One Drastic Change Can Make You Feel Powerful

I am not an advocate for frequently spontaneous living. If I were, I doubt that I'd be as grounded or as happy as I am today; not to say that it's bad for everyone, I just know that it wouldn't work for me. Case in point: due to a jarring life event in October, I really badly wanted a very specific tattoo. If I hadn't been a mound of a pregnant woman by then, I know that I could have convinced myself to get a babysitter one day and head over to my nearest tattoo parlor right away. Typically, spontaneous, for me, equals permanently life-altering decisions. For some of you, it may not be a tattoo. You might want your huge change to be a cross-country move. Or perhaps you might find yourself wedded in a chapel on the Vegas strip. Those of you who realize the value in cultivating a new makeup look may be interested in cosmetology school.

All of that being said, I do happen to be an advocate for a particular remedy to the everyday blahs -- one drastic change. With the drama of teenage and pre-married life behind me, I tend to get in ruts that make me feel antsy. Sometimes my life is going a little too well or a little too ordinarily, which tempts me to cause some upheaval in my personal relationships or spend an exorbitant amount of money on something trivial. If this sounds familiar, it's probably because my blog has already covered many of these silly decisions. I realized that I needed to change this behavior in order to get happier.

So, I decided to start doing things that a) cost little to nothing, b) were not permanent, and most importantly, c) makes a big enough change in some facet of my life that causes people to take notice.

Here's some photographic evidence of a few of my drastic adventures.

 I decided to live by a mantra. I found a quotation from an O Magazine I had; the gist of the quotations was that everyone has several "lives" within their lifetime, and only the brave will stand up at the beginning on each new life and embrace it. All of my decisions for awhile were guided by the mantra, "I am brave enough to live this new life." Another mantra I used was, "Live with the passion of a rock star."

Bring the bold with the make-up, any aspect of it, and you will not regret it. My two go-to items are black liquid eyeliner and bright red lipstick, though rarely at the same time (I say rarely because sometimes a girl has to go to a crazy party and wear both, alright?). The main idea with this drastic change is to commit! No matter what the situation, if you are wearing sweat pants or high heels, rocking a dramatic make-up look can alleviate any antsy mood.

I took control of my health in the time when I felt like I had lost the reins on every other aspect of my life. After a few hiccups, I had lost 45 pounds, had a smaller waist than I had in my post-puberty life, and felt so, so strong. If losing weight isn't your thing, I still highly recommend taking a choke-hold on some health-related thing in your life. Even drinking tons more water will make people take notice -- newly-glowing skin and frequent bathroom visits are not easy to ignore.

A habit from my youth is filling an empty afternoon with moving every one of my belongings around my room/house. This drastic change is absolutely free and can help you appreciate all of the cool stuff you have collected over your life. Most recently, I totally gave my living room and Jack's room a feng shui makeover and it boosted my mood to the max; one downside was that I was on my 57th week pregnant, and I probably should not have been moving furniture. But, when one needs a change, it's hard to ignore the call!

And, as always, you can't go wrong with a good old-fashioned hair cut. It's not permanent, is potentially cheap to accomplish, and is the perfect canvas for letting your imagination go wild! My dream is to get some hot pink going on sometime in the summer.

 So when your life needs a little tinkering, here is a bit of an idea reference. I'm always looking for new ways to be drastic, though -- I love it!