Wanted: Satisfaction!Written by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
"Newsweek" recently published an article on "Mommy Madness." (Feb. 21, 2005) Judith Warner writes of "the push to be perfect," that type of hands-on mothering society expects of women today is "utterly incompatible with any kind of outside work, or friendship, or life." Jeff Opdyke, who writes "Love & Money" column in Wall Street Journal recently moved with his family from New Jersey to Louisiana so that his wife Amy could take a new full-time managerial position (she had previously worked part-time). Over course of three columns, he wrote of difficult toll move and change in roles had taken on him, his wife, and their eight-year-old son. When it was Amy's turn to speak, she told of feeling overwhelmed and struggling to balance her high-pressure job with a busy family. Life just wasn't working as she had pictured it would.Yes, motherhood is hard, but mothers are not only women who suffer from a chronic case of dissatisfaction. Society is somehow always telling women that we should be doing something or being someone other than who we are right now. If we are single, people ask when we are going to get married. If we are married, people ask when we are going to have children. If we have children and go to work, we should be at home. If we have children and stay home, people wonder why we are "wasting" our education. If we are young, we should look older. If we are getting along in years, we should frantically chase that fountain of youth, whether it comes in a bottle, a pill, or operating room. We should be thinner, prettier, and more successful. We have internalized these messages to such a degree that our loudest critic just may be voice inside our own heads! We try so hard to measure up to some ideal vision of whom we should be and feel defeated when we don't meet that perfected version of ourselves. So, then, how do we stop cycle? How do we stop defining ourselves by what world expects us to be, and instead focus on life God intended for us? First, we must embrace idea that our worth comes from God, not from our personal achievements or our possessions. God shaped us in our mother's womb. He knows us and loves us for who we are and where we are right now. Yes, we may be a little rough around edges, but as long as we keep trying to live each day according to God's will, we are working at making those edges smooth. The old adage that "God isn't finished with me yet" has a great deal of truth to it. We are all works in progress.
| | How To Clean Gold JewelryWritten by Ben Sather
Gold jewelry to a woman is priceless. Although gold jewelry comes in many different styles and colors, care and cleaning procedure for all golden treasures remain same. Good common sense is your best guide, and these important tips on how to clean gold jewelry will help you keep your exquisite pieces lustrous and shining. Gold is tarnish-resistant, but it can get dirty or smudged. Lotions, powders, soaps, even natural skin oils that we use regularly can cover your jewelry and cut down their brilliance. Jewelry cleaning removes any such build-up or residue and restores original sparkle and shine to make your precious jewelries last a lifetime. Although numerous commercial products are available to clean gold jewelry, most often water and a mild detergent is sufficient to restore radiance, and a soft brush helps to gently clean intricate filigree designs and stones. Sometimes it can be helpful to soak gold jewelry in a solution of one part ammonia and six parts water for up to sixty seconds. It is imperative to dry and polish your gold jewelry with a chamois or soft cloth after cleaning. Jewelry polishing cloths are an effective and inexpensive way of keeping your bits of gold glittering and radiant. These essential cotton cloths help to remove tarnish and to buff jewelry to look as good as new. Avoid wearing jewelry while in contact with household chemicals, such as chlorine bleach as this can discolor or damage your gold jewelry mountings.
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