Teen Advice: Boosting Self Esteem

Many of us believe that the only way to feel good about ourselves is to have someone else constantly reaffirm to us that we are good people. The truth is, however, that the act of simply believing in ourselves can be enough to give us the necessary confidence to accomplish the impossible, achieve greatness, and pick ourselves up when we fall. Far too often we rely on others in our lives to provide us with a best friend’s kindness, a child’s love, or a spouse’s support. If we need love and support, the first place we should look is within ourselves.

Being able to love ourselves requires a lot of practice. Overcoming years of negative reinforcement from society is tough to do. However, once you can successfully say you can love yourself, nobody can take it away from you. We must learn to be our own best friend, our own cheerleaders. We need to provide ourselves with the love, kindness, and respect we all deserve and desire. Learning to love ourselves can be an ongoing process as we occasionally fall into the trap of believing we’re stupid, worthless, no good, etc.
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Following are helpful ideas to use when you need inspiration to cheer yourself on.

First, when challenges arise, we must cheer or root for ourselves as we would for our loved ones if they were facing an obstacle. We wouldn’t want them to falter, so why would we allow the same to happen to ourselves? Cheering ourselves on with supportive thoughts and feelings will give us the continued strength we need to overcome many of life’s unknowns. By repeatedly telling ourselves that we are proud of who we are and what we can accomplish, we receive the encouragement needed to forge ahead in life without fear or reservation. Great things then become possible.

Another way to treat ourselves with love and kindness is to use positive self-talk, and use it often. Our minds must be constantly reinforced with the belief that we have what it takes to achieve what we desire. The resulting outcome will be an optimistic frame of mind that allows us to believe that truly anything is possible. Positive affirmations will produce the same result. Simply write down a statement, such as “I am a beautiful and lovable person.” Repeat your chosen positive affirmations daily until their truth is instilled into your consciousness. In other words, when we believe we are beautiful and lovable, we will be beautiful and lovable.

Unfortunately, being our own cheerleader also means we have to accept there will be times where we need a “pick me up.” Being there for ourselves to pick up the pieces when we’re down, or when it seems things are falling apart, is a courageous thing to do. We should not rely on others to put our lives back together for us. Rather, we must learn how to comfort ourselves and regain the positive outlook that will keep us going in the right direction. Most importantly, when feeling down, we need to take the time to reaffirm our value and our worth by the use of positive self-talk and positive affirmations.

Finally, being our own cheerleader has the distinct ability to provide us with a sense of leadership, of control over ourselves. Learning to fulfill our own needs allows us to avoid a destructive dependency on others for our feelings of worthiness. Self-worth is a belief that comes from within, and nobody can give that to us or take it away. We must remember that no matter what our circumstances are, we always deserve a pat on the back. Go ahead, give yourself the praise you deserve!

10 Tips to Inner & Outer Beauty

It is simple to look and feel more beautiful starting today. You can even put away your pocketbook because these tips are free.

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1. Smile… it will brighten your day and others around you will feel your energy.
2. Stretch… cats know that total body stretch does wonders. Follow their example and roll up slowly out of bed and stretch gently. (For more tips on stretching here is a great book: AM/ PM Stretch for Health.)
3. Exercise… at least 20 mins of any continuous activity will boost your energy level and reduce bad stressors. You don’t even to pay a membership fee. The key is continuous like a 20min walk or even mopping your floors. You will look and feel better.
4. Drink water. No other liquid is quite like it. Clear your system. 8 glasses are recommended daily. Your skin will radiate.
5. Rest… you need to take breaks during the day and sleep at night. Takes breaks away from work space to keep fresh and focused. Make sure you are getting sufficient sleep at night since your body regenerates while you are sleeping. If you are constantly letting your mind wonder make a conscious decision to put away thoughts till morning. It is amazing how good your subconscious mind listens to your conscious mind (so be careful what you tell yourself)

6. Do good. When you do something for someone else without expecting anything in return you benefit in ways unimaginable. (the key is don’t expect anything in return)

7. Exchange… the money you spend on junk food for food that will enrich your body and soul. Start with a simple plan of exchange. Because some think healthy foods cost more, find out your spending pattern by making 2 lists:

• . foods you like that are healthy that you normally don’t buy
• . foods you like that are “junk food” that you normally buy

calculate the cost of the 2nd list then use this amount to fund your “healthy” purchase. (of course you have to say bye-bye to the “junk food”)

8. “Stop and smell the roses”. Look for good in everything. This is a toughie because most of us are “trained” to look for faults, errors, shortcomings, defects, etc. Begin with yourself. List all your assets (not just physical). Then realize all the good in being you. Move on to other things around you. Work on this consciously every day till it becomes a habit. There is something good about everything and everyone. Once you realize this you will be finding good everywhere without even trying.

9. Learn… something new every day. Pick up a book. or search online. Learn to do something you have always wanted to do. You can even start for free by researching online. Search the subject and start stimulating and enriching your mind today.

10. Reward yourself. Set financial and personal goals and tag them with rewards for accomplishing them. (this one may be something special you have always wanted to do. and not necessarily a purchase.. But if you have done all the above maybe go ahead and splurge a little. You deserve it!

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Clearing Acne in time for Prom

Lets face it, acne is an unavoidable part of teen life. For some it can be very mild – for others, it’s severe. With prom less than four months away, now is the time to start working on clearing up your skin just in time for that perfect evening. Since acne is a condition that occurs from within your body and exhibits on the outside of your body, you need to,

• * Attack acne from inside your body
• * Attack acne from outside your body

.Acne is an excessive toxic condition within your body, which the internal elimination organs are unable to eliminate. So your toxins are moved into your blood and excreted through your skin. It is an automatic survival mechanism your body initiates in an effort to protect the insides of your body – cells, liquid, blood, organs, and tissues.

Here are a few things to think about when trying to discover the potential cause or remedy to your acne.

• * Keep your face clean
• * Regular bowel movements
• * Making changes to your diet
• * Get plenty of sun, air, and water
• * Vitamins you need to be taking
• * Minerals you should be taking
• * Brushing your skin
• * Change your attitude

Go easy on the makeup! For many teen girls, misuse of makeup products is the #1 culprit in acne breakouts. If you feel comfortable doing so, lay-off the foundation between now and prom just to give your skin time to “breath”. However if you must wear makeup make sure to remove it every night before bed. Wearing makeup to bed is a sure way to see breakouts! Some cosmetics irritate the skin and can cause acne by plugging up your pores on your face.

Be very careful in the products you use to wash your face. Do not use deoderant or body soaps on your face, stick to natural soaps or products especially for your face like Clearasil, Neutrogena or Dove. When you use products are filled with chemicals that will irritate and worsen your acne condition. And don’t excessively scrub your face while you wash as this will dry your skin of the natural protective oil. Also, don’t keep touching your face since you spread or add bacteria to it.

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You can pat your face with a clean hot face towel to bring circulation to your face and to help open and move the toxic material, in the pimple, to the surface. Do not scrub hard to burst a pimple but just scrub lightly to burst a pimple when it is ready to open.

Use the hot towel application only 2-3 times per week.

When a pimple is open do not continue to rub or scrub it. In fact do not pick or scratch an open pimple since this could create other sores or leave scars that are difficult to remove. Just washing your face with clean soap will keep your face free of toxic matter.

Keep in mind, small particles of  whatever you put on your skin will move into your skin and into your bloodstream.

Most commercial creams, lotions, and soaps are filled with all kinds of chemicals that are toxic to your body. By using them you are making your liver work harder.

During the day or at night avoid resting your cheeks or chin on your hand(s) or arm(s). This can irritate your face and cause acne to breakout. When you sleep, try to sleep on your back and not with your face or side of the face into your pillow.

 

Boosting Self Confidence for Prom

For many teens, high school is a difficult journey in which their self esteem is tried and tested. Peers, cliques and clubs can make life miserable. With prom season upon us – this time is made even more difficult for some, the lack of confidence may even keep them from attending!

 

The way you feel about yourself, how you see yourself and believe others see you, is a key issue in how you live your life. It is the foundation upon which you build your successes and the shaky ground on which your failures occur. By developing your self-confidence and belief in your own innate abilities you will be enable to recognise and take advantage of more of the opportunities that are presented to you but until now have gone unnoticed. You will also have the strength and inner belief that is essential in overcoming the inevitable pitfalls and obstacles that life throws at you. By developing this aspect of your personality you can achieve, what may appear now to be, impossible goals. For each time you put your new found confidence to the test and discover that you are a winner, you will strengthen it immeasurably and move forward in your own personal development a greater speed than you can imagine. Your belief in yourself will grow with each new challenge until you begin to see challenges, not only through the eyes of a person who believes in themselves but also, as someone who knows they can achieve anything – because you begin to see yourself as a person who has the confidence in their abilities to find a way to do it!

Here are some points to follow that will help you develop a similar level of self-confidence:

As best you can, stop berating and judging yourself harshly. There are numerous people in the world who will jump at the chance to do that for you. Be gentle with yourself and recognise that your mistakes are merely learning opportunities. Keep in mind that your words have power. They direct your thinking. When you speak in a certain way you begin to formulate ideas and beliefs which are in harmony with the words you are using. These beliefs in turn have a major impact on the action you take and the way you conduct yourself throughout your life. So choose words that uplift you, encourage you and strengthen you and go easy on yourself when you make a mistake. Recognise what you have to learn from it and move on.
Seek out the company of people you want to emulate. Look for self-confident people to mirror. Watch the way the walk and how they talk. Put yourself in positive environments as much as you can. Your environment and the people around you dramatically affect your level of confidence whether you realise it or not. Immerse yourself in people who build you up but that are honest and forthright with you. These are the type of people who will show you where you can improve while also reinforcing that you can do it and that the job you have done thus far is great. They can help you work on your faults while praising you with each step forward you make. Negative people only pull you down and should be avoided. If someone tells you often enough that you can’t do something you will begin to believe them and thus form a negative belief about yourself. Such people are toxic and must be avoided at all costs.
Be a person who is true to their word. Take action when you vow to take action. Follow through on your plans even if it initially looks like there is no way forward. That doesn’t mean being inflexible. Of course there will be times when you need to compromise and alter your goals and plans but always stay true to your vision. I promise you another way will present itself. If you give up you will seriously damage your confidence! A key point to remember is that there is no such thing as failure – you only fail when you give up! If you keep on keeping on, trying different approaches and staying steadfast to your ideal, you will eventually succeed. The knock-on affect is that your confidence in yourself will grow and you will also have the added knowledge of what not to do. Failure is the greatest teacher but only if you learn from it and use it!
Feel the fear and do it anyway! If you stand up and face that thing that you are most afraid of and do it anyway very often the fear disappears. If it doesn’t the first it will the second, third or fourth. Doing this will prove to your subconscious mind that nothing bad did occur from taking that action. For example you will find that talking to that person didn’t make you stop breathing or giving a lecture didn’t make you die, or walking across the bridge wasn’t life-threatening etc.!

 

Keep a diary of all your achievements not matter how small and don‘t let others ridicule you for it. I know of a person who was terrified of balloons. Now to you or me this sounds ridiculous but to him it was as frightening as facing certain death. You know what your fear is! Many times in life fail to acknowledge the progress we are making simply because ‘we can’t see the forest for the trees’. We get caught up in the big picture and don’t see the smaller gains that are actually getting us closer to our goal. Think of a time when you met someone you hadn’t seen in years. Do you remember noticing how much they had changed? You could see it yet to their family, close friends and people who seen them everyday the changes would have been almost imperceptible! Take the time to write down every little gain you make. Soon you will be able to read back over it and really see just how far you have come. Write down the fears you faced, how you faced them and obstacles you overcame. Explain how you felt before and how you felt after. This will help keep you motivated in times of internal struggle and show you just how far you have come in your journey to more self confidence.
Finally when you go to bed at night let your mind think of all the achievements you had during the day and week and month. No matter how small these achievements may seem give yourself credit for all of them. Upon waking in the morning visualize yourself for 5 or 10 minutes beaming with joy and confidence as the day unfolds and you will literally set yourself up for a successful day and incredible life!

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10 Tips for Plus Size Prom and Formal Dresses

Shopping for plus size prom and formal gowns are no longer a daunting task thanks to the internet. Online retailers and designers recognize that they must change their way of thinking and designing in order to accommodate the growing diverse needs of women. We’ve put together more tips on choosing the right plus size gown or prom dress.

 

Tip # 1
Dark, solid colors are slimming. Any plus size gal will recognize that black is the ultimate color to help in minimizing those curves. In addition to classic black, navy blue can also help to instantly provide the look of a slimmer physique.

Tip # 2
Princess seams. These are ideal for plus size wear because of their slimming design. Princess seams are those that curve in, on both sides, to form a very lazy ‘C’ stitch.

Tip # 3
Long sleeves help to minimize the appearance of full-figured arms or wrists. It happens to all of us. One day we wake up and our arms are no longer the tight shape that they once were, but that is what long sleeves are for. The length will minimize a plus size wrist or forearm and draw attention to any unwanted thickness in either area.

Tip # 4
Shorter dresses may show off plus size thighs or leg, so if you are self-conscious about your legs – keep this in mind.  But 3/4 length (also known as tea length) dresses coupled with the perfect shoes will draw the eye to the ankle and will decrease any signs of a plus size presence.

Tip # 5
Most plus size ladies want to wear baggy clothes, but this doesn’t hide anything. Always go for a more figure flattering approach. This doesn’t mean to wear tight clothes, but it does mean to wear something that accentuates the figure in good taste.

Tip # 6
If you have love handles, don’t wear extremely a snug prom or formal dress as this may make the bulge a little more obvious. Instead look for figure flattering cuts. This will hide any problem areas and maximize your sense of style.

Tip # 7
Do not wear clothes that are overly tight. This is simply bad taste. Enough said.

Tip # 8
A monochromatic look, meaning clothing that is all one color, can give the wearer a taller and more slim appearance. And, after all, what woman wouldn’t want either of those characteristics in an outfit? Consider a black figure flattering top with a black pant in soft material. For a special touch, add a trendy belt, but take a look at the new you with an instantly slimmer look.
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Tip # 9
A suntan will give a healthier and possibly even a slimming glow. A tan looks healthy and health is beautiful. Avoid the sun or a tanning bed, but check out a high quality self-tanning lotion instead.

Tip # 10
Control top pantyhose or a tummy control panty can help to eliminate belly bulge. Any woman, whether plus size or not, has a stomach. If you want to slim up your tummy area, either of these will help to minimize any bulge

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