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Everything and everyone around you are starting to blossom in one way or another.
Your friends are having babies, your colleagues are getting married, your neighbour is sharing engagement ring catalogues with everyone that looks in her direction and your younger brother bought the new Volvo and his suburban wife is “oh so thrilled about the practical family vehicle”.
You need to make changes - great changes, profound changes before this spring becomes your eternal nightmare.
In (re)discovering the awesome You, radical and brave steps will need to be taken to ensure you become the real blossom at the endless baby showers, drunken office gatherings, riveting residents’ meetings and competitive family braais.
Why wait until the New Year to implement all those ambitious resolutions mostly carried over from last year.
Winter is over and spring is here. Out with the dreary, dark and drab old and in with the bright and sunny new you.
Start preparing to rid yourself of any unnecessary or unhealthy attachments.
Focus on distinguishing between the sentimental and the valuable.
Delve deep and start throwing out. Stop hoarding and start noticing.
Do a proper spring clean - A spring clean of the soul
Wardrobe
In starting with your immediate surroundings, let’s focus all the initial attention on the wardrobe – the cherished Bermuda Triangle of pure love and devotion.
As much as welove need to add to this object of affection on a consistent and on-going basis, we tend to neglect the vital removal of certain items with equal enthusiasm.
Part of the trick of reinventing is the ability to discard the redundant.
The pair of pants you bought after your disastrous and incredibly traumatic break up with the Love of Your Life (who turned out to be the love of three of your colleagues’ lives) when you lost seven kilograms in one month, must now become the proud property of the Salvation Army.
In fact all the outfits you bought over that time when you managed to keep the weight off for the entire duration of his three month contract as just the mere sight of him in the boardroom lead to appetite loss for days, will now be thrown into the box marked SA (in red of course because you’re glamorous).
I’m not saying you should just accept the fact that you are now three sizes bigger.
Heavens no!
What I am saying is that the new and incredible youneeds deserves brand new key wardrobe items for when you’ve reached your goal weight.
Why associate your fresh look with memories of that two-timing nitwit.
Set yourself a realistic target and follow a disciplined eating and exercise plan that will assist you in achieving it. Getting healthy, fit and fabulous is all part of the Soul Spring Clean.
When you look and feel gorgeous, the sun just seems to shine so much brighter.
Hair
You’re on your way to accomplishing your rocking beach bod (unrealistic supermodel standards do not apply) so in further celebration of spring you can boost your already beautiful appearance with a new haircut or colour.
Go for something lighter and softer.
Ask your hairdresser for advice on a different style that will enhance the shape of your face, complement your skin colour and accentuate your eyes or incredible cheekbones.
Change is as good as a holiday and a titivated, new hairdo as awesome as a seven night stay at the Four Seasons, Maldives. Maybe even better.
You’re on your way to gracing the cover of Vogue magazine next year and when you do you’ll have apartments in London, Paris and Milan but in the meantime it’s probably a great idea to start upgrading your current one.
Get rid of that faded, chequered, cat-hair covered couch and all the other items you got as housewarming, hand-me-down presents from your sister who claimed she was planning on moving to Korea for a cultural experience which hasn’t taken place “as yet”.
Your home
Start improving the overall look and feel of your home by changing and adding certain key elements.
Your home should be your sanctuary, treat it as such. For tips on ideas and cost effective ways to decorate, make use of programs and apps such as Houzz.com or Pinterest.com.
If your housemate is standing in the way of your blossoming, he or she can accompany the couch on its way out too.
All the improvements you’re making to you and your environment will probably need the assistance of your friends at Mastercard and Visa.
This can always become next winter’s problem or you can see spring as the perfect time to start investigating other career opportunities.
Career
This can imply moving within the company or moving away from it.
Long gone are the days of sticking it out in one corporate job until you receive your gold pen after forty years ofdedicated insufferable service.
Times have changed and one’s career is likely to take a few adventurous turns throughout the course of one’s working life.
Explore other prospects that will enrich you financially and /or personally.
Before you print and submit your resignation letter (written and saved in March already) in which you also see it as your duty to highlight the excessive golfing habits of senior directors and the effect that had on you and your colleagues’ performance and guidance received, make sure you have other options available for the very near future.
Arriving in Tibet with a laptop and a carry-on in your mission to become the world’s next greatest travel writer may sound like a fascinating life story but let’s start with something more practical.
Enrol for different courses to adequately up skill yourself for any new ventures you wish to undertake.
There are various distance education institutions such as UNISA that you can use to study something that interests you or that will increase your chances for career success.
You can also do fashion, design or writing courses; All About Writing Courses provide excellent training for aspiring writers online and in person.
You are solely responsible for your own happiness, light and love in this world.
Family and friends
As much as friends, family and those around us can bring incredible joy and delight, they can also be a source of sadness and feelings of inadequacy and rejection.
Re-evaluate your friendships and relationships and what exactly you derive from them.
You don’t need to go on a crusade of deleting BBM contacts, Facebook friends and Whatsapp details, nor do you have to start compiling a black list of former acquaintances and start mailing friendship cancellation notifications.
Assess the value of each friendship and the effort they make to keep in contact with you.
Any relationship should be a two way street and if you are busy pursuing a friendship out of some misguided sense of loyalty, your investment into this should be reconsidered.
If you’re the one always making plans to get together, or you’re often being cancelled on, and hardly ever phoned back and each conversation is about her and her struggles, start limiting the time and effort you devote to these friends.
Instead of making them your daily or weekly phone call or dinner out, reschedule your life to accommodate them once a month or every now and then for a Sunday lunch.
Not all your friends have to be close friends or best friends. Some may be great for a laugh and banter and nothing more.
That’s okay. Don’t over-value these people or friendships and demand more from them than they will ever be able to give.
This will only lead to confusion and frustration. The handful of true friends that always invest in you too will remain part of your life long journey when you wither and blossom.
Love and relationships
You can’t really call him your boyfriend (he’s uncomfortable with titles), he doesn’t like making plans in advance and you haven’t met his friends or family.
He never calls when he says he will but you know he really does like you as he shows up at your door in the wee hours of the morning drunk and in tears whenever you’ve been ignoring him.
That must be love, right? Wrong! It’s a booty call!
As part of our spring cleaning exercise he will be joining your couch (and possible ex-roommate) in the rubbish with the other skip rats.
Anyone who is worthy of your time, love and kindness will treat you the way you really want to be treated and will be proud to respect and care for you.
You are no longer settling for second best. You’d rather be alone than unhappy and waiting on some man to intermittently bless you with his (not so great anyway) company is simply just not good enough for someone as inherently awesome as you.
Enjoy every moment of spring cleaning your soul and keep reminding yourself of how much you’re learning and growing in the process. It sure beats all those baby showers!
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Your friends are having babies, your colleagues are getting married, your neighbour is sharing engagement ring catalogues with everyone that looks in her direction and your younger brother bought the new Volvo and his suburban wife is “oh so thrilled about the practical family vehicle”.
You need to make changes - great changes, profound changes before this spring becomes your eternal nightmare.
In (re)discovering the awesome You, radical and brave steps will need to be taken to ensure you become the real blossom at the endless baby showers, drunken office gatherings, riveting residents’ meetings and competitive family braais.
Why wait until the New Year to implement all those ambitious resolutions mostly carried over from last year.
Winter is over and spring is here. Out with the dreary, dark and drab old and in with the bright and sunny new you.
Start preparing to rid yourself of any unnecessary or unhealthy attachments.
Focus on distinguishing between the sentimental and the valuable.
Delve deep and start throwing out. Stop hoarding and start noticing.
Do a proper spring clean - A spring clean of the soul
Wardrobe
In starting with your immediate surroundings, let’s focus all the initial attention on the wardrobe – the cherished Bermuda Triangle of pure love and devotion.
As much as we
Part of the trick of reinventing is the ability to discard the redundant.
The pair of pants you bought after your disastrous and incredibly traumatic break up with the Love of Your Life (who turned out to be the love of three of your colleagues’ lives) when you lost seven kilograms in one month, must now become the proud property of the Salvation Army.
In fact all the outfits you bought over that time when you managed to keep the weight off for the entire duration of his three month contract as just the mere sight of him in the boardroom lead to appetite loss for days, will now be thrown into the box marked SA (in red of course because you’re glamorous).
I’m not saying you should just accept the fact that you are now three sizes bigger.
Heavens no!
What I am saying is that the new and incredible you
Why associate your fresh look with memories of that two-timing nitwit.
Set yourself a realistic target and follow a disciplined eating and exercise plan that will assist you in achieving it. Getting healthy, fit and fabulous is all part of the Soul Spring Clean.
When you look and feel gorgeous, the sun just seems to shine so much brighter.
Hair
You’re on your way to accomplishing your rocking beach bod (unrealistic supermodel standards do not apply) so in further celebration of spring you can boost your already beautiful appearance with a new haircut or colour.
Go for something lighter and softer.
Ask your hairdresser for advice on a different style that will enhance the shape of your face, complement your skin colour and accentuate your eyes or incredible cheekbones.
Change is as good as a holiday and a titivated, new hairdo as awesome as a seven night stay at the Four Seasons, Maldives. Maybe even better.
You’re on your way to gracing the cover of Vogue magazine next year and when you do you’ll have apartments in London, Paris and Milan but in the meantime it’s probably a great idea to start upgrading your current one.
Get rid of that faded, chequered, cat-hair covered couch and all the other items you got as housewarming, hand-me-down presents from your sister who claimed she was planning on moving to Korea for a cultural experience which hasn’t taken place “as yet”.
Your home
Start improving the overall look and feel of your home by changing and adding certain key elements.
Your home should be your sanctuary, treat it as such. For tips on ideas and cost effective ways to decorate, make use of programs and apps such as Houzz.com or Pinterest.com.
If your housemate is standing in the way of your blossoming, he or she can accompany the couch on its way out too.
All the improvements you’re making to you and your environment will probably need the assistance of your friends at Mastercard and Visa.
This can always become next winter’s problem or you can see spring as the perfect time to start investigating other career opportunities.
Career
This can imply moving within the company or moving away from it.
Long gone are the days of sticking it out in one corporate job until you receive your gold pen after forty years of
Times have changed and one’s career is likely to take a few adventurous turns throughout the course of one’s working life.
Explore other prospects that will enrich you financially and /or personally.
Before you print and submit your resignation letter (written and saved in March already) in which you also see it as your duty to highlight the excessive golfing habits of senior directors and the effect that had on you and your colleagues’ performance and guidance received, make sure you have other options available for the very near future.
Arriving in Tibet with a laptop and a carry-on in your mission to become the world’s next greatest travel writer may sound like a fascinating life story but let’s start with something more practical.
Enrol for different courses to adequately up skill yourself for any new ventures you wish to undertake.
There are various distance education institutions such as UNISA that you can use to study something that interests you or that will increase your chances for career success.
You can also do fashion, design or writing courses; All About Writing Courses provide excellent training for aspiring writers online and in person.
You are solely responsible for your own happiness, light and love in this world.
Family and friends
As much as friends, family and those around us can bring incredible joy and delight, they can also be a source of sadness and feelings of inadequacy and rejection.
Re-evaluate your friendships and relationships and what exactly you derive from them.
You don’t need to go on a crusade of deleting BBM contacts, Facebook friends and Whatsapp details, nor do you have to start compiling a black list of former acquaintances and start mailing friendship cancellation notifications.
Assess the value of each friendship and the effort they make to keep in contact with you.
Any relationship should be a two way street and if you are busy pursuing a friendship out of some misguided sense of loyalty, your investment into this should be reconsidered.
If you’re the one always making plans to get together, or you’re often being cancelled on, and hardly ever phoned back and each conversation is about her and her struggles, start limiting the time and effort you devote to these friends.
Instead of making them your daily or weekly phone call or dinner out, reschedule your life to accommodate them once a month or every now and then for a Sunday lunch.
Not all your friends have to be close friends or best friends. Some may be great for a laugh and banter and nothing more.
That’s okay. Don’t over-value these people or friendships and demand more from them than they will ever be able to give.
This will only lead to confusion and frustration. The handful of true friends that always invest in you too will remain part of your life long journey when you wither and blossom.
Love and relationships
You can’t really call him your boyfriend (he’s uncomfortable with titles), he doesn’t like making plans in advance and you haven’t met his friends or family.
He never calls when he says he will but you know he really does like you as he shows up at your door in the wee hours of the morning drunk and in tears whenever you’ve been ignoring him.
That must be love, right? Wrong! It’s a booty call!
As part of our spring cleaning exercise he will be joining your couch (and possible ex-roommate) in the rubbish with the other skip rats.
Anyone who is worthy of your time, love and kindness will treat you the way you really want to be treated and will be proud to respect and care for you.
You are no longer settling for second best. You’d rather be alone than unhappy and waiting on some man to intermittently bless you with his (not so great anyway) company is simply just not good enough for someone as inherently awesome as you.
Enjoy every moment of spring cleaning your soul and keep reminding yourself of how much you’re learning and growing in the process. It sure beats all those baby showers!
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
