters the most. How do I feel about the way I’m going about my day to day life?
When we show up in a way that makes us feel beautiful and graceful, when we have thoughts about ourself that are loving and encouraging, when we take the time to be intentional about things it makes everything else a little easier and life can be hard so anything we can do to give ourselves a leg up is valuable.
The other day my husband, Eric had gone to work and I decided I was going to run and do a little shopping. I didn’t feel like getting dressed up but I don’t ever like to go out looking a mess because it affects how I behave and it affects how others treat you. We don’t like to talk about that, but it’s true. So I put on one of my favorite blazers that I had tailored so that it fit perfectly and the sleeves were just the right length and I threw on a little top underneath a pair of my favorite skinny jeans a pair of cream and black tennis shoes the cute kind and I topped it off with gold hoops and my New York Yankees ball cap. I love that look and it’s easy and I feel confident in it for whatever reason. It’s just my style, right? So I go into one of my favorite stores. And I’m looking at these jeans and they are the new slouch jeans and there’s this lady standing there and she had been talking to the girls that work there and she had one of those key chains on her arm so I thought she worked there…so I asked her how this particular Jean ran was it true to size? She looked at me and she said I don’t know I don’t work here. Now. This could be a situation where I would have been so embarrassed and mumbled an apology and scooted off mortified. But because I felt confident and was in a good mindset. I laughed it off and said oh well, you look very official with your keys on your arm so I assumed you did, my apologies. to which she laughed and said I do don’t I and then she proceeded to try to help me decide how the jeans fit anyway. That interaction went so much easier because I was intentional about how I wanted to feel and look when I went out that day. And she realized it wasn’t an insult, so we ended up having a nice interaction.
It’s so important every single day to give yourself the chance to feel graceful and beautiful. How you feel on the inside is indicative of how you present yourself on the outside.
Each one of us has a certain standard we set for ourself. I know I have high standards and that’s how I like it. And I’m constantly finding new ways to be even better tomorrow. That’s how I’ve always been and how I hope I always will be.
I don’t buy into the “it’s normal to put on weight and feel like crap and be on 10 medications as you get older” crowd. That isn’t the outlook I have for myself. And I look for ways to prove it doesn’t have to be that way, Im not looking for ways to show me that it’s normal to put on weight and feel bad as you age because there’s plenty of that out there but the outliers that look and feel amazing over 50. Those are the ones I want to listen to and learn about.
I was in the sauna the other day talking about nutrition with my friend Lena and this lady who I’ve seen in the sauna a few times chimes in and said I’m eves-dropping on your conversation because it’s interesting. Now she is definitely an outlier. Once we got to taking I started asking her a million questions because she said she is 66 and let me tell you. Her muscle tone was amazing. Her eyes were bright and her hair was healthy and she just had this bright and happy energy. And it wasn’t by accident. She moves. She eats incredibly healthy but not perfect. She saunas and cold showers. She is constantly learning and growing. I could have talked to her for an hour but now I’ve been in the sauna 40 min which is 20 too long so I had to stop the conversation or die. It was a hard choice. Lol. we will continue the conversation again I just know it. But you see I just got a quick snapshot of her life and I could have told you by looking at her that she had consistently good habits. You don’t look and feel like that at her age without them. She had figured out that for her moving every day, exercising 6 times per week, eating Whole Foods that you make at home a majority of the time and continuous growth. Those are the standards she lives by. They are high standards and she’s thriving at 66 because of it. I want to be thriving at 66 and I’m learning more every day of what it takes to do that.
What we do know is it doesn’t happen by accident. And as we also know, it takes us putting ourselves as a priority. And it may sound selfish to say that. But I’m a much better lover to my husband when I feel beautiful. I’m a much better sister when I am healthy and have high standards. I’m a much better friend when I love myself.
So I work really hard at doing the things every single day that make me feel beautiful inside and out. Now it’s all unicorns and butterflies when we talk about manicures, dressing up and having good thoughts. But. To have an honest conversation which is what I always want to have, we have to talk about the flip side of this too. The things we know we are doing that are actually making us feel really bad about ourselves. And I’m not judging anyone here. I’m human and have done lots of things I’m not proud of but if I kept doing them I would be in a very different place in my life and not for the better. and I bet you can relate in ways. But I’m also the ultimate optimist so I believe it’s not about what you’ve DONE. It’s about what you’re DOING. We have to stop beating ourselves up for our past and get on with creating a beautiful graceful future. It doesn’t matter how much you drank or smoked or ate yesterday. What matters is what you’re DOING today. We are very resilient. But the sooner we get on with taking beautiful care of ourselves the easier it will be. It doesn’t matter how old you are. In the book “the good life “ by Robert Waldinger and Mark Schultz (Ill put that in the show notes, its a great read) there’s a story about a man that had been in a horrible marriage for 35 years and was depressed and lonely up until he was I think it was 63 but that’s when he decided enough was enough. He slowly built a new life by joining a gym where he started playing racket sports and really taking care of himself mentally and physically. His last years were his happiest but they wouldn’t have been had he not decided to make a change. It’s never too late.
Deep down we each know if we are doing the things that we need to be doing to create a beautiful graceful life, deep down we also have an idea of the things we are doing that steal that life away from us.
My question for you today is this.
How does the graceful beautiful version of you look?
What do you need to start doing and what do you need to stop doing?
My challenge to you today is to make a short list, actually really short. write down 1 thing you do that you know is not serving you and one thing you can add that will serve you.
Somewhere inside of each one of us there is a graceful beautiful version just waiting to shine through. But it isn’t going to happen by accident. Share this with 3 beautiful friends. I love you guys I’ll talk to you in a few days.
