When you feel life is unfair remember this

When you feel life is unfair--that the pressure is too much, or you are exhausted from trying, remember that the flowers must start out as buds. They must wait for the rains and the sun to come and go. Up and out from the ground, they must push themselves in order to be the beauties we all stop and admire. Do not be afraid of life's challenges. Celebrate the rain, the sun, and before long you will be like the blossomed flower: beautiful and admirable.

Photo is my own. The wild rose is native to my Province.

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How to achieve a balanced life

One of the most difficult things to do in life is to keep your life in balance. If you meet someone who looks as if all is going well for them, they are usually working very hard at it.

 General life obligations, and personal expectations make the art of living a very challenging one to master. Something in your life may be going great while another is part of your life is falling apart. And lets not forget the moments when it seem as if everything is crumbling around you.

Some people never feel in balance with their life. They never feel life hands them what they want, when they want it or they feel exhausted at constantly having to keep things in balance.

But if you look at people whose lives do look joyous, peaceful and balanced you may be see a some common elements.

1. They make themselves a priority. If you're always committing to others, never making time for yourself and the things that make you happy; if it's always your friends, kids, boss, spouse, parents that come first then it's no wonder you're feeling fed up with life.

You're not giving enough of your time and energy to yourself. You are not doing anything wrong if you make yourself a priority. In fact, it is essential. If you're not at your best then, no matter how much you're giving, nobody in your life is getting your best.

You need to take care of yourself first: body, mind and soul, before you start dishing parts of yourself to others.

2. They ask for help. Nobody can do it on their own. Each of us has only one body and we are only capable of so much. People who have their life in balance seek the help of others.

It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help. Instead, it gives you a chance to  a) sort out other things in your life
b) get things done faster.
Ask for advice, help, resources when you can to make your life easier.

3. They don't expect everything to be perfect. Most of us are trying way too hard to obtain an unachievable state of perfection in our lives. This is never going happen. Life moves in waves-- high tides and low.

 It's not realistic to expect that every part of your life is going run smoothly at the same time. We are human; we get sick; we get into disputes; we're thrown curve balls. It's more a matter of how to positively deal with things rather than expecting every moment of your life to be perfect.

4. They celebrate the good, deal with the bad. Some people don't take time to rejoice over the good things that happen in their lives. As I said above, they're too busy trying to make everything perfect to see what is actually going right in their lives.

Others fail to acknowledge the parts of their lives that need tweaking. They either don't want to admit they are making a mistake, or don't know how to address certain issues in their lives. But people in balance know that they have to deal with the things keeping them out of balance and take the time to appreciate all the ways life is being good to them.

Having a balanced life is a day to day thing. It's not something you do once and forget about. It takes making yourself a priority, asking for help when needed, dealing with issues that may be holding you back and not expecting life to be perfect.

Tuesday Treasures

The week is off to a charming start. I loved last week though. We celebrated all things green and in my mailbox were words from far away, gentle and uplifting. I hope you too get to hear sweet words from someone in your life this week. I also got the chance to interview a very stylish and nice guy: Francesco of Youth Against Fashion. You can read about him on my other blog

La semaine est un début de charme. J'ai adoré la semaine dernière si. Nous avons célébré tout vert choses et dans ma boîte aux lettres étaient des mots de loin, douce et tonique. J'espère que vous aussi l'occasion d'entendre des mots doux de quelqu'un dans votre vie cette semaine. J'ai aussi eu la chance d'interviewer un homme très élégant et sympathique: Francesco de la jeunesse contre le mode.


Youth Against Fashion Interview

Francesco of Youth Against Fashion was kind enough to let me interview him. He's a source of inspiration for me when it comes to style because he knows how to perfectly layer and combine unique pieces with basics. He is also a painter and his company INVERTED COMMAS offers simple totes with his creative paintings.


Green Drinks

My family normally doesn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day, except wearing the odd green thing. But we had a bottle of green sour apple mix and decided to have a mini family party. This mixer is declicious, but you have to dilute it with something because it is very sweet.


A Letter from My Penpal

My penpal Azed, sent me a lovely letter. Included with it was a postcard, and a splendid bookmark that she made herself. I love it! I wish I was creative in that way so I could make something equally as cute to send to her. I also wish I had more penpals, because I love writing and recieving letters.

I got a Liebster Award

Ayanna of http://thelookbookphilosophy.com/ was kind enough to include me in her liebster blog list. I was not sure what that was at first, but it seems it is an award bestowed to blogs that you find motivating and/or inspiring with under 200 followers. I'm thrilled and humbled by the idea of anyone thinking this blog is motivating.