Quick warning, if you are one of my guy followers (unless you wax) this is probably of no interest to you so?you may want to?stop reading now. Go read my husband’s blog at www.barfieldmanagement.com. I’m sure he is something much more manly going on over there.

On with the story. This summer I had decided for the first time ever to get my armpits waxed. I used to regularly get my eyebrows waxed so I know the pain. Deciding about the armpits was not a decision I took lightly. I knew it would really hurt, especially the first time. I reasoned with myself that (a) I had a friend who does it and she is a huge baby. I know I am way?tougher than she is. And (b) I’ve given birth 3 times. One of them naturally. So, I am not some wimp.

I, being the way I am, set out on my research about armpit waxing and how bad it really hurts. As I’m doing some research (asking my massage therapist during my session) I learned about doing it yourself. She told me she does her own and it’s not really that bad. For some reason this sounded like a better idea to me than getting it professionally done. I don’t know why I thought that, but I did. I think it had something to do with being afraid I would cry in front of a stranger over something like waxing. How embarrassing that would be. Since I’m not a wimp I don’t want a stranger seeing me cry. So I find out from her exactly what I need and what I need to do.?

?I’ve got my list of supplies, my instructions, and off I go to my health food store to get some strips and wax. I get my little waxing kit home and start to read the instructions. First, I have to wait several weeks so my armpits can be nice and hairy. It’s gross, I know, but that’s what it says. Now I’ve got disgusting armpits that are ready for a waxing. Time fore?me to?sort out the different sizes of strips, like it says, and? pick the ones I’m going to need for my specific area. I heat my wax, like it says, but I have no idea how hot this wax is suppose to really be. (The instructions that came with the kit were not really clear on this.) I make it to where it feels pretty warm to me. I’m thinking too hot could be bad, but not hot enough could be as well.

Now I’m ready. I’ve got the wax all over the hair (like instructions say), the strip is covering the wax and hair (like instructions say), I’m rubbing the strip down and waiting (like instructions say), all that’s left is to rip it off in the opposite direction of the hair growth (like instructions say). Problem arises (not mentioned in instructions),?the strip doesn’t want to bring the wax with it when it comes off. I rip, hard and fast, and all I get is literally two hairs.?Plus the wax is still stuck all over my armpit. I’m thinking, great I have to do the whole thing again. I try to just stick the strip back on the wax since it’s still warm and pull again. Not happening. My skin is just pulling with the strip and leaving all the wax behind. Okay, well I’ll try the other side. Maybe I just didn’t get a good yank since I was using my left hand. Worse case scenario, I’ll do one side and have my husband do the other. (That’s right, he loves me enough that he would do this).

I start to try and clean off the side I had just attempted. I’m using a washcloth and water, but that wax is already drying on and it’s not coming off that easy. Lucky for me the kit came with some special oil to help you remove extra wax. I use it to try to get this stuff off of me. Time for round two. I just know this will go better since I’ll be using my right hand. It is after all my dominant hand. No such luck! Same problem, different armpit. By now I’m pretty sore and tender and thinking it would be a good idea to take a break. Maybe try tomorrow. So I rinse and repeat just like I did before to clean up my mess.

What I didn’t realize was that I didn’t get all the wax cleaned off. I thought I did. It felt and looked like I did, but I so did not get all that wax off. I’m going about my business a little later on, go to raise my arm and… it’s STUCK. Not just a little stuck, really stuck. Try other arm and…it’s ?STUCK, too. Oh my GOSH!!! All I’m thinking is my armpits are glued together and my husband will never let me forget this. I had to try and rip them apart just like the little strip. But this hurt quite a bit worse since it had time to get really stuck together. I got that little bottle of oil out and practically poured the whole?thing on just to make sure I really got all the wax off this time. That clean up was a true success and I didn’t get stuck to myself anymore that day or any day since.

The moral of my story and the lesson?to be learned?is, if you don’t know how to do something and are uncertain of your ability, go ahead and try.?You never know what you’re capable of unless you give it a shot. But, if you try and you get your armpits glued together, you need to leave it to the professionals and NEVER try again.

Breast Cancer Awareness month is now?in full swing.? Everywhere you turn there’s someone showing their support for breast cancer awareness.? There are jewelers selling pink ribbon pendants with a percentage of proceeds going to breast cancer research.? You’ve got NFL teams wearing pink to show their support for breast cancer awareness.? Several places are providing free mammograms this month. There are celebrations going on, walks to raise money, commercials promoting early detection is the key to the cure, and so on and so on and so on.? It has to make you wonder with all of the money spent on finding a cure and treatment for breast cancer why it is more common than it was in the past.? Fifty years ago 1 in 20 women had breast cancer and now that number is a scary 1 in 8.? What is going on here?? With all the money being poured into breast cancer research? shouldn’t things be better not worse?

What you’re not seeing on tv are ways to prevent breast cancer.? You don’t hear everyday about some simple things you can do to decrease your chances of breast cancer.? No one is telling you the dangers of mammograms, they just keep telling you to get them.? And the age they want you getting them just keeps getting younger and younger.? If you want to learn simple ways to help prevent breast cancer you really have to go out there searching for it.??It’s not exactly easy to find?the information online, but it’s out there.? ?I’m going to tell you?some easy things that you can do to help lower your chances of getting breast cancer.?

First?thing? is DO NOT GET A MAMMOGRAM!!? That’s right, I’m saying do not?get a mammogram.? Dr. Charles B. Simone, a former clinical associate in immunology and pharmacology at the National Cancer Institute says, “Mammograms increase the risk for developing breast cancer and raise the risk of spreading or metastasizing an existing growth.”??For premenopausal women mammograms pose an even greater risk because the breasts are so highly sensitive to radiation.? It’s such a risk that no other nation practices mammography on premenopausal women, but?here women as young as 30 are encouraged to get them.? Mammograms provide false tumor reports 5 to 15 percent of the time.? False positive results lead to more exposure to radiation through more mammograms and possibly unneeded surgery.? There is no actual evidence that mammograms save lives, but yet that is what we are led to believe.? In fact, the National Cancer Institute even admits that doing monthly breast self exams?can be?as effective?in finding early tumors and without the radiation risks.? In case you are wondering at this point why mammograms are being pushed on us the way they are, well I can give you billions of reasons.???Actually, it’s an excess of 10 billion dollars annually.? No wonder they say we have to have mammograms.? A breast self exam is quite a bit cheaper than that…free.? You can do it yourself and if you don’t know how you can learn how to do it online, for free.?

Another easy thing you can do is watch your diet.? Eat organic food.? Organic food is free of herbicides and pesticides which can increase the risk of breast cancer because the chemicals interfere with normal cell growth.??Certified organic meats and dairy products?are free of hormones like bovine growth hormone, a chemical fed to cows that has been shown to promote the growth of breast cancer cells.? Minimize your whites – white rice, white flour, white potatoes, sugar and products containing them. These foods trigger hormonal changes that promote cellular growth in breast tissue. Watch your fats, minimize the omega-6 fats and maximize the omega-3 fats.? Eat monounsaturated oils (canola, olive oil, nuts/seeds, avocados) as your primary fat source because?these foods have potential anticancer properties.

Stay away from parabens.? Parabens are used in thousands of different cosmetics and foods?as a preservative.? Research parabens, find out all the different names of these parabens and then avoid them.? It may seem that it’s in everything, but you can find products without it.? I use makeup, shampoo, conditioner, shave gel, soap, etc that is all paraben free.? Once you know what you’re looking for it’s not difficult to find.? Parabens can be inhaled, ingested through food and absorbed through the skin.? Parabens are being found in breast cancer tumor samples showing that they can stay intact in the body and that they are stored in breast tissue.?

These are just a few of many things that you can do to help lower your risk of getting breast cancer.? If you take a little time to do some research, you’ll find plenty of information to help you be healthy.? It’s all up to you to take care of yourself.??It’s not just about early detection, treatment and finding a cure.? It’s also about being responsible for your life and your actions.? Eating toxic food,?being in?a toxic environment and living a toxic life is a huge contributor to breast cancer.? I do believe that there is prevention for breast cancer.? Until women start talking about alternatives though?and refusing to do the traditional forms of treatment, then things will not get better.? I’d love to see that 1 in 8 statistic return to the place it was fifty years ago at 1 in 20 or even better.?

“You cannot poison your body into health with drugs, chemo or radiation. Health can only be achieved with healthful living.” ~ T.C. Fry

Do not let drama bother you on the holiday season. Here is a tip from a guest Vlogger Marlene Chism on one way to avoid Holiday drama.

If you like Marlene’s perspective and want to learn more, help her become an Amazon #1 best seller by purchasing your copy of her book Success Is A Given on December 10th. For your convenience, we have provided this link for you – Get The Book.

Marlene Chism is a communications strategist and founder of www.stopyourdrama.com.

She is the author of Success is a Given: Reading the Signs While Reinventing Your Life.

To learn more about the book go to www.successisagiven.com