The Dilemma of Shopping

So now that I need two completely different wardrobes, one for work and one for SO not at work, I find myself in a conundrum.  Why is it that the clothing looks so amazing online and when you go to the store the stuff looks cheap/doesn’t fit/is just ridiculous?  Can’t they show us the clothing on a model then provide a little picture of what it is going to look like on a real person who eats food and drinks beers?  Come on!  If I see a dress on a model online I can almost one hundred percent guarantee that dress is going to look like crap on me!  Not only that, the mirrors in some of the changing rooms at the stores are soooo not flattering (maybe it’s the lighting, I don’t know).  I swear I need to take a double dose of antidepressants before shopping for clothing (don’t even get me started on summer stuff! Shorts......Ug.)

Maybe I need to open a boutique called "Clothing That Will Fit YOU" or "Had A Sandwich For Lunch? Clothing Boutique for Women".  There would, of course, be many fat hiding clothing sections!  Have back fat?  Check out our Hide That Back Fat Section!  Flappy arms? Please see the "Three Quarter Sleeve on Everything" isle.  Still sporting that baby bump 12 years later?  Be sure to hit the "Extra Hold in the Midsection" isle.  I would seriously be a millionaire.  The concept of clothing for real people cannot be new.  Can it?

There Comes A Time........

Every once and awhile my head clears and I realize I am on a life hamster wheel that continues to roll in the same cage with the same bits of sawdust.  It’s a little unnerving when this realization hits because you never know how much time you have left to accomplish all that you need to.  I had this hit me as I was walking out of work with a co-worker a few weeks ago.  The normal end of day pleasantries led to the comment “see ya tomorrow where we get to do the same thing all over again”.  Yup, same stuff, the only difference is the date on the calendar changes.  

Part of the wheel involves things that are necessary evils, like work and life maintenance.  Day after day people seem to get up, go to work, walk the dog (if you have one), exercise (maybe), take your kid(s) to their activities (if you have em), eat lunch, eat dinner, eat snacks (generally eat too much), clean the damn house and maybe do a few things that make you happy, if you can find what makes you happy.    I am positive that there are people out there who genuinely enjoy the wheel.  I have actually met people who do not care to have a plan for their upcoming years.  Those people who answer “I don’t know” when you ask them what their five year plan is.  Are they just satisfied with living out their lives one day at a time, doing the same thing over and over?  Maybe they are.  The prospect of this seems sad to me.  So very sad.  Is it complacency or hopelessness?   

I really think stepping off the wheel is the scary part.   Or maybe realizing you are on a wheel at all.  Making changes is frightening personally and for those around you.  So what’s the key to getting off the wheel?  Is it having a job you absolutely love to go to every day?  One that you feel like you are making a difference in the world?  Is it leaving your job and all the responsibilities behind and joining the circus (after getting any and all necessary dental work done!)?  Or is it having hobbies that give you joy?  I am pretty sure the answer is different for everyone.  The big question is - Do you need to get off the wheel and find what makes you happy?  

(SIDE BAR to this really depressing post - I wrote this post months ago, about two weeks before a exuberant, life living, amazing friend passed away.  It hit me that he did NOT have a life hamster wheel and spent, what seemed like, every minute of his life living and loving every damn minute to the fullest.  His passing hit me very hard because I realized that there is absolutely no crystal ball of life and it is extremely important to live each day, hour and minute like it could be your last!  We all know this deep in our hearts ...... but do we live it?)