Sh** Happens. But You Don’t Have to Sit In It!

Aaaah, life and all it dishes out. Sometimes fun, sometimes frustration. Sometimes tragedy, sometimes amazing success. Long or short. Well or sick. Rich or poor, however you navigate your way through the pooh says a lot about your personal style. And with so much of our lives truly out of our control, it’s how we handle the crap (or the faecal matter of life as I like to put it!) that shows a lot about a person and can make all the difference to our ability to be happy.  Here are some of my favourite feel-good Style Tips for wading through the excrement that happens!   First I’ve outlined the practical tools (the head/heart stuff). Then you’ll see quick Style Tips for each – the ways you can use your styling skills to help yourself feel more confident and happy too! Read on ….

Good Bits vs Bad Bits

No one is perfect but we all do have our good bits. Our strengths. Happy people feel comfortable reminding themselves of their good bits and refuse to focus too much on their bad bits. We all have strengths and talents – it’s just that some of us don’t tap into them often enough, or believe in them enough for us to utilise them. Are you loyal, compassionate, patient, hard-working, friendly, fun, funny…etc. Find your 5 best bits and show them off – NOW!

Style Tip: While you’re at it, name your 3 fave PHYSICAL features. Think of ways you can immediately focus or draw attention to them instead of getting all hung up on the size of your butt! Remember, when you speak to a person, you generally aren’t looking at their behind (or are you?). Think table-top dressing. Get the bottoms right (that’s easy once you know the cut that suits you and have a basic Capsule Wardrobe sorted – just ask me!) then focus on pretty necklines and sleeve detailing – or accessories, hair and makeup – to beautifully frame your face and give you lots more confidence. (Note: My continued references to bottoms, bums, pooh? A psychologist could have a field day with me, I reckon!)

This too shall pass…

It may sound counter-productive, but simply recalling negative events of the past  like a bad break-up, loss of job, financial woes, a fall-out with a friend, a car accident, an injury or illness can actually be good for you! Remind yourself how you thought those events would crush you?  But ultimately you got back up and worked through it. See? You really are tougher than you think! For a problem you’re experiencing right now, think of how you might be feeling about it a week from now. A month from now. A year from now. This too shall pass…

Style Tip: Remember that bad haircut or foray into blonde that turned a wierd shade of baby-poo yellow (gee, I refer to poo alot don’t I? My apologies!). Remember you swore blindly (and swore too) that you wouldn’t leave the house until it grew out? But you did.  It passed. You solved that dilemma, and you can solve lots of others too if you put your mind to it.

Hang out with good friends – and let it all hang out baby!

According to a study from Virginia Commonwealth University, women who have more support from friends are 5 – 6 times less likely to suffer from depression than those who have better relationship with their laptop. So if you’ve got a problem, don’t keep it bottled up inside – share it. Spill. In turn, it helps you all feel more connected, build trust and honesty.  Keep it real! No has a perfect life, so stop pretending and let people in.

Style Tip: Keep it real but fake it at the same time when needed. There’s not a Hollywood Celeb alive who hasn’t resorted to the use of Nancy Ganz pants (or similar foundation garments of various brands) on the the red carpet. Share your tips with your friends. Be open and honest about where you buy things. If someone compliments you on an item you got at Target, stand tall and proud and tell them! Your friends love you for you – not for the Yves St Laurent dress that you mortgaged your house for, or those ridiculous statement heels you bought in the hope of looking like Carrie from Sex and The City.

Get tough with yourself

Whenever you start beating yourself up (“I never do anything right”) slap yourself in the face with some cold hard facts that prove this to be so not true! Remind yourself of the time you DID do lots right, solved a tricky situation or helped someone else solve theirs.

Style Tip: So you didn’t quite lose the 6 kg you were aiming for. So what? You did lose 2kg so applaud yourself for THAT effort and stop telling yourself you are a failure. Think about how you can reward yourself for what you DID achieve – buy a nice new top or jacket that will flatter your curves (email me if you want to know what style will do that the best on your body!)

What do you do to lift yourself out of the pooh of life? I’d love you to share your comments/thoughts here…Come on! If commenting on a blog fills you with fear, here’s your first step towards pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, throwing caution to the wind and not caring whether others agree or disagree with your opinion. Go on! You can do it! Click on the comment below and let it all hang out baby!