Wow, I can’t believe I slacked off last week.Wooops.
Back to reality!
I used to really enjoy going shopping.I could walk for miles around a mall or
shopping center and smell all of the new clothes, shoes, trinkets, kitchen
items, candy, oh boy, I could go on and on.
Now, I get tired very quickly if I even enter the grocery
store, let alone a mall.I have turned
to online shopping a lot.The problem
with online shopping is that I can’t try things on to make sure they fit.Nor I can compare cosmetic shades to my
skin.I have had many fails of getting
the wrong color of foundation, lipstick, eyeliner… It’s so frustrating.I feel like I have to choose between my back
and feet hurting as I browse cosmetics, or ordering online and getting the
wrong color which either forces me to stand in line at the post office to
return the products, or lose money buying the wrong products.
I have found something awesome to help me, at least with the
cosmetic problems.I have subscribed to
a few beauty subscription boxes to see if I can find some items that I
love.I get to try many different items,
and it’s so fun getting surprises in the mail!!!
I decided to start small and I began with the Walmart BeautyBox.It was so perfect!!!The best thing in there was this L’Oreal True
Match shade finder.You peel off the
stickers and put it on your skin to see which one matches the closest.Apparently I am a W1.This was awesome because I would have chosen
a different color if I was looking at this online.So fun!
This is genius!
I have gotten a couple of other boxes, and while there has
been some fun things, this L’Oreal True Match shade finder has been the most
helpful in my quest to make life with RA a little bit easier. Oh, and if I end uo getting something I absolutely don't like, I can try to swap it here.
If you could live forever on earth, would you choose to do
so? Explain.
My answer: Absolutely Not!Especially not with this body.
I believe that our entire purpose for this life on Earth is
to grow, learn, experience, and then die and return to our bodies to the ground
and our spirits to our Heavenly Father. Click here for more info.
I can understand why someone might answer “yes” to this
question.We live in a glorious
world.There are so many beautiful
things to see, places to visit, and adventures to experience.It would take many lifetimes to accomplish
all of the goals and ambitions that I have ever had.I have whittled down my list of goals because
of many things (or lack of) that have gotten in my way, and because I know I
only have one limited lifetime and I want to utilize it to the best of my
abilities.
For example: I took “Running a Marathon” off of my list because
my joints are so damaged that it’s painful to even walk, let alone run for any
distance.I am ok with crossing that one
off my list of goals. I will leave this one up to my sister and brother-in-law.
Another: I used to dream of being a professional singer.I don’t have the time, money, resources to
put forth any effort for that. My training and experience is very limited and I don't have the confidence that I would need.I won’t
ever be on Broadway or even play a big role in community theater because most
roles require a lot of dancing and movement.I get exhausted quickly and I am unable to make attractive lines with my
body to be a dancer.I can’t even
straighten my elbow…Could I still make singing professionally work?Maybe, but I have other things
occupying my mind. For now, I'm perfectly happy watching Josh Groban sing for me.
Last one: I dreamed of raising one of my kids to be an
Olympic gymnast.I have always loved
watching gymnastics and I thought it would be so awesome for one of my kids to
be able to do the things those men and women do.Training to be in the Olympics in any sport
is a huge commitment of time and money, and I believe it requires a huge amount
of self-discipline. There are a couple
of major issues trying to accomplish this goal.First of all, that’s not really a goal that I can set for myself.It’s not even something I can set for my
children.They need to have that desire
and set that goal for themselves.Second
of all, training to be an Olympic gymnast takes a lot of training that costs
time and money that I just don’t have.Another issue is, my husband and I are both quite selfish people, and
our kids, yep, very selfish as well.Don’t
get me wrong, they’re great and I love them tons, but already I can see that it
would take a lot of personality training as well as physical training to get
them in shape for the Olympics.I have
also thought about taking them to LA to be in show business, but I don’t think
directors would put up with their stubbornness.I want my kids to succeed and do well in whatever they choose.I don’t want to be one of those parents who
tries to live vicariously through their kids.
Life can pass by quickly at times.I see how big my girls are getting and I can’t
believe how much they have grown in such a small time.I think most parents will definitely agree
that time flies when it comes to your kids.It won’t be long before they’re grown up and gone from my home to start
families of their own.There are
hundreds of quotes to explain how important it is to cherish your little ones
while they’re little because they won’t be that way for long.I try to not let my RA get in their way, but
unfortunately, it happens.Quite often.
On the other hand, life can pass by very slowly when you’re
in pain.It won’t be long before I will
have lived more years with Rheumatoid Arthritis than without.It has seemed like an eternity, and yet it’s
only been 14 years.I struggle to think
about living another 14, 25, or even 30 more years with the body and the pain
that I have.So no, I would not want to
live forever, possibly thousands of years, with this pain.
Someone might say, "but think of all of the wonderful things to see and
adventures to have!"These are the only
adventures I need in my life: my kids, books, writing, and a big garden.
Many people believe that beauty and self-esteem go hand in
hand. We can look at the media and see
many beautiful, successful individuals that seem to be self-assured and poised,
certain of their influence and confident in their own bodies and image .How can I, someone with deformities and
blemishes from Rheumatoid Arthritis, become confident and feel that I am a
beautiful person?
Beauty is seen as both outward and inward. Outward beauty is very subjective and differs
greatly from person to person. We can
look at celebrities, the fashion industry, and magazines to find examples of socially
curated outward beauty in the clothes, makeup, hairstyles that are
displayed.
Confucius said, “Everything
has beauty, but not everyone can see it.” Inner
beauty isn’t seen on a person’s outside (except maybe in someone’s smile J).Anurag Prakash Ray said, “The real beauty doesn't lie in a person’s face or physical
appearance, it lies in their heart.”That being said, doing things to help yourself feel beautiful can really help with inner beauty and self-esteem.
I’ve noticed the times I’ve felt more beautiful, I spend a
bit more time grooming and taking care of myself.I don’t spend a lot of time applying makeup
to increase my self-esteem, I spend time applying makeup to try to match my
self-esteem.
My beauty routine and my self-esteem have changed a lot over
the last 15 years. I have gone from
feeling like I haven’t been good enough for self-esteem, to being confident and
feeling gorgeous.I have gone from wearing only lip balm and
eyeliner, to spending 30 minutes or more on makeup routines, and then somewhere
in between.I can remember a few years
ago, we were getting ready to take family pictures.I had my hair done up nicely, but I had on
very little makeup.For several months I
had been wearing only eyeliner as my makeup.As we were helping kids get dressed and hair done for pictures, I looked
in the mirror and noticed that I had really bad “butterfly rash” on my face,
and it looked like I had raccoon eyes.I
asked to borrow my sister’s makeup to cover up the redness.I don’t know why I hadn’t really noticed it
before, but after that day, I have been wearing more and more makeup to help
conceal my red face.
Why is my face red?Pick a reason, any reason.Medication side effects, sun sensitivity, flushed skin from slight
fever, you name it. But that’s not the
purpose of this post…
I’m not always up to date on the latest fashion and trends,
but I do like to look nice and not old fashioned.I like reading tutorials on applying makeup,
I read product reviews, and I like trying new products.Last week, I wore some pretty crazy makeup to
work to celebrate Halloween.I followed
some tutorials for bold makeup looks and I thought I had it pretty
extreme.I had dark eyeshadow and heavy
eyeliner and really dark lipstick.I
thought I looked ridiculous, but I actually got several compliments on how
pretty I looked.Maybe I will go a
little bolder on my everyday look from now on.I need to focus on my face a bit more to detract from my extra weight.Oh yeah, I need to write about that too… But
not today.
Halloween face! No idea who the kid is, but it's a fun photobomb!
I’ve decided to subscribe to a couple of beauty item
subscription boxes to see if I can come across some products that are easy for
me to use and will help me create a great look to help me feel more
beautiful.I will keep you posted on
what I can find.
