When you are reading this, I will either be snuggling with Baby Aime or waddling through the neighborhood because I am overdue and determined to walk the baby out of me. Let’s hope I’m snuggling!

I wanted to write a post like this for a long time and thought it would be interesting to do one before becoming a mother and then do another when I have entered the mommy club. I hope you enjoy it and I would love to hear what you believe.

A few years ago, I received a book titled This I Believe. It was a collection of essays about what values drive people’s everyday life. This idea of taking a stand for these hidden daily values really empowered me as it made me recognize how my life has been shaped by these small beliefs. Upon further research, I found that this humble book was part of a much larger movement. I think it’s fascinating. Check out their work here.

Rather than write an essay at this point, I thought I would start with some simple This I Believe statements, and hopefully these statements will become essays down the road.

As you read through these, you may or may not agree with me, and that’s okay. I challenge you to start making your own This I Believe statements and observe how they affect your daily life.

This I Believe

Every day we have a choice. A choice on how our day will be, how we will act, and how we will react. We always have this choice.

I will always error on the side of kindness, even if it means that someone may take advantage of me. It’s better to be kind and foolish, then cruel and smart.
I learned this from a theatre professor I had in graduate school, Joy Reilly. Joy was beloved by the undergraduate population and dismissed by the faculty. Most graduate students saw her as all fluff and a pushover, quick to give allowances, work around students’ schedule, and adapt to her students’ requests. After going back to get her PhD later in life, she knew that there was life outside of school, and some of our students faced hardships that we would have never imagined. She knew she had to live with herself after the semester and for her, it was never worth risking the opportunity to be kind.

Cow’s milk is for baby cows.

Error on the side of being generous. That extra few dollars may not mean a lot to you, but it could mean the world to a server who is having a bad day.

As a society, we love excuses. Excuses on why we can’t eat well, can’t exercise daily, and cannot live up to our potential. We also love to make excuses for other people and they love making excuses for us.

What we put into our mouths has way more effect on us than we will ever truly know.

Put on some lipstick, you’ll feel better.  A few years ago, my dad was doing the GRABAWR, a 7-day bike ride across the state, and my mother joined in for a 50 mile leg of the ride. It poured the entire day. As they were taking a small break, sheltered by trees and I’m sure my mother was refusing to get back on her bike, my dad famously told her ‘Put on some lipstick, you’ll feel better.’ She snapped, ‘It will just run off,’ but she did put on the lipstick. She did feel better, and she did get back on her bike.
My dad is not some chauvinistic pig, he just knows my mother. Lipstick fixes problems. Okay, so maybe not world peace or what should I make for dinner tonight, but it gives you that little boost that you can feel and sometimes that’s all you need to get you through the day. It’s a reminder that you are worth it. You are worth the time, effort, and energy to look a little better.

When you move your body, your whole outlook on life changes.

Laugh sooner. The people I love most are the ones that know better than to take themselves seriously. I mean really, who do you think you are that you are above having a good laugh at yourself? Are you really that important?

Insecurity brings out the worst in people, and inversely, secure people can afford to be kind. When you’re insecure, the only way to build yourself up is to knock other people down. Watch out for these people. Surround yourself with secure people.

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Tell me one of your ‘This I Believe’ statements.

 


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