1. Wear sunscreen daily. No tanning beds (not really my thing anyway) and no sunbathing with SPF 4. Not only will those rays make you look older, but they are downright dangerous. A friend just lost her husband (only 33 years-old) to melanoma and I spent way too many days in the sun (sans-'screen) in AZ as a youngster. Must repent.
2. To go along with the above, see my doctors regularly. Dermatologist to check moles. Dentist (holding out for new insurance after the new year - after that, I mean business). I try to be tough most of the time but there is much that can be prevented - or at the least, nipped in the bud - by being proactive about health and seeing a professional.
3. Back to vanity... use under-eye cream daily. As a child, I was the only toddler with bags under my eyes. I've always had dark under-eye circles as well - I am surprised that no one called social services on my parents with suspicions that they were abusing me. I had what looked to be two distinct shiners. But the puffiness and darkness is dramatically improved when I use a little eye cream with cucumber or another cooling, soothing ingredient. If I actually use it regularly, I can create the illusion that I've slept more than 10 hours in the past week...
4. Be better, and smarter, about taking my vitamins regularly and as directed. What do I need and what is unnecessary (or even dangerous)? Are there special instructions for how or when I should take it for the vitamin to be most effective?
5. Dress smarter. I have a LOT of clothes. I don't wear most of them, but they take up space in my closet, drawers, dressers and storage. That much clothing. Anyway, just because I'm getting older doesn't mean that I am turning in all of my old clothes for some frumpy frocks, but as my mom pointed out, nice clothes are an investment and can be worn in many ways. My mother is much for fashionable and quality-conscious than I am. But I know that I still wear plenty of pants and tops that are well past their prime, but by some miracle still "fit" (relative term) and haven't completely fallen apart yet. But they make me look sloppy, unpolished, unprofessional. I need to cull my closet and be selective about what not only fits, but flatters a thirty-year-old like me.
6. I also need to be smarter about makeup. I should mention that I've already taken a step toward improvement in this area, as I took a formal "makeup lesson" yesterday. Again, it's not just a matter of slapping stuff on, it's knowing what about me, uniquely, should be highlighted, and what should be downplayed or hidden. And how to do it all tastefully, classily, seamlessly. I have very little patience for taking time to do my makeup, hair, etc. But if I do make the time, the results are worth it. Especially as I get older, it becomes more and more imperative to take a few extra moments to put myself together.
7. Back to the personal development stuff - be more open-minded. As I have gotten older, I noticed that I'm getting a little more set in my ways. I'm glad that I've noticed this tendency because now I can confront it. While I've always been a "live and let live" person and I'd never go as far as to tell someone else what they should or should not do, I should never even silently judge anyone for being different from me. Who says I'm right and they're wrong, or that there is even a "right" or "wrong" in the matter, any way?
8. No regrets. This is probably the hardest one and I need to be honest with myself, I'll always have a few regrets. But I when I'm in the face of a decision and hemming and hawing over what to do, I want to pause to ask myself if one way or the other I will later regret not seizing an opportunity, taking a stand, making a move. It is not in my nature to be a crazy risk taker, and that's okay. It is important to stay true to myself and not pretend I'm something I'm not, but it's also important to slightly push my comfort boundaries in the name of self-improvement.
I'm not good with age so this is all quite difficult. But by keeping my resolutions in mind, I hope that my 30th year can be one of my best.
