Author: mamawifeyme

mamawifeymehttps://mamawifeyme.wordpress.com

Birthday Resolution

I have stopped doing New Year’s Resolutions. It has been like 8 years. I realized it a long time ago that most of the New Year resolutions are forgotten by February. Eventually around March end you realize:

“Damn … I have stopped working out because I was so busy at work”

“Damn I forgot to register for that exam” or

“Damn I forgot to sign up for that painting class I wanted to try for so long”

All mere excuses to cushion the guilt that surrounds your inner “Mr./Ms. Ambitious”… and then you are in this vicious cycle of underachieved goals. This leads to you getting frustrated; first at the incomplete goal…then at yourself.

Our craving for the feeling of achievement leads to our eventual distress.

I have started a book by Mark Manson. We all know what I am talking about. The Subtle Art of Not giving a F*ck. I have yet to complete it…but there are so many quotes that I just want to share and talk about ===>

The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.
― Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counter intuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Therefore, my motto in life is “if you are not doing it already, it’s either you don’t have it prioritized or that you do not really want to do it at all”.

Real Life Application

That is why right before my birthday (December) I made a resolution: I am going to add at least some exercise in my day. I decided walk more. And I just started. In the middle of the week. On A TUESDAY! How annoying is that?! But I did; 3 km a day to be exact. I decided and I did. I didn’t delay it. Mostly because I didn’t pressure myself into thinking about the number of Kg I am secretly wishing to shed. (Of course I want to lose weight.)

Sometimes thinking of the bigger picture actually distracts you. You feel it is too far-fetched and unattainable. That is why my baby-step is to walk more…and now that I am a regular since over a month I am going add some cardio into my schedule. Slow and steady. And if I lose some weight in the process? Wth. Good enough 😀

So don’t wait for the 1st of the month … or the beginning of the year. Just decide, and do.

xo

 

Happy New Year

A very Happy New Year to all my beautiful readers!

May this year bring lots of joy in your life! May you meet kind & honest people… may you practice kindness. Wish you ultimate success in all the endeavors that you have been striving for all of 2017!

2017 has been rough on a lot of us. Let’s just use it as a learning experience and move forward! Remember; our successes will be defined by the hardships we face and excel in.

xox

Happy New Year!

Huda Beauty 3D Highlighting Palette

So after much research and thought I finally got the Huda Beauty 3D highlighter Palette in Golden Sand in August.

Now if you know me at all; I am not the one to contour and highlight on a daily basis. Mainly because my city’s climate doesn’t allow that kind of layering on the face. We have a very humid and sweaty climate generally throughout the year (Except maybe December and January). So although I have had it for like 3 months, I have only really used it like 7-8 times at weddings/parties. So here is how I see it…

So the Huda Beauty 3D highlighter Palette is priced at $45.00 on the sephora website and $57 I think on the hudabeauty website… but since I had to order it online and get it shipped to Karachi (via my childhood friend :)) I had to pay around Rs. 7000; which comes out to about $67.

What I didn’t like:

The palette includes one cream highlighter and a trio of powder highlighter/blush/ Sculptor. All this in a very different and slim cardboard packaging; although I was disappointed that it contained no mirror (kudos to NARS trio pallette for the mirror).

I have to admit, I am not particularly excited about the cream highlighter. Although it is great for layering with the powder highlight, it has sort of like a thick consistency and if you are an amateur like me you will have difficulty blending and deciding exactly how much product you need and when to stop.

Lastly, it was very heavy on the pocket; for me at least. I already have different drug store highlighters and the NARS palette as well with the Orgasm Blush, bronzer and highlighter. Although I do not entirely regret making the purchase, I just feel I could have waited to finish up my existing ones and THEN purchased this.

What I liked:

It is a generously sized for a cheek palette and specially for my kinda use; I am calculating this should last me for yearssssss. They have released versions one for lighter skin tones and one for warmer tones. I wear MAC NC35 so I opted for the Golden Sand version.

I have to say. The highlight WILL NOT BUDGE. Like I have attended weddings with it, and throughout the event it stayed on like a boss! Plus looks amazing in pictures!

Pigmentation is ❤ very little product is needed… so when you add that to the generous size! It is an investment really. (or so I have convinced my self) :p

 

xox

 

 

“what you allow will continue”

I came across an article recently and it had this beautiful line. The author repeated it many times throughout the article. To a normal person maybe it would be just another line maybe. Words. Every reader/viewer has their own perspective. Everyone grabs the lesson differently. Different people of different points of view. The line was something like:

What you allow will continue; what continues will escalate.

How brilliant is that? I quickly wrote it down in my notebook. There was SO MUCH hidden in that one sentence and I could relate to it on so many levels.

Lately I joined a group where women from different walks of life come together to chat, discuss their lives, happiness, problems etc. On that group, I realized there are SO MANY women with issues so huge that they make my problems look minute and selfish. There are people out there who really have no say what so ever in their own lives in their own homes. So in hopes of helping one of them out I wrote that line in a comment. What you allow will continue…

Why is it so hard for people (yes women and men) to realize that they are so afraid of “log kia kahenge?” (What would people say?) That they let bad things happen to them. They LET people manipulate them and send them on guilt trips. Somehow they are convinced that everything that goes wrong is their fault. And all the chores and responsibilities are theirs to fulfill.

Why is it so that people have different rules applicable for themselves and for others? If you allow people to treat you like that it will continue… and believe me eventually it will increase. Initially they test waters to see what your threshold is. And unless you show some resistance, it will keep on increasing.

Resistance is key. Learn to resist once in a while. Learn to say NO once in a while.

Reading, writing and a lil time to yourself

I have been gone for months! Nothing seemed to inspire me to write. Being a full time Mama plus I had been super swamped at work and that occupied all of my time. I couldn’t find any time to myself. Then I thought to myself, why is my life so robotic? Why is it that I am unable to make time to write? And I realized, it is because I stopped reading again.

… if we change what we do in a routine habit, whether it is as minor as scrolling through feeds …Our lives change. Instead of wasting your precious time watching re-runs of shows, try to read. ANY THING. If you can’t read a novel, read a short story, or a blog, or an article. But READ.

I have always been an avid reader but this feeling was further ignited when I was going around for school admissions for my 3 year old. The school I chose is -guess what- BIG ON READING; and they actually gave a reading list for the summer. Yes. To 3-4 year old kids. It needs to be developed and instilled in our kids. To be able to read regularly is a blessing!!! A lot of people can’t concentrate that long.

It doesn’t have to be a fancy novel. Start small. Begin with a blog that interests you, or an article that catches your attention. Once you allocate a fixed amount of time to your daily reading routine it would be much easier.

A kind heart

“a kind heart and a sincere smile conquers all”

This has to be a quote that initially if you look at you immediately think “In recent times? ummm No” I mean WHO in their right mind would want to be KIND in 2017?! you would be screwed.

I am a generally “kind” person… or at least I like to think of myself that way. I am sure people around me would vouch for that. I would get up and bring you a refreshing glass of water when you enter the house after a long day, I would buy you gifts that you actually need and like.. I would forget my tiredness and do the chores if you are sick… I would do your part of the deal as LONG as I have an ounce of energy left… I will give up that last bits of fries for you.. If only very little milk left… I will serve it for you and not myself..You get the gist..

Over the years I started to feel like people were starting to take advantage of my “niceness”. They forgot that this is sort of like a favor that I do for them (not in hopes of returns, but in hopes of people thinking i’m  nice :P). They start to assume it is their birth right.

One thing I am going to tell you today is that “IT’s human nature!!” you can’t possible expect others to be nice to you because you are that way. It is physically emotionally impossibly for someone to feel 100% exactly same as you.

It is difficult to understand that at first but with time you start to understand people’s POVs. Good or Bad; everyone has their own perspective to life, and they will utilize what ever opportunity they can to use you to make their lives easier.

Then you become bitter. You slowly start retracting your self and stop yourself from offering to help out. But you know what that does? In the midst of it all, someone who truly needs your help is left stranded.

The struggle is REAL! What you need to do is figure out a threshold. draw a line. learn to say no. It is OKAY to say NO. You are not superman/superwoman. You can’t be there for everybody. It is perfectly fine if you don’t “feel like” doing something.

I have no definite answer, whether a kind heart is more pain full than a Not-so-kind heart. I have yet to figure that one out..

If you have anything to say, do comment…!