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| Top: Zara, Jeans: Bershka, Boots: Kurt Geiger, Handbag: Aldo. Photos: Arif Feroze. |
Just when I was feeling depressed and unmotivated, my friend Reem Gamal shared this simple but uplifting story on facebook.
Enjoy.
Each day, ten-year-old Miranda put on the pink tutu that Aunt Amelia had lovingly created for her, and danced around the house. She was a beautiful and graceful dancer, and she was determined to play the role of Sleeping Beauty.
On the day of the audition, Miranda set off with her mother. When they arrived at the studio, she took her place alongside the other girls.
She would be the first dancer to perform for Monsieur LeBrun, the famous dance teacher from Paris. Miranda’s heart fluttered as she walked to the center of the stage. When she looked out into the audience, she was reassured by her mother who blew kisses.
Miranda waited for the music and then threw herself into the role of Sleeping Beauty. After barely a minute, a male voice shouted, “Enough. Next.”
The music stopped and Miranda stood frozen in place.
“But I haven’t finished dancing!” Miranda said.
“You’re wasting my time,” called out the voice. “Next.”
Miranda’s mother rushed to the stage and hugged Miranda. “We’ll go to Dairy Queen and treat ourselves.”
Miranda looked up and saw tears flowing down her mother’s cheeks. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. And then it dawned upon her. She wasn’t good enough. She ran toward the door.
Her mother followed and caught up to her. They didn’t go for ice cream. Instead, they went home. Miranda went straight to her room and pulled off the tutu. She changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. For three days, she stayed in her room, refusing to go to school or join the family for meals.
When she finally came out of her room, she kicked a large box outside into the corridor. In it, she had neatly packed all her dance clothes, slippers and gear.
Her mother gasped, “Miranda, what have you done?”
Her father shook his head. “You can’t give up just because one rude guy didn’t like you.”
“I will never ever dance again!" Miranda said. "Never!” She threw herself into her school work and extra-curricular activities. She went on to win scholarships and pursued a career as an elementary school teacher. She married her high school sweetheart and had three lovely children, two boys and girl.
While the boys enjoyed their sports, her daughter Emily dabbled in art and drama. One day, she went to Miranda and said, “I want to be a ballet dancer.”
Miranda’s heart stood still. Almost 30 years had passed, but the memory of that spring afternoon still haunted her. She tried to distract Emily with outings, but Emily was adamant that she wanted to be a ballet dancer.
Miranda gave in and watched from a distance as her lovely daughter embraced the world of dance. One afternoon, Emily came home waving a poster. “I made the final cut! Mrs. Clarke said I could audition for the summer ballet in Toronto.”
On the afternoon of the audition, Miranda took a personal day and accompanied Emily to the studio. While watching Emily practice with the four other girls, her mind raced with negative thoughts. She jumped when she heard a familiar masculine voice.
“Is this seat taken?”
Miranda turned and came face to face with an older, grayer Monsieur LeBrun. She gasped.
“Are you all right, Madame?” Monsieur LeBrun asked.
Miranda took several deep breaths. “I don’t imagine you remember me. It’s been a while since I danced for you.”
Monsieur LeBrun shook his head. “I’m sorry but I don’t remember...”
“You didn’t let me finish dancing.”
“And you took it to heart.”
“Why wouldn’t I?" asked Miranda. "Dancing was my life!"
“If you quit so easily, then you weren’t a real dancer.”
“How could you even tell after barely 60 seconds?”
Emily appeared and sat next to her mother. “Good afternoon, Mr. Brown.”
“It’s Monsieur LeBrun,” Miranda whispered.
Monsieur LeBrun focused his attention on Emily. “What is your name, child?”
“Emily Davies.”
“What if I don’t like your dancing, Emily?” he asked. “What will you do then?”
Emily shrugged. “I’ll dance for someone else.” She turned and ran back to the stage.
Monsieur LeBrun nodded in approval. “Now there’s a ballet dancer.”
The author is Joanne Guidoccio.
I recently attended a seminar that was all about adapting to change. One of the exercises we were made to do was to pretend that we had a few days to live, and we had to write a letter to a favourite child of ours. We could say anything we wanted to in that letter.
We were made to write this letter so that whatever values and principles we have were brought on paper, and to the forefront of our minds. This way you're always aware of them, so you remember to look to them for guidance when life brings you to crossroads or when you're not sure about taking a major step. I love that.
My favourite kid in the whole world is my niece Emma, so my letter is to her. This is what I wrote:
Dear Emma,
Life is beautiful. It has its ups and downs but if it didn't it wouldn't be fun.
Life is tough. It's how you handle the tough parts that makes you strong. But whatever life puts you through, I want you to remember that you are amazing. I want you to remember that you have everything inside you to take you through whatever you're facing.
So I want you to love yourself. Don't look for love from outside to fill your emptiness. If you're not happy from within, no one and nothing can make you happy.
Stand up for yourself. Don't let people walk all over you. At the most basic level, people are selfish. They look out only for themselves. Be nice, but firm.
Most of all, be loving. Family is important. Not only those linked to you by blood but also those who aren't yet know you better than you do and want only good things for you.
Don't put up with negative people. Don't put up with people who don't like themselves, they'll want you to stop loving yourself too.
Don't care what people say about you. No matter what you do, some will always say nasty things about you. Remember, what someones says about you reflects more about them than you.
Be passionate. About everything you do. If you're not passionate about it, don't do it. Find one thing you love doing and focus all your energy on it. Soon this will lead you to discover more things you love doing and before you know it you'll be surrounded by so many things you love doing that even if something goes wrong in one, there are three others to keep you happy and busy.
Give out happiness and love. It's easy to let the world make you a mean, unhappy person but trying to overcome those feelings and striving for happiness is worth all the pain.
And in the end, trust me, it's all in your mind. As simplistic as that sounds, it's true.
The seminar was Adapt & Ignite during Change and the speaker was Dr. Gary Bradt.
We were made to write this letter so that whatever values and principles we have were brought on paper, and to the forefront of our minds. This way you're always aware of them, so you remember to look to them for guidance when life brings you to crossroads or when you're not sure about taking a major step. I love that.
My favourite kid in the whole world is my niece Emma, so my letter is to her. This is what I wrote:
Dear Emma,
Life is beautiful. It has its ups and downs but if it didn't it wouldn't be fun.
Life is tough. It's how you handle the tough parts that makes you strong. But whatever life puts you through, I want you to remember that you are amazing. I want you to remember that you have everything inside you to take you through whatever you're facing.
So I want you to love yourself. Don't look for love from outside to fill your emptiness. If you're not happy from within, no one and nothing can make you happy.
Stand up for yourself. Don't let people walk all over you. At the most basic level, people are selfish. They look out only for themselves. Be nice, but firm.
Most of all, be loving. Family is important. Not only those linked to you by blood but also those who aren't yet know you better than you do and want only good things for you.
Don't put up with negative people. Don't put up with people who don't like themselves, they'll want you to stop loving yourself too.
Don't care what people say about you. No matter what you do, some will always say nasty things about you. Remember, what someones says about you reflects more about them than you.
Be passionate. About everything you do. If you're not passionate about it, don't do it. Find one thing you love doing and focus all your energy on it. Soon this will lead you to discover more things you love doing and before you know it you'll be surrounded by so many things you love doing that even if something goes wrong in one, there are three others to keep you happy and busy.
Give out happiness and love. It's easy to let the world make you a mean, unhappy person but trying to overcome those feelings and striving for happiness is worth all the pain.
And in the end, trust me, it's all in your mind. As simplistic as that sounds, it's true.
The seminar was Adapt & Ignite during Change and the speaker was Dr. Gary Bradt.
I went on a jewelry spree recently. More like gold jewelry spree, but I couldn't resist some semi-precious stone jewelry too so I'm calling it a jewelry spree, ok? Rings, necklaces, earrings, yellow gold, white gold, I got them all!
I bought a lot of jewelry from this shop, including a ring. I had to leave the ring with them to make it smaller to fit my abnormally thin fingers. I had to collect it the next day and I was actually dreading going because I knew I'd be tempted to buy more jewelry. But my mom was with me so I knew she'd stop me. And what happened? My mom ended up buying jewelry for herself! {I'm so proud of me for getting her to buy jewelry for herself. She hasn't done it in years. Go me!}
You'll be seeing all my loot in the coming outfits. See more incredible jewelry here.
Have a great weekend!
Most of the time when I compliment women on their beauty they reject it, or don't really believe it. It's one of the most frustrating things ever for me.
Why do women not believe they're beautiful? It's a perplexing thing. Dove decided to tackle this problem in their latest ad campaign by asking women to describe their faces to an FBI Trained Forensic Artist who couldn't see them. Later, someone else who had met these women described their faces to the same artist. Were they different? See for yourself:
This is a lovely campaign by Dove. I hope in the least that it made you think about your self-image and at best it made you feel beautiful.
P.S: This is not a sponsored post. I put up this video because I think it's amazing.
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| Dress: Debenhams, Shoes: Steve Madden, Earrings: H&|M. |
UNE recently let me have my pick from their latest line of Nail Colours. I chose these three:
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| Top: TSKD Designs, Jeans: Bershka, Shoes: Steve Madden, All jewelry and clutch: Gifted. |
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