Be Your Own Best Friend

We often have a friend who comes to us because she feels like she failed. She is coming down on herself, and we are there holding her hand and telling her that all those things are not true, and then we proceed to tell her all the wonderful things about herself.

How wonderful is that? It’s wonderful that we are there for each other and picking each other up when we fall. But are we as good to ourselves? How kind are you to yourself? Are you treating yourself like you do your best friends, or are you mean to yourself?

At this very moment, you may be saying to yourself that you have any number of admirable qualities. You are a loyal friend, a caring person, someone who is smart, dependable, fun to be around. That’s wonderful, and I’m happy for you, but let me ask you this: are you being any of those things to yourself? –Phillip C. McGraw

If we want to be our own best friend, we need to….

Stop the negative self-talk. Stop beating yourself up over past failures or mistakes. You are not your past. Stop echoing the voices that have hurt you over the years. You are not the problem. They are. Don’t ever echo their voices in your head again. You wouldn’t treat your best friend that way, so do not ever do it to yourself. Treat yourself with the same kindness and the same encouraging words that you would offer to your very best friend. Love yourself, encourage yourself, pick yourself up and dust yourself off when you fall, and most of all love yourself.

Be your own best friend.

Balcony People | The Heroes in our Lives

Leading ladies have balcony people. They are the people who make you feel loveable when the whole world makes you feel unloveable. They are the ones that no matter what happens they are there saying, “I love you, and you are AMAZING.” They will wrap their arms around you and tell the whole world to kiss their ass and to leave you alone. Somehow, it makes nothing the mean people and bullies in the world do matter so much. It makes whatever they do roll off your back so much easier and faster.

You don’t need an army of them, but you do need a few people that will have your back. They cheer you on, they give you a hug, encourage you, and protect you.

Sometimes, no matter how strong you are or how brave you are, your shoulders are tired, and it feels so good to have your balcony people.

I am forever grateful for my balcony people.

Life is wonderful in that sometimes we have the balcony people and sometimes we get to be the balcony people. Our balcony people also need encouragement, less they run out of love to give. So look around and see who the balcony people in your life are. Do not ever take them for granted because great balcony people are hard to come by. Let’s do something extra special for the balcony people in our lives!

Aimee Mullins – A Leading Lady BECAUSE of Her Challenges

Aimee Mullins is one of the most inspiring women that I have ever seen. You will be in AWE of this woman’s confidence, and as she says, not in spite of her challenges but BECAUSE of her challenges. There is NOTHING disabled about her. She believes that the only disability that people can have is a crushed spirit.

Oh, what we could take and learn from Aimee’s example of accepting what is but never accepting defeat. Two very different things.

Aimee’s story began the day she was born when she was born with fibular hemimelia (missing fibula bones). both of her legs were amputated at the knee when she was one year old. Since then she has excelled in sports, modeled, and acted, and has become a well-known public speaker where she shares her story and inspires others. She has been named one of the fifty most beautiful people in the world by People.

Be prepared to be inspired!



I would love to meet her parents!

The Real Difference Between Thinking and Believing

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We all have dreams, a life we want to live, a job we want to do, a mark we want to leave, but what separates those of us who only dream from those of us whose dreams come true?

Is it money? Is it education? Is it the right connections? Could be. It could be some of all of those, but that doesn’t explain the people who live their dreams and accomplish great things without any of those. It must be something else.

One thing most people have in common whose dreams come true is that they believed it, sacrificed for it, and made their daily choices as if it were possible.

If we truly believe, we make different choices. If we’re not believing, we really aren’t actively moving toward our dream at all. We’re just thinking positively about it and wishing for it. One is active and doing, and the other isn’t because more than likely we’re not truly believing it is possible. We’re accepting the defeat that keeps us from moving forward and making the daily decisions that propels us in the direction of our dreams.

What leading lady wants to live a life of defeat? That is most certainly not the dream. Be brave. You can do this.

I believe in the power of writing things down. Sit down and write your dream. What do you need to do to be moving in that direction? Make your decisions for the day like you believe your dreams are possible. If you believed your dreams were completely possible, what would you be doing differently today to move toward them? That is what you need to be doing. That is what will make dreams come true.

Appreciative Living

I watched the Hallmark movie Have a Little Faith tonight. It was such a good movie, and one scene in particular caught my attention. It was the scene where people were standing in line for food. They were handed simple things like a bag of potatoes and bread. I have never had to stand in line for food, but we did go through a sudden job loss a couple of years ago where the only area left to cut back was the grocery budget. We went from having a shopping cart full of food to a cart that barely had the bottom covered. But what I do remember during those lean times is the fact that we enjoyed what we did have even more. Even something like a bag of potatoes or bread would have been appreciated and enjoyed. We apprecciated every little thing more than ever, even going to the library to borrow dvds instead of renting them was enjoyed more than ever. We were thankful that we had the gas to drive to the library once a week. It really isn’t how much we have, it’s just being grateful for what we do have.

The funny thing is we had so much less then, so you would think we would be even more appreciative now, but you know it was a completely different level of appreciation when it was all you had. As leading ladies, let’s take a little time each day and appreciate all that we have, even the little things, like how much easier life is with a can opener when you have arthritis or what a great and cheap cleaner vinegar is or how wonderful a pair of gloves can be in the cold winter. A grateful and appreciative heart is a beautiful heart. ♥

What are you thankful for today?