Instant Gratification

Ever heard the phrase “Patience is a virtue” ?

 It used to be a common phrase when I was growing up, but is pretty much unheard of today.

Who plants their own fruit or vegetables and waits for the harvest anymore? That’s what grocery stores are for.  Though it is a wise choice to raise your own crops, if you have the land, especially with food prices constantly rising.  Not to mention the taste of your own fresh food is so much better than store bought.

Ever made your own clothes?  It is rather rewarding to choose fabric that you like and a design that is unique to your own tastes, then making it with your own hands.  Does anyone even use sewing machines anymore?  I have one, but rarely use it just for small seam repairs.  Or how about spining fiber into yarn to use for kniting?  Do people still knit or crochet today?  Maybe, but not like in my grandmothers day!

Patience was a way of life. Now we have no idea what that is.

Wonder why?

Our modern society is into instant gratification. We are used to everything being at our fingertips.

Some examples of instant gratification:

Instant tanning (who wants to spend hours in the sun?)

Digital Photos (no waiting to develop film)

Microwavable or fast food (who wants to cook full meals anymore?  who has time?)

Audio Books or Videos (no one likes to read more than a page of text)

Pain pills (to treat symptoms instead of the cause)

Remote controls (can’t even move 5 feet to switch channels anymore)

Plastic Surgery (quick results, but don’t always meet expectations)

Liposuction (quickest way to loose weight)

Winning the lottery or any gambling (the odds are against you!)

The problem with instant gratification is that it can produce longterm disappointment when immediate expectations are not fulfilled.  It tends to make us loose patience, or become unthankful for things that take time to produce.

Delayed gratification has its rewards:

Relaxing with a good novel vs. watching a condensed 2 hours movie version (allows you to use your imagination, and read at your own pace)

Home cooked meals  vs. pre-cooked, ready-made

Healthy prepared food vs. quick junk food

Picking fruit from your own tree vs.  store-bought, under ripe fruit from out-of-state or country

Improving your looks and health through better nutrition and regular exercise

Treating the cause of a health problem and eliminating it naturally and permanently

Full time education to produce a career vs. low paying job due to lack of experience

So many things in life you just can’t shortcut on.  Relationships including marriage and parenting are the most important things in life that require longterm patience, and are the most gratifying.

Life is full of rewards when we take time to enjoy each and every minute.

Aging Gracefully

Remember when you couldn’t wait to turn 21 to get asked to show your ID?

After 50 the opposite is true, it hits you hard when someone asks if you qualify for a senior discount when you are not even 55 yet!  Ouch that hurts!  I say that from experience.

I’ll be the first to admit that aging sucks, but there are some great ways you can actually look and feel younger than your age, without botox or plastic surgery.

The now aging Baby Boomer generation is obsessed with youthful appearance (thanks to the Media).  Why do you think the Plastic Surgery is such a booming industry? 

But think about it, do you really want to look like Joan Rivers, whose had so much plastic surgery she looks like she’s been in a boxing ring and lost?  She can barely smile anymore!   Recently stars, like Julia Roberts are voicing their oppostion of using Botox and Plastic Surgery because of the negative impact it could have on their career, with changes of their facial expressions, and overall appearance.  Good for you Julia!  Remember the comedian Roseanne Barr?  After her plastic surgery, even though it improved her looks, people couldn’t relate to her any more, and her career took a nose dive.

There are so many plastic surgery nightmares that have ruined women’s lives more than enhanced them.  People don’t think  of the future, really would you like to have boobs like Pamela Anderson at age 80?  Yikes, that’s a scary thought!

How about all those grandmas with tatoos and piercings?

Generations before us knew how to grow old gracefully (without the aid of Botox or face lifts), we could learn a lot from them.

Let’s look at what Happens to our Skin and Hair as We Age: The effects of sun exposure, smoking, diet, and heredity become evident on our skin as we get older. Stress, gravity, and obesity also affect how well skin looks. And as we age, our skin doesn’t produce new cells as quickly as it used to. Skin gradually becomes less elastic and prone to dryness. Something similar happens to the cells that give our hair its color. Hair pigment cells become less efficient at renewing themselves, which makes our hair turn gray.

Here are some great tips on how to take care of your skin, to help you look and feel 10 years younger:

Stay out of direct sunlight when the sun’s rays are the strongest (bet. 10am -4pm). If you have to be outside, wear a hat and sunscreen or an anti aging moisturizer with SPF 15 and both UVB and UVA protection. Damage to the skin from excess or unprotected sun exposure causes wrinkles and an uneven skin tone, and worst case of all skin cancer.

Eat right and hydrate. Good nutrition helps the body repair skin. Drink lots of water to keep the skin hydrated from the inside out.

Use anti-aging products. For women over 40, anti aging creams and lotions can enhance natural beauty by rejuvenating your skin. Look for products with Pentapeptides that help prompt skin cells to produce more collagen, which is the support structure that gives skin a firmer look.

If you smoke, stop. Research shows that smoking prematurely ages your skin.

Quotes on aging from some wise and famous men:

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul ” –Douglas MacArthur

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”. — Abraham Lincoln

Here are 10 of my personal tips for Growing Old Gracefully, the More or Less of it:

Stress Less, Smoke Less, Eat Less, Complain Less, Criticize Less

Smile More, Laugh More, Exercise More, Play More, Love More

Enjoy Life to the fullest no matter what age you are because you only have one life to live!

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Related Articles:

Beauty Only Skin Deep?

True Beauty is a State of Mind

Fun in The Sun

 

The Truth About What Men Find Attractive

Have you ever asked yourself, What do most Men consider Attractive in Women?

You could ask your girlfriend what she thinks, but wouldn’t it make more sense to ask a man?  Most women seem to think that all a man is attracted to is Big Breasts or an Hour Glass figure, like a Barbie Doll.

Those of you (myself included) that grew up with Barbies, didn’t you think that you were supposed to develop into having that same type of figure?  Like that was the norm!

But if you take the measurements of Barbie, she would be over 7 feet tall, weigh around 125 pounds, and have a shape of 32-20-42.  How obsurd to think a woman could attain or maintain a figure like that !   You would be surprised though how many women actually try by using plastic surgery, breast implants and liposuction.

In addition, Barbie has a very long neck. In fact, her neck is nearly twice the size of the average woman.  And Barbie’s feet are only half the size of a normal woman’s (like that of the ancient Chinese women that had their feet bound).

Are men really attracted to Barbie Doll figures?

Let’s find out The Truth about what Men think is Attractive, shall we?

Here are some recent findings concerning what men find attractive in women,  that may surprise you.

1.  Smile- is like a magnet that can draw his attention and keep it

2.  Feminine and delicate Nature –delicate, soft, kind hearted and caring

3.  A woman’s voice- a highly feminine and soft voice

4.  Sense of humor-a good sense of humor, understands and laughs at jokes

5.  Un-materialistic attitude-down to earth, not high maintenance

6.  Strong personality –not weak minded, can make sound decisions

7.  The eyes –the the window to the soul, can speak a thousand words

8.  The Woman’s Hair- most like moderately long feminine style hair

9.  Physical Structure-skin tone, lips, height and body weight

10. Comfortable and Confident-one who supports him, and the one with whom he feels relaxed and open

Did you notice that physical appearance is # 9,  not # 1!

What do men think of Breast Implants?  Is size important ?

The fact of the matter is, though men do love to look at a woman with implants and would also not mind sleeping with her, they will certainly not like having a woman like this as a life time partner. In addition to that, most men love natural breasts over artificial ones. So even if the implants make the chest look bigger and hotter they are as a matter of fact, artificial. Artificial breasts can actually be a major turn-off to most men. This is because men start feeling that their woman partner is not reacting to their touches and squeezes (which is obviously the case when a woman has implants they do tend to reduce the sensitivity of the breasts).

If you work on these 10 things you’ll be surprised at how much more attractive you’ll be to your husband, or boyfriend.  And you will be less worried about looking like Barbie.

But don’t forget the importance of eating right and getting exercise to stay in the best health. You want to be your best inside and out!

Remember # 1 Keep on Smiling!  When you have confidence and are comfortable with yourself it will show in your smile.

And #4 Laugh allot. It’s contagious, and good for your soul and your relationship!

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True Beauty is a State of Mind

Beauty is expressed differently in every culture around the world. It means different thing to different people. But there is a universal view that holds true to all cultures and all ages.

It is what is on the inside that counts!

In the Western World, we have a hard time grasping why women in the Middle East wear veils. Women since ancient times have worn veils. The veil represents God’s protection over the woman. No man is allowed to touch a veiled woman, with the exception of her husband, or her father. You can not judge her by her appearance, only by her words and her actions, that reflect her heart. 

The only place you still see veils in the Western culture is at Weddings.  Brides still wear veils, but the meaning is pretty much lost.  We know traditionally that the Groom is not supposed to see the Bride before the Wedding, but it doesn’t mean much since most already have intimate relations before marriage.  In ancient times the groom never saw the bride at all until the wedding ceremony.

Westerners believe physical looks are everything.  The obsession with youthful appearance is why Plastic Surgery is big business today.  We need to realize that the  purpose of media advertising is to make us feel inadequate so that we will buy things to make us feel or look better.   But in reality it does not work, the more you buy the worse you feel, not the better.  The attempts at perfecting the flesh are unfulfilling in making us happy about ourselves.   

Have you ever thought someone was gorgeous, you just idolized them, until you actually met and talked to them? All of a sudden you realized they were not beautiful at all.  In fact they were downright ugly! What changed your perception of them?

You see “true beauty” is not in the outward appearance, it is in the heart.  In The Bible there is a proverb that states, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”.

Those who are rotten on the inside may be able to fool people temporarily with their attractive appearance, but eventually people will see right through them.  

A beautiful heart makes a person beautiful inside and out.   How do you perceive yourself?  

Here is a good test.   What do you see in this picture?  

An old woman or a young woman?

Invision yourself how you want others to see you, and you will become what you see! 

If you compare your looks to whoever is on the latest tabloid cover you will be disapointed.  But ask yourself why.  Are they really as they appear?  Take Pamela Anderson for instance, how much of her is real?  Her greatest asset that made her famous is fake!  It’s the same with countless others. 

Their lives are not worth imitating.  Unless you want to live an over dramatic Soap Opera life.   

What is so attractive about a beautifully wrapped empty box??

It is what’s inside that counts! 

How about someone like Barbra Streisand?  Her beauty is not in her physical appearance, with her cross eyes, and big nose.  Her beauty comes from within her, her amazing voice is the redeeming quality that makes her beautiful.   What is yours?

Pretty packaging does help to present your special gift,  but it is not the gift itself.

For a real shocker click here to see what men find attractive in women.

Your Talents, Your Abilities, Your Experiences are the Gifts You have to Give!

The real you is not what you see in the mirror!

Search your heart for your inner beauty.   Improve yourself from the inside out, and you will be amazed at the compliments  you’ll receive of how beautiful you are (no face lifts, tummy tucks or implants required!).

by Tricia Tulak