Look Good, Feel Good, Work Good, & Glorify God

I used to see mothers in public who seemed not to care for their appearance and it made me sad. I did (and still do!) not want to be the woman who 'lets herself go' when she has kids. However, I can say that I have a whole new level of sympathy for these ladies thanks to my godson. I find that if I do not shower-->dress-->hair-->makeup early in the morning before he's awake, it's difficult to find time or energy to do it once he's up. Sometimes I'm able to hop in the shower mid-morning when he naps, but he inevitably wakes back up before my hair and makeup are done, and he NEVER goes for sitting on the floor while I finish. I can testify that applying eyeliner with one hand with a wiggly 6-month-old menace in the other arm is a harrowing misadventure that I hope not to have to attempt many more times in my life.

The little problem with this scenario is that I STRUGGGGGGLE to get up in the morning. Short of buying myself a flying alarm clock which requires me to get up and catch it, I have tried nearly everything I can think of to try to become a morning person. My latest tactic is to have the song "Brazzle Dazzle Day" from the movie Pete's Dragon as my alarm clock. That song is too chipper a tune to remain grumpy if it's the first thing you hear in the morning! However, I have a magical ability to hit the snooze button before two bars of it have escaped my Blackberry. I so want to blame my lack of morning-person-ness on how exhausting my godson can sometimes be, that's not really the truth: I haven't been a morning person since puberty hit! Besides, who could blame a cherubic monkey face for their grumpiness? He's almost always cheery in the morning, despite having to deal with grumpy Auntie Guine - so I have no excuse. What I've realized is that if we don't hit the ground running in the morning (be it with personal grooming habits or our prayer life), it becomes so easy for the cares of the day to suck it away from us.

Mary Kay Ash used to get up at 5 am every morning, because she'd heard in a business talk somewhere that getting up that early 3 times a week was like adding an extra work day to your week. So she did it 6 days a week and accomplished 8 days of work in 6. She even invited the consultants to join her in this effort, and apparently many of them did (although I must admit I don't know many nowadays who do, other than NSDs are powerhouses of self-discipline). MK would recommend that before starting any work, a woman make herself presentable for the day. She'd say "A woman who looks good feels good - and as a result, she will also 'work good'!" - and I have to admit that in spite of sympathizing with those moms, I still agree.

Please understand, I'm not suggesting that women have to listen to how the media/pop culture tells them they should look - anyone who knows me and my struggle with my weight could tell you I'm clearly not trying to fit some moviestar image. I do assert however, that women as the crescendo in God's symphony of creation, the finishing touch and the crowning glory - that we should strive to glorify Him by looking our personal best.

I've had serious discussions with people who think that Christian women shouldn't even wear makeup, and I have to disagree. Although our concern can't be for the outward appearance over the beauty of the soul and the heart, we are still physical beings and our body is holy! My classic line is this: If our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and people have always adorned temples with flowers and color and art, then in the same way a woman can use cosmetics to 'adorn her temple'.

The refutation of this is to say that too many girls use makeup to 'cover themselves up', and I agree that's true. However, that's part of why I love MK so much - we are a teaching-oriented company that instructs women how to take care of their skin and how to apply makeup so that they are highlighting their best features, not covering them up. I think girls/women who wear too much makeup have probably not been instructed how to apply it correctly, and that's why I love getting to teach them (especially teenagers with thick eyeliner and too-dark bronzer).

Parting thought: "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31. So get up in the morning like it's on purpose, put on your lipcolor and mascara, and glorify God in all you do!


PS -A treat for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBJlpz3WWY

You become like the people you hang around

A lot of MK training includes the advice "Guard your circle of influence - you become like the 5 people you spend the most time with".

I've been taking this to heart more. First of all, because if I spend more time with Jesus, I'll be more like Him - duh! I've been praying for a greater desire for prayer and starting to go to daily Mass. What a difference it makes!

Aside from that, I've taken this gem of wisdom a step further - although I have (believe it or not) more than 3 days worth of audio training and inspiration, I decided to narrow it down to my top 5 favorite MK leaders, and I've only been listening to them during the weekdays. I've even incorportated it into the daily prayer I've been saying for my business: "Lord give me Gloria's charisma (Gloria Mayfield Banks), Pam's discipline (Pamela Waldrop-Shaw), Auri's drive (Auri Hatheway), Sherril's clarity (Sherril Steinman), and above all, Cindy's joy (Cindy Williams)!" These are women of such excellence that I really want to be like them, and listening to their voices mentor and coach me has been filling me up... but I find that I'm so wrapped up in my insecurities and fears at times that it takes drinking this motivation in every day to have the courage for my life.

There's so many good things I've been gleaning from all this that I want to stretch them out into more than one blog entry, so I'll leave you with one cute thing. I have been so inspired to discover that I have been in the habit of doing things that women who are now at the top of the Company also did: for example, my absolute favorite NSD Cindy Williams shared in one of her speeches that she taped a picture of a ring she wanted to earn on her finger. Well I have taped a picture of this ring on: it's the ring that women who debut as Sales Directors (who mentor and coach a team of consultants) in the next year will earn:

Gloria always opens her speeches with this cute little poem that introduces her (I could recite it verbatim for you because I've heard it so much), and I wrote myself one I am going to share with you like a nerd:

"I'm a confident and cheerful star, my mantra is 'Just do it now!'

I'm going to change a life today, to meet my goals and live out loud

I'm powerful, not pitiful, I know that I possess the skill,

to book and coach, to sell, recruit I'll find a way, I know I will

It doesn't matter how I feel if my dreams are becoming real

if it's to be, it's up to me to make that dream reality

So Spirit give me grace to run the race, and I will get there face by face

let all I do take me closer to my MK Sales Director debut!"

Gang, I'm committing to promote myself to the position of Sales Director. I appreciate your support, whether it be as my customer or as an intercessor who prays for me!!

Use it or lose it!

"By trifles in our common ways,
Our characters are slowly piled,
We lose not all our yesterdays,
The man has something of the child.
Part of the past to all the present cleaves,
As the rose-odors linger in the fading leaves.

In ceaseless toil, from year to year,
Working with loath or willing hands,
Stone upon stone we shape, we rear,
till the completed fabric stands,
And when the hush hath all labor stilled,
The searching fire will try what we have striven to build"

- "The Building of Character" by J.R. Miller

Having been raised in the "Dream big! You can be anything!" generation, I sometimes lose sight of the little things and take their importance for granted. Several things in the past week have made me realize (again) how much the little things matter, how with each choice "our characters are slowly piled" as the poem says:

- I met with a friend from college to see about getting involved in youth ministry at the parish where she works. I've only done 1 thing in the last 6 months related to ministry. And I thought to myself "What the heck! I have a degree in catechetics and theology, I need to USE it!"
- This past weekend I was *cough* celebrating my fertility *cough, cough* and I was really out of sorts. Like more than usual. The BF and I realized that for the last few months I've been doing better, and then this time around my cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat, wanna-sleep-all-day crampiness came back with a vengeance. I have this essential oil that contains natural progesterone (it's called Progessence Plus, made by Young Living Essential oils), and when I put a drop of it on daily, I feel SO much better and I hardly have those issues. However, during the past month I wasn't doing that. "It's one little things, what's the big deal?" and after a month of that, I reap what I sowed.
- BF and myself were also reflecting recently is that how it's difficult to monitor an internal spiritual difference when going to daily Mass, but boy do you feel it if you stop going after you have been going!
- MK NSD Sherril Steinman says "No consultant keeps attitude to pristine level who hasn't sold something in the last two weeks". Another angle on this is "The easiest time to make a good sale is right after you've made a sale".

Taking all these things into consideration, it's like if you get something in motion it will get its own momentum, but "an object at rest will stay at rest".

So what momentum do you need in your life? What little things could you be doing to make each day count? What will you lose if you don't use it? Get in motion.

And now I have to go repeat that exhortation to the reflection in the mirror.

Don't ask for exceptions. Be exceptional.

Thank you to my beloved followers for reminding me how overdue I am to write! Those of you who aren't yet officially "following" the blog, please do! I want to know you're out there.

It's been two weeks since I've written an entry for a couple of reasons: one is that a dear friend of mine got married two weekends ago, and another is that this past weekend, I was helping my godson's parents move into their new place.

It got me to thinking about my life and my goals, and what stops me from working them consistently. Pamela Shaw, one of my favorite MK NSD's, says: "Success is hidden in your daily routine. If you accumulate a year's worth of today, what would the end result be - and what kind of days do you need to accumulate in order to be successful?" I took this to heart and crafted out a daily checklist. The most important part is a breakdown of what MK activities I need to be doing - but I'll be honest, I haven't kept to that with consistency.

Although I know what a "normal" day should look like, most of my days don't feel normal! It seems like every time I turn around and another month rolls by, there are more out-of-the-ordinary happenings and because of them, I cut myself a lot of slack over my routine goal. Too much slack.

Pam Shaw also says "Don't ask for exceptions. Be exceptional." My bottom line is that I give myself way too many exceptions instead of disciplining myself to be exceptional.

Isn't it amazing how in the ways that we should be more merciful and gentle, we are too hard on ourselves - and in the areas where we could use a kick in the pants, we coddle ourselves? Maybe it's just me. What a mess I have been, dear Jesus! The only solution I can see is serious divine intervention. I need to take this to prayer, lay it all down and ask the Lord to untwist my silliness.

"Everything I am, everything I long to be, I lay it down at your feet." - Matt Maher

Happy Labor Day, y'all. Pray for me as I pray for you!

Just to clarify: Details of the $25 free offer

Just to recap: I'm offering $25 in free Mary Kay product if I haven't written in the blog in over 10 days. Here are some details about that:

1) From now on, you must be an official follower of the blog in order to win.

2)If already have an MK Independent Beauty consultant, or are yourself a consultant, you are not eligible to win.

3) Only the FIRST person to contact me past my blog deadline will win.

4)You can only win the prize once within a 3-month period. So if you caught me in August, you can't win again until November.

5) If you are the winner, you can shop online at www.marykay.com/gnorman7. Once you've selected your free product, all you need to do is select the "contact me for payment" option, and I'll process your order for free. I'm not going to chase you down to claim your free product - so once I've announced the winner, you need to contact me for your prize!


Thanks all! Goodnight.

Just ASK!

Yet another tardy entry. My apologies, dear readers! However, I have good news! The boyfriend is now not only working, but has found a place to live. So things are ducky, but they have been busy(Too many exclamation points???)!

My entry will be short and sweet: "If you ask and someone says 'no' to you, nothing has changed. A 'yes' can change everything, but you won't ever get it if you don't ask!"

I am afraid of being told no sometimes. Not just in my MK business (which really gets in the way of growing my business), but also and perhaps especially with God. This really gets in the way of growing in spiritual maturity! I anticipate that what I want to ask God for will be met with 'no', so at least half the time I never even vocalize it.

Now, this is silly on the one hand, since God by definition would already know even if I haven't asked. However, in the words of "Grams" from Dawson's Creek: "Prayer doesn't change God, prayer changes me". I'm realizing more as the years pass that God withholds from us sometimes because we haven't given him permission or access to do what He'd like to. We don't cultivate a relationship, we don't orient our lives toward grace, we don't give Him the freedom to say 'no' to us without coming to the conclusion that He doesn't love us. Can you imagine if that translated to our relationships? What children we can be... 'If you don't give me what I want, you must not love me'... and equally off-base, not trusting that our Father is GOOD and wants GOOD for us.

So in my spiritual life and in my MK business (as this blog is meant to show, I have noticed that whatever's going on with my MK is usually just a miniature of my spiritual challenges, etc), I am realizing that in order for God to bless my efforts, He has to have efforts to bless.

So I say to you, dear readers (and you, too, self!):
Ask.
Ask the question you avoid out of fear that you'll be told no.
Ask for a raise.
Ask her out on a date.
Ask that person you know deserves what you have to offer, be it pampering or the Gospel.

Just ask.

Be weird

Life has changed really drastically in the past couple of weeks - my boyfriend has moved here with me and started work today at his new job! We have been crazy excited, but busy, too! - specifically trying to find him a place to live and make a game plan so we are running on the same track as we move forward.

In light of our country's financial... erm... dealings, I've been listening more and more to NY best-selling author Dave Ramsey, whose Financial Peace University I recommend to the whole world (including Capitol Hill!). One of his humorous quips is something like: Most people in the US have debt - you could say it's 'normal'. So, be weird!

There's more weirdness in Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Workweek. He discusses how most people are still attempting to follow the model that we work in a career for 30-40 years, then we retire and finally live life the way we've wanted to. He argues that people can enjoy a millionaire lifestyle without being millionaires, and that we don't need to wait until our late 60s to enjoy that. He proposes people take frequent "mini-retirements" throughout their life. (It's a fascinating read I definitely recommend, just for the journey it takes your brain on. Destination: outside the box).

When I blend these two concepts with what I know about the direct sales industry, I'm convinced all over again that I'm on the right track, and especially proud to be a Mary Kay consultant. This business provides that mobile lifestyle and flexibility, and MK, Inc. is a debt-free company!!!

Although I cannot yet say that I am personally debt-free, I sure will throw a party when I am!

In short: I want to be weird. You should, too.

PS- Congratulations to my friend LS for catching me past my blog deadline! She is the first winner and has already picked out some great product as her prize!