Smile!

There is a controversy over how many muscles it takes to smile. Research suggests it could be anywhere from 4 to 17, but some silly chain letter from Aunt Milda says it's 26. There are only 43 muscles in the face, so it can't be more than that. Does it really matter? Smiling is awesome regardless of the inconclusive research.

What IS pretty conclusive, however, is that smiling is good for your health. Smiling can help trick your body into thinking it's in a better mood, and helps release endorphins and seratonin (a happy hormone). Smiling makes you more attractive and lifts other people's spirits, too.

Today, I made apple smiles. Remember those from kindergarten? Yeah, I totally owned that shit. And it definitely made me smile my way through lunch. :D

An essential passion of mine

I've heard that if you're going to blog, you'd better blog well. And blogging well means a few times a week. I have also heard that a blog associated with your business should post at least twice a month, according to social media research. I seem to have missed an entire month somehow... Oh well. I don't call myself a blogger. In truth, my past few blog postings were lacking in passion, excitement, and positivism. I figured I should take a break before putting more negative energy out there, since the point of starting this blog was to chronicle my passions as I navigate how to keep living out all of them!

A forgotten passion of mine popped up in December. Prior to December, I knew I was interested in this passion, but hadn't yet pursued it. Well, I'd run into this woman outside of Liquid Assets in Sartell, where a weekly networking group I'm a part of meets. I was introduced to her by a mutual friend and discovered that she is a massage therapist but also sells Young Living essential oils. I invited her to come to the networking group, and a couple weeks later she did a presentation for all of us. She was incredibly informed about the amazing benefits of essential oils and had so many life-changing stories to share. She's been a distributor for over a decade and loves it.

You should know that I've been invited - no, pressured - to be a part of just about every single Network Marketing business known to (wo)man. From Lia Sophia, Mary Kay, Thirty-One, Avon, and Premier Jewelry, to Xanga, WorldVentures, Alphay, Tastefully Simple, and Pure Romance, I've seen 'em all. And I could probably sell all of them successfully if I really wanted to. The consultants I meet know this, which is why many of them have repeatedly tried to win me over. I'm a charismatic person, and I know how to sell. Whoop-de-do. What sells many of these businesses is the networking part, not so much the product. I didn't care for that kind of business. I am not the kind of woman who even USES products. I scarcely use anything. Do I wash my face at night? Nope. Do I worry about eye wrinkles? Nope. Do I wear jewelry? Yup, but I make it. Do I cook? Yup, from scratch.

Back to the story. This Young Living essential oils lady is awesome. She and I became friends. I mean real friends. I went to a free oil class she offered and discovered that one simple oil, Basil, would really balance out my body. I figured, for such a small cost, what's the harm in trying it out? It is good for sinus issues, ovarian cysts, mental fatigue, aching muscles, and a variety of other things. (No wonder my body liked it so much!) While buying, this is where I was sold on the idea of joining and becoming an independent distributor, it was clear that the wholesale pricing was significantly lower than the retail prices of oils. Duh. For the small price of $50, I could join for a year to get wholesale pricing AND get their starter kit. That's like a Sam's Club membership but I get product too! Annually, I have to spend $50 to maintain my membership (still getting product for that fifty bucks). No additional fees. And if I wanted to sell it to friends or family, I could make a commission. If you want to join my team, click here!

Now I understand why many people join these kinds of companies. When you actually USE the product, and LOVE the product, it is really easy to justify the worth of your membership. It also makes it easier to sell because you see value in what you're selling! When you are simply selling product to make money off of other people, it shows.

What I love about essential oils is that I don't think of them as a "product." I think of them as part of my health care. I don't take OTC medicines or go to the doctor or even use aspirin. Pharmaceuticals scare me and they should scare you, too. Essential oils have no negative side effects (just make sure they're 100% and therapeutic grade, meaning they can be ingested) and have been around for thousands of years in medicinal remedies.

Now for the part I'm sure you've all been waiting for: my oil testimonial. I have suffered from cold sores for a couple years. For those of you who have them, you immediately cringed I'm sure. They're unsightly, they hurt, they take at least two weeks to heal, they spread, and my lymph node under the right side of my jaw gets inflamed and hard. In the past, I've tried Abreva and a number of other off-brand cold sore treatments. Recently, I've stuck with Lysine, a natural treatment that is inexpensive and under researched. It typically shaves off a few days of healing time. While reading about essential oils, I discovered to my delight that my favorite oil, lavender, is good for cold sores! So yesterday morning, with the first tingle of a new nasty sore, I dabbed lavender oil directly on the corner of my mouth. (By the way, the lavender oil came in my starter kit!) I dabbed lavender on again last night and used Lysine cream a few times during the day. It is now Thursday night, and my cold sore hasn't spread to any worse than one bump, it's not very noticeable, my lymph node is smaller than usual, and it's not painful. Crazy awesome, I have to tell you. If it's healed in a week, I may actually be able to kiss my boyfriend goodbye before I leave on a 15 day work trip.

I have also been ingesting or rubbing basil oil on myself once a day for the past week, and I have to say, the increase in my mental alertness is very noticeable. I would not recommend rubbing Basil on just before you go to sleep though, that kept me up until 1:30am the other night. ;)

21st Century Politics and Women

Google "binders full of women" and you'll get nearly 16 million hits already. The facebook group with this title had over 120,000 likes in just over an hour. There are celebrity photos (like Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing) with binder-related remarks strewn all over the internet. This phrase, taken out of context, is another silly attempt at slandering the Romney ticket.

When asked about the equal pay issue facing women in our workforce today, Romney thought he was tackling the question quite solidly with his anecdote about hiring women on his state cabinet. Unfortunately, he phrased his request for female applicants poorly and the public went viral with his "binders full of women" comment in a matter of minutes. Not to mention the rest of his anecdote was condescending and patronizing.

I am not here to defend Romney or ignorantly continue the slander. What I want to point out is that this election is CRUCIAL for so many women, for so many families, for the future of our country and our global presence... and WE'RE CONCERNING OURSELVES WITH A BINDER COMMENT.

Women, please pay attention. Your vote matters. This comment will forever remain symbolic of Romney's overall response to women's rights and issues that were finally brought to light during this presidential debate. He had an opportunity to shine, and he biffed it. Majorly. We need to take this debate seriously and look into the facts. Whose voting record supports women and their health (financial health, physical health, reproductive health, etc.)?

If you are one of those people who says you don't like politics, or you don't care about politics, PLEASE WAKE UP and attend to your civil duty of voting. No, it's not fun. No, most of us don't like it, but it was a hard-earned right for many of us to even have the ability to vote, and the direction of our country is suffering because of apathetic, uninvolved citizens.