#88 - Tell A Random Man That He Is Beautiful

I'm so thankful that this one is officially off my list. I don't even understand why I thought it would be a good idea in the first place! Something about "open up and don't be afraid to be vulnerable." To whomever gave me this advice, here's my advice about your advice: keep it to yourself!

Let's talk about how unsuccessful #88 was. Not only was the guy caught off guard and not entirely impressed, but I'm sure he was ready to kick me out of the pub. Why? Because the guy was the bouncer! I'm sure he thought that I had one too many drinks when really I was sober the entire time. Describing this situation as embarrassing is an understatement; mortified is better. Lesson learned: keep certain comments to myself.

And with that, #88 is gone for good. And so is my pride. ugh.

L.S.

#90 - Write A Letter To A Friend And Send It Via Snail Mail

You're probably thinking that this is a simple thing to do and who wouldn't think that. But have *you* ever spent the time to sit down with a pen and paper and write out a letter to your friend? And then remember to send the letter the next day? Why would you when you have facebook or email or text or bbm? And that's exactly why I put this on my 101 list, because it rarely ever happens!

There's something magical about receiving a personal letter in the mail. For me, it's knowing that somebody took the time to sit down, write their thoughts out, go to the post office, and lick that yucky-tasting stamp onto the envelope. People don't have extra time to waste nowadays, but knowing that somebody went out of their way to send you a letter - that's special for me! And so, I did exactly that - sit down and write a letter to Stephanie.

I think you should try it (whoever 'you' are.) And hey, the best thing your doing when writing that letter is knowing that soon enough you'll be making somebody's day.

Love,
Lady Sovereign

#76: Become More Acquainted With My Religious Views

Many of you know that I'm a Christian person: I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, and I believe in the Holy Spirit. However, I have never really identified myself with a particular religion. My parents say they are Pentecostal and I lean towards that, but I have a problem with identifying myself to one religion. Why? Because I don't believe that ONE religion has the answers. And so, I rely on my faith and my beliefs and in God to direct me to the "right" answers.

When I moved back to Calgary after Victoria, I spent a lot of time with my family and close friend Elda, and I got a chance to become acquainted with Christianity. The marvelous thing about my family and Elda is that they each hold a slightly different view on religion. They have many things in common, such a Jesus being the son of God, God the creator of this world, and the Bible as the book of answers. Of course, between all of us, we hold a different view on how this world was created. Please note, I'm not a creationist and I don't believe this world was created in 2011 years ago. Nope.

Being surrounded by them questioned my own views because I wanted to make sure that what I was believing was, in my view, correct. And to me, what I view is correct! I don't expect somebody else to come along and believe exactly in what I believe nor do I expect to believe in what they believe. I do, however, believe that we believe in many different things which seems correct to us. And I think that's the beauty of Christianity - we are all right and we are all wrong. But what matters is how we live our lives and how we respond to God when that time comes.

I can sit here today and say that 90% of the time I lead my life the way God wants me to. The other 10% I'm battling with (ex, expected to go to church every Sunday.) But my faith allows to me know that if I don't go to church every Sunday, I'm not going to be condemned; rather, I acknowledge God as much as I can every day and thank Him for my blessings. I don't need church to remind me of why I'm here, why God is here, and how I should live my life.

With all of that being said, I respect everyone's beliefs and everyone's faith. I know that conflict will always exist because of religion, but I find it ironic that God tells us to love one another, and yet we fight and kill over God. I will never fight and never kill because of God; instead I will love you and I will respect you because of God, and even if you don't believe in Him, He believes in you and loves you more because of it.

L.S.

#54 - Go a Week Without Wearing Make Up

Wearing make up is like wearing underwear: an essential. To go out to town without mascara or eyeliner takes a lot of courage, and not because I feel hideous without make up, but because I know I look better with it on, so why the hell would I leave the house knowing that I could look better?

I live by MAC. Plush Lash, Studio Fix, Mineralize Skinfinish - I have it all because it's amazing. So to put it aside for one week and go natural seemed impossible. Alas, I accomplished #54.

Let me explain how #54 was accomplished. Plain and simple, really: I got Bell's Palsy. For those that don't know, Bell's palsy temporarily paralyzes one or both sides of your face. In my case, it was my left side. It was discouraging to go out because I was self-conscious of how I appeared to other people. In all honesty, I didn't want people thinking that I had a permanently paralyzed face. As such, I avoided going out and opted to stay inside instead. Besides, I couldn't really drive because my eye couldn't blink, therefore causing my left eye to become very dry and me having to close my eyes for a period of time. This doesn't work to well on the road! So, since I had nowhere to go and nowhere to be, I stayed home and was make-up free for a week.

Now, for the gals that may be reading this, please note that going a week without mascara does wonders for your eyelashes. Mine were full and long and amaaaazing!

Now that the Bell's palsy is almost gone, I'm back to wearing make up because I'm back to going out. Would I do it again? Probably, since I liked how my skin felt and looked. But I hope that the next time I go without make up it's because I don't have Bell's palsy.

Love,
Lady S.