Positivitea Cup Six: (More) Unsolicited Advice

By now, you should know that I love giving my two cents. I am a self-proclaimed know-it-all and I just love giving unsolicited advice. My advice is terrible, but nonetheless, I love to give it. What better way to feed my insatiable need to spread my weak and common sense knowledge around than another unsolicited advice post?

1. Smile every day

Do all things with a smile. Your cheeks and jaw might ache a bit, but smiling your way through stuff is just a fun way to live through life. Look, I get it, I have an RBF and sometimes it's just easier to let your face do its natural droopy thing...but smiling is so fun! HOWEVER, if a man tries to tell you that you should smile more...don't do it. Fight them. Just kidding don't fight them but like...don't fall for that misogynistic and sexist BS, okay? Smile for yourself on your own time and merit. Smile because you want to smile, not because someone (or rather, some jerk) asks you to.

2. Take the high road

I like be bitter and petty just as much as the next person, but sometimes you just gotta buckle up and take the high road on things. Don't let drama in the past affect you in the present. Play your cards right and don't show your weakness or vulnerability. Don't let the other person see that it bothers you. Just sort of fake it til you make it if you have to, you know? Be the bigger person. I swear, sometimes that will drive them crazier than trying to stoop to their level. So keep your head high and mosey your way through the rough patch!

3. Buy the shirt

I had something similar to this in my last post, but it had to do with free Victoria's Secret underwear. I talked a lot about that in the last advice post...I digress, sometimes we just need to buy the shirt or the dress or the mascara. I don't know what your preference is between clothing and makeup. I'm not saying you should binge purchase every piece of clothing or makeup that you slightly like. But if you can stop thinking about a shirt or a pair of jeans or shoes...just buy them. Buy them and bask in their existence. We can't all afford to buy everything in the world that we want, but if you really want something and you can swing it, just do it and call it a reward. Chances are you worked hard for that money and even if you didn't...we are all entitled to rewarding ourself for just getting through the weeks. Getting through a day can be a struggle to some people and that's okay. Treat yourself once in a while and just buy the shirt, okay?

4. Don't accept everything

This could definitely apply to drinks from strangers at parties, but this is mostly about how people treat you. You don't just have to turn the other cheek. I'm non-confrontational, but you know when you've hit a sore spot when I retaliate. You don't have to take everything that people dish you. You don't have to accept the negativity or the off-hand comments. You don't have to deal with the crappy people in your life who don't treat you wish the same respect that you treat them or that you deserve. Don't accept that that is how they are. Don't accept any mistreatment to you or your character. You deserve more than that.

5. It's okay to have bad days

This took me forever to learn and I still struggle with it. Slightly contradictory to my first piece of advice, but some days you just don't feel like smiling. I get it, I totally get it. It can happen after a long week or sometimes it just hits you out of nowhere. There is no written work that tells you that you have to be happy every day and even if there was, it'd be an impossible feat. You can't be happy or positive all of the time. You can try, but it's human nature to have our down days. It's what you do with those down days that counts. Sometimes you can snap yourself out of it, but there is certainly no harm or shame in just wallowing for a bit. You can sit down and relax or lay down and do absolutely nothing for twelve hours straight. There is no one way to treat down days and I think that's something that we all have to tailor to our own needs. It's just very important to know that having bad days is completely okay. It's normal, we all have them! Some have more than others, but that doesn't speak any less of their character or state of being. We all have to take care of ourselves and treat ourselves with the utmost kindness!