Sugar and Spice, Things Short and Things Nice

How to be a lady in an unladylike world

I am in a way, a Doctor. I may not be like a primary care physician or anything of the sorts but I am a Doctor of life, none the less. Broken heart? I prescribe Ice Cream and hours of John Cusack movies along with discussing all the men you could have slept with but chose not to. Bad day at work? I prescribe a glass of wine and a good laugh with friends. Feeling low on self confidence? I prescribe a new outfit complete with negligee under it to accentuate that beautiful body you have. For every rock bottom in life there is undoubtedly a staircase leading you back to the top; in some cases there is even an elevator. There are moments when life seems as if it is all going wrong and nothing will ever be right again, this is just the opportunity for a clean slate and a chance to take the oranges life gives you and make yourself a mimosa.

First off, nothing in life is going to be easy. From your first day in daycare whilst having toys stolen and your pigtails pulled you learn that life can be a very, very unfair place. Every person in this world has felt cheated at least once in their life; realistically I’m going to assume the average person feels that way roughly six million two hundred and four times before they die. Try to count that one on your fingers. The one thing that you can count on, other than things are going to get bad, is that things will ultimately get better. There is no obstacle in life that you will be presented with that you cannot overcome, learn from or be at peace with. What do we do when little Tommy pulls on our beautiful ringlets? We slap Tommy in the face and inform him that he will not touch the hair, and then take his bear and tell him he can have it back when he learns how to properly interact with little ladies; after which we will proceed to the table for snack and story time with a heightened sense of self confidence.

Every moment in life is a moment to define yourself; you can either be the doormat or the Louboutin pumps that take a confident step through the doorway. Now, you may glance in the mirror and shake your head and think, “I’m not worthy of those red bottoms” but the truth is that you are you, and you are worthy of so very much. For every smile you put on someone’s face, for every time you unknowingly made someone’s day, you are an amazing person and you deserve to be treated that way. Confidence is a seed we plant within ourselves and we must nurture it and help it grow. The plant which is your inner being can start out very fragile and at times even reluctant to bloom but, oh, when it finally does blossom how beautiful and breathtaking it is. We must fertilize our seeds with love for ourselves and water them with an equal amount of respect. I know just how hard it is to live in a society where beauty is a photo shopped image of a woman who looks like she does nothing but eat her vegan diet whilst running on her treadmill, when she’s not busy teaching yoga, of course. Let’s be real, because you and I, we are real women. Ms. Fancy pants in the Nike ad? She’s the product of adobe Photoshop. As a woman, you are a product of real life, you are the product of happiness and personal hardships, and you are a product of childhood memories and aspirations for the future. You are real. We are bred to be strong and relentless, we are made to be care givers and partners but we are also given the ability to be leaders. There is nothing in the world more beautiful than that which is the ingredients of a woman. It is said you mix a bit of sugar and a pinch of spice then combine it in a bowl with everything nice and Voila! We have woman.