Written by: Betsy Karp

Starting something new is very challenging and can be a test of your resiliency. It takes a lot of belief, patience, faith and a really big dose of courage. ORANGE is the COLOR of courage and it is all around me right now. My screen saver is a bright ORANGE and I’ve been eating so many ORANGE foods filled with beta-carotene and healthy nutrients, giving me that internal boost.

Sometimes, in the darkest of times, when you just want to give up is when you have to be your strongest, telling yourself it's going to be OK and to take it Step-by-Step. Let go of the control and release it to the universe. Trust that there is a higher calling and a greater good, and that the universe has your back. It’s a step-by-step process of putting one foot in front of the other.

Taking action and doing something everyday is what gets you results, and I mean EVERY DAY action. It can be the littlest thing like answering an email that you have been putting off. JUST DO ONE SMALL THING EVERY DAY!

By taking action we learn, we grow and we adjust. It’s in the doing that progress occurs. Don’t wait to make it perfect. Just do it and make adjustments as you go. As we move the universe moves with us.

Fear pushes us to move forward. Without fear we wouldn’t grow or do very much. We need some fear in our lives, but the key is to embrace our fears with love. This is when the breakthroughs and the “ah ha” moments happen.

Life is a process. It is about building and taking that step, after step, after step, and not giving up even when you want to. It’s the small steps that get us to where we want to be. Without them we really can’t move forward. Let and allow the feelings to come up and know that LOVE is the only way you want to be.

Each step and movement feeds on the next. Sometimes it takes a really long time to get there. Everything comes in the right time and in its divine order if you keep moving forward Step-by-Step.

So how do we find love for ourselves and get out of fear? It’s about taking a deep breath and getting calm within. It’s about letting go of the ego and the perfectionism of how it’s all going to end up. It’s learning how to just be and accept all that is in this precious moment. Unleash the negative, bratty voices and focus on the positive. Make that call you have been putting off for days (maybe even weeks) and connect with an old friend or business associate. Ask for help and support. Just do ONE thing!

People can’t read your mind and know what you need. Reach out and ask someone for help. It’s amazing how everyone wants to help if they can.

I have been connecting with so many people and asking for help in the last few weeks. I am amazed at the synchronicity of it all. For example, I am about to launch my i adore me Kids Program. With this on my mind, I bumped into someone today I hadn’t seen in years. Her husband, also a friend, is in the NYC school system. How perfect is that? Everything comes in the RIGHT TIME, so I decided to reach out and ask for his help. I now have an appointment with his son’s principal to discuss my i adore me Kids Program. Now, none of this would have happened if I didn’t pay attention to the signs, reach out and make that call, asking for help and being open to connect. Life is about giving and receiving. Be in the moment and make it happen.

Connecting and sharing our life and love with others helps us to feel and find the love within us. It's good to be vulnerable. It's real. Be the authentic you. Don’t be afraid. Get out of your own way and share: connect and communicate, and do it all with LOVE…Step-by-Step. Now doesn’t that feel better?!

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Have a Colorful Day,

Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me

                            Written by: Katie Cohen

Everybody expects their first kiss to be this monumental moment when gravity miraculously stops and you find yourself floating above the ground and gasping for air. Who even decided that it was supposed to be like that? I never understood the appeal.

Getting swept off your feet inevitably ends in a painful fall and having your breath taken away is a guaranteed trip to the emergency room. For a close friend of mine, it literally was a trip to the hospital, but not because she was gasping for air. Rather, because she woke up the next morning with a small bump on her lip after some eighth-grade stud took her kissing virginity. When her dermatologist quickly diagnosed this nasty little thing as a flat wart, my friend was sent home with a very strong cream to apply on the affected area before bedtime.

Less than 24 hours later, I received a call from a panicking teenager who insisted that her lips had tripled in size. When I entered my friend’s apartment with a sympathy tub of rocky road ice cream, and got my first glimpse of her blowfish lips, I realized that her mini tantrum was completely justified.

Another week went by, and the lip swelling only got worse, and was eventually accompanied by spiking. It was discovered that the severe reactions were side effects from the cream that was being used to treat the flat wart, which turned out to be a pimple according to the results of the biopsy. This cream that destroyed my friends mucosal membrane (particularly her lips) and compromised her good health is now recognized as extremely hazardous to the human body and is prescribed with great caution by doctors. More recent medical research has shown that the strong concentration of harmful chemicals in the formula can be “criminally dangerous” when applied to specific areas.

Unfortunately, so many of the ingredients in body and skincare products we use daily contain ingredients that are identical to those in the cream that my friend applied to her “wart”. Some of them are Paraben based, meaning they contain chemicals like Methylparaben, Propylparaben, IIsoparaben, Butylparaben. Phthalates are additional chemicals that should be avoided at all costs. It is outrageous that there are only minimal efforts made to expose the important truths behind the products we use, and even more astonishing that the majority of the products do more harm to us than they do good.

Our skin is a major player in our first line of defense, constantly fighting off harmful bacteria and toxins that our bodies come into contact with every day. So while we all want soft, clear, and youthful looking skin, we sometimes fail to remember that keeping our skin healthy has greater benefits than those at the aesthetic level! It is important to treat it with the proper care that it deserves by introducing treatments into our cleansing regiments that keep our skin clean without a toxic solution. It is counterproductive to clean your face with products that only contaminate your skin more in the end!

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Written by: Katie Cohen

So what's YOUR passion? Watch this video and be inspired by 11 & 12 year olds who are completing their final WOW Projects for Citizen Schools and The i adore me Kids Program. They have found their passion and used their creativity to impact their community.

Once we find our passion we can step into who we really are and what we want. There's no time like the present, so find that passion within you and bring it out into the world. We all have special gifts to share. What's yours?

            Written by: Sutton Schuler

I am social, but very much so on my terms.  My independent nature can turn day in and day out, relationships into work. Although I love hosting a cocktail party, attending an intimate dinner, or just making small talk with the older couple sitting at the bar, I noticed I was declining invitations left and right.

And lets face it; there are those very chilly late December nights that are not conducive to going out, especially after a long week of work.  The last thing a lady wants to do is rush home to change, powder her nose, and re-heat a curl in her hair.  And this was just the case last December when I found myself on the phone with my mother, complaining about having a dinner invitation and lacking the energy.  She simply said, “Oh Sutton, just say yes and have fun!”

And with that, I bit the inside of my cheek, mixed a stiff drink, and committed to the required stages of primping. I figured a fun hairdo, along with the gin, would be a sure fire way to get me excited. Well it failed, and I was late to dinner.

But within five minutes of walking in the door, I was into another drink and in deep conversation with new and old friends. In between stories I sat back in my chair to observe the room. And at that moment I had to smile at myself for being so happy when just an hour earlier, I was dead set on a date with my pajamas and a movie.

It was one of those moments when I realized that at this point in my life, I will practically never say “yes” to something I would regret (except for that extra martini).  Whether it is dinner with friends, a long run in the park, or a trip to Brooklyn, I decided to just say “yes” to everything.

Once I made the conscious decision to do so, I realized just how often I was saying “no”.  My inner loner personality never wanted to commit to anything, because heaven forbid I would rather be doing something else, even if it was nothing at all. But at the end of the day, it is

1.   Keep Giving love
2.   Make time for yourself
3.   Get out of your own way
4.   Stay present
5.   Use color to uplift you
6.   Eat healthily
7.   Get out in nature
8.   Help others
9.   Take a chance on yourself
10. Give up criticism and complaining
11. Be generous
12. Make a contribution
13. Open up
14. Communicate
15. Surround yourself with friends and loved ones
16. Take yourself on a date once a week
17. Meditate
18. Eat something you loved eating as a child
19. Laugh
20. Give hugs
21. Get a good night’s sleep
22. Exercise
23. Focus on gratitude
24. Believe in yourself
25. Live for the journey instead of the result

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Hugs,

Betsy Karp,
Founder of i adore me