Category Archives: Featured

I Am Making a Memory

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I had the most wonderful dream. I dreamed that my mom and I took a camper and set out for a few days, just the two of us. I knew when we got there that this was going to be a special time for us. It was just the two of us, everything else left behind. I just sat for a moment and soaked it all in. So in my dream, I wrote a status update on facebook…yes, I apparently post status updates even in my dreams, which is funny because I do so little of that in real life. But this is what I posted on facebook in my dream.

I am making a memory.

Wow. It was so powerful. It gave me chills as I wrote it.

Read more on this life-changing dream and realization…. I Am Making a Memory by The Art of a Beautiful Life

Timeless Beauty – True Beauty Knows No Age

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The media has put youth and physical beauty on a pedestal to such an unhealthy degree that young women are more insecure than ever and developing eating disorders, plastic surgeons have waiting lists, and we have completely discounted the beauty in any woman who is over 25.

Yes, there is beauty in youth, but have we gone too far? From the positive response that we are seeing toward the new, older models and magazine covers featuring older women, I would say that America is saying yes we have. Not only have we doing an injustice to many beautiful and amazing older women, we have done an injustice to our younger women, who will also be older women one day, sooner than they realize. Time goes so quickly. We have much to learn from a generation that youth has discarded. Older women used to be role models, and we need to move back toward that for the sake of our younger generation. The one thing that we all must have to be beautiful, no matter what our age, is confidence, and that must begin by focusing on inner beauty and being a real woman. There is a confidence and timeless beauty in an older woman that our younger women need to learn from…the wisdom of the aged.

Valerie Ramsey, who became a model at 63, said it so beautifully:

“I think younger women are looking at women like us and seeing that we are real, that we are continuing to be involved, that we have something very, very dynamic to offer to the world and that the real beauty comes from, I would say, above all from confidence and from having courage to be ourselves, from the wisdom that we have acquired within ourselves over the years, from vibrancy, excitement, about being involved in life. and it’s when all of those things are on the inside and shine through on the outside, that’s what real beauty is all about.” -Valerie Ramsey

Here is another wonderful quote from Iris Apfel, a 90 year old model. Be grateful for every year that you have lived.

“I think it’s pitiful that people lie about their age. What’s wrong with getting older? If you’re lucky enough to get old you should celebrate it.” -Iris Apfel

So as leading ladies, let’s embrace our where we are and who we are. We have fought and won many battles to be where we are today. We have loved. We have lost. We have embraced. We have let go. We have scars to tell the story. And we have the courage and strength to show for it. And the best is still yet to come. Be the kind of woman that makes other women want to be you, a confident woman who takes care of herself and lives life being true to herself above all else. Find your inner beauty, and let it shine.

Balcony People | The Heroes in our Lives

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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!

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

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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?