Being My True Self

This week I received my new copy of O Magazine in the mail. I love that magazine. Every month when I receive it I turn to the back and I read Oprah's "What I Know for Sure" piece first. The main themes in this month center around Thanksgiving, being yourself and belief.

October issue of O Magazine, published by Hearst Magazines.

I'm really interested in the "being your true self" subject and also about belief. I've been searching for a way to still believe without having an organized religion. I still want for my children to believe and I don't want to make excuses for my beliefs.

Just recently I had a bad experience with social media and I learned a very important lesson. I learned who I should and shouldn't allow into my circle of friends. It made me really sad for a few days and it almost made me lose my trust in humanity. I say "almost" because in the end I made the conscious decision to not let it change me.

For the most part I'm a very trusting person. I'm an open book both on social media and on my blog. I may even over share sometimes. I also think the best of people before I think the worst. I don't want to change that about me. I am not going to let another person's unkind actions change who I am and how I think about the world. Because if I do that then they will have won and I refuse to lose.

I love who I am with all my imperfect and flawed parts. Sure I get mad, I'm mean sometimes and I make mistakes. I'm human! But I love that I'm an open book and that I trust too much. I don't want to be a negative and paranoid person. That kind of person is not a happy person and they block the good energy in life.

Which reminds me, for the past 20 days I've been participating in the #100daysofhappiness project. Every day I post an image to Instagram and I write about what made me happy that day. At first I worried about repeating myself and I tried to keep my posts original. Then I thought, "Who cares?" If my kids make me happy 50 of the 100 days then I will say that, I don't care. I will post what made me the most happy that day, whatever it is and however many times that one thing or person makes me happy. That's the whole point of the exercise anyway.

Speaking of happy, I'm in Week 4 now of my new job and I am very happy to be back. I have a truly awesome team and management who really backs us up. I have a good feeling about this.

20 Days Into Changing My Eating & 20 Questions to Ask

Fifteen days ago I was only five days into what I was calling a "detox" at the time. Twenty days into this I'm calling it a change of lifestyle. Twelve pounds less and I'm a believer. I'm not going to say it's easy but at the same time all I've really cut out of my life is refined sugar, junk food, packaged foods, dairy, and I'm trying to eat organic. I've also gone back to drinking Arbonne protein shakes for breakfast but I've now added extra fiber and a digestion booster this time. Not to sound like a commercial for Arbonne but this is what I was drinking last time I had a big weight loss.

I'm not going to lie. I have cheated a couple of times. My nephew's graduation from law school was last weekend and I had cake. I came home from my trip and having been off of Advil for my back for a couple of days I had a much needed margarita. When I lost 10 pounds I had another margarita. I know that's bad cheating but I was so happy I had to celebrate.

Now here I am 12 pounds down and it's hard to believe. Especially since my back has been out and I haven't exercised. Now I'm sick with this wicked cough and congestion. I keep promising myself that as soon as I am better I will not take my usual good health for granted and I am getting back up on my bike. That combined with my change in eating should make an even bigger difference. Updates to come as soon as I'm better.

I blogged last time about an article that I read in O Magazine that was really great and thought-provoking. It's in the April issue, "20 Questions Every Woman Should Ask Herself." Some of these questions really made me think and self-examine. I used them to reflect on me and my life and they are questions I should re-visit again and again because life brings changes. Definitely an article to keep.

I won't list all of the questions, just my top 11 favorites. I'll assign them the number given in the article so you can reference them and see the commentary written about each one by a different writer.

1. Do I examine my life enough. - Sometimes too much and sometimes not enough.
2. Do I care too much about what people think? - Yes, one of my biggest problems.
4. What's your deal breaker? - A few things I know for sure. Prejudice and bigotry.
5. What do I really want to do all day? - Read, write and self-educate.
6. How do I want to be remembered? - Good person w/ a great sense of humor & good mom.
11. What am I afraid of? - Failing my children.
12. Am I paying enough attention to the incredible things around me? - Not enough.
13. Have I accepted my body?- Yes and no
14. Am I strong enough? - Still need to work on this but I do think I'm strong for my children.
17. Does what I wear reflect who I am? -This is a whole other blog topic & the answer is No.
19. Do I let myself fail enough? - Yes! That's what I've been doing this whole year. It's a re-birthing experience.

So there you go, 11 of the 20 questions. You may have other questions that mean something to you that I didn't list, so go read the O magazine article. It's a really good one. Next blog may just be about #17.

My Love for Magazines

I love magazines. If I had more time I would read more magazines. Sometimes when I think about it, it's cool that I work for the Hearst Corporation and that they publish some of the best magazines in the country. (And I get an employee discount!) My favorite magazine of course is O Magazine, but my love for magazines started a long time ago when I was just a kid.

The first magazine I ever remember reading and loving was Highlights. I used to love to read that magazine at the dentist office and I was thrilled when one of my sisters bought me a subscription for one year. I cherished those issues.

My second favorite magazine was Young Miss, now known as YM Magazine. When I was a kid it was published on a small 5 x 7 size and the pages were newsprint. I loved to read, "Was My Face Red" and the fiction stories. The best!!

Then I moved on to Teen Magazine. Do you remember that one? I loved to read the poetry submitted by other teens and I used to clip my favorites. I wonder what ever happened to some of those kids. Did they become writers? I still have some of those poems taped to the inside cover of one of my photo albums. That's the age when I started reading fashion and beauty advice. Loved it!

What a stroll down memory lane! I remember the days when I had the time to read magazines. Now when I receive my O Magazine it takes me forever to read it. I usually keep it in my car so that I have it available for those times when I have to wait at the nail shop, the doctor, or for someone I'm meeting for lunch. Or if I'm having lunch by myself I like to read. Before I know it I'm receiving the next month's issue and I haven't even finished reading the current month.

I love to ponder over the different finds they recommend, just like I did when I was a teenager. I love reading their book recommendations and I ALWAYS read "What I Know for Sure" first. I open the magazine to the very back, very much like Harry read books in "When Harry Met Sally," and I read the last article. I also enjoy the Ahaa! moments of different celebrities. Not because I'm into celebrities, but because I enjoy seeing the human side of all people.

I LOVE reading Martha Beck's and Suzie Orman's advice. And I love Lisa Kogan! She is so hilarious. I love this magazine. I don't really mind not having time to read other magazines because this magazine fullfills me, just like Highlights, Young Miss, and Teen did when I was a kid.