#FergusonDecision

This week's obsession: cheap nail polish

Who doesn't love pretty nail polish? And who doesn't love it even more when it's cheap? My current obsession is Wet n Wild's Spoiled nail color line. I especially appreciate the thicker, larger brush (for easier application) and the formula sticks (even after two weeks, my manicure will rarely chip)! 

But the best part is the price tag. You can find all 72 shades at CVS for... what? Yes, $1.99 each!


Pretty ice blue nails, just in time for winter. 

If--

Every now and again, one comes across a set of words so beautifully crafted (like a lovely string of pearls!) that it leaves a mark on you. I feel that way about this Rudyard Kipling poem. 

Words of wisdom to last a lifetime. Hope you are inspired and blessed by it, too.

XOXO.

*** 

If- 

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a [wo]Man, my [daughter]!*

(*adapted from the original poem) 

"Flying Bird" by Calum Margetts.

Yep, I like Taylor Swift

Okay I'm coming out of the pop music closet and admitting to you all that I'm falling in love with Taylor Swift. I just can't get her new album, 1989, out of my head. 

Watch this hilarious sketch from Saturday Night Live to see why there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of us Gen Xers who just can't shake Taylor off. 


16 reason why we love TS but are too embarrassed to admit it. (BuzzFeed)

Fake it 'til you become it

Can our body language change the way we think and feel about ourselves? Yes, says social psychologist and Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy.

Look at the photo of Wonder Woman (above) and take in her "power pose." When you feel powerful you're more likely to pose like this. But it's also possible that when you fake it -- say you strike a confident pose while not necessarily feeling very powerful -- you can alter the way you feel about yourself. You can actually affect testosterone (the dominant/power hormone) and lower cortisol (the stress hormone) levels in your brain!

We all know our minds can change our bodies. Turns out our bodies can change our minds, too.

Check out Cuddy's fascinating and inspiring TED Talk.



Next time you're feeling pitiful, stand in a posture of confidence. I was feeling pretty powerless yesterday (see my post about feeling blue). So this morning I tried power posing for two straight minutes (Cuddy's suggestion). And you know what? I felt a lot less like the Cowardly Lion and more like Wonder Woman. 

Our bodies can change our minds.
Our minds can change our behavior.
And our behavior can change the way our lives unfold.  


Want to lean in? Try a power pose. (Harvard Business Review)