Ok, slight overstatement, but those Dove squares just get me. Whoever in their PR department decided to write little messages on the wrappers really knew what they were doing.

I was going to write a post on my general lack of self-control when it comes to those little geometric pieces of temptation but instead, I decided to flip the switch and view it in a positive light. So what if I’ve eaten almost an entire bag in the past five days? That’s five days’ worth of confidence-building, life-inspiring, day-changing advice, right? Right!

I kept the wrappers lying around the apartment all week and, after a fun scavenger hunt last night, collected all the best tokens of wisdom I could find, ones that really spoke to me and had an impact on my day-to-day life. So without further ado, the lessons I’ve learned from Dove.

“Stretch your body, stretch your mind”

• This one should come as no surprise that it stuck out to me. I think it’s so important to stretch, whether that be stretch physically (which, ironically, is what I’m the worst at), mentally or spiritually. I love to hear other people’s life views and opinions, learn about other cultures and debate over current events and politics. I can’t imagine a life more boring than deciding what you believe and then never being open to hearing other opinions. It’s so good for the brain to “stretch” past its everyday thinking and really branch out to hear and understand the differences in the world.

“Seek out small pleasures” and “Enjoy the small things in life”

• I’ve noticed that a lot of people are quick to notice the bad things and skip over the good, especially when it comes to little things. I’d be lying if I said I don’t fall into the same trap, but I’m usually good about stopping to smell the roses, if you catch my drift. I’m known to stop in the middle of a walk to notice a beautiful painting in a store window or cut my run short to sit on the beach and stare out at the lake. You just HAVE to. The world is so miraculous and enough bad things happen on a daily basis that, if you don’t take notice of the good things or make room for small pleasures, you’ll just become one giant stress ball waiting to explode. No Bueno.

 “Create a happy place”

• I’m definitely guilty of always looking to my surroundings to make me happy. “If I could just not sit at a desk all day I’d be happy,” “If our apartment was cleaner I’d be happy,” “If I had enough money to take more roadtrips I’d be happy.” But maybe happiness will come when I make every moment a “happy place.” It goes back to perspective, which I’ve talked about so many times. Also, I think it’s so important to come up with a ritual that puts you in a happy place. Whether it be a bubble bath or on a yoga mat reading a trashy magazine or in a local coffee shop sipping on a latte, we all need a ritual that centers us. Happy places are out there, just waiting for us to create them.

 “Too much of a good thing is wonderful”

• This is interesting. The minute I opened this one I laughed because I thought, “Wow, perfect excuse to eat tons of chocolate!” Why is it that my mind always goes to binging on food when I think of rewards, celebrations, “good things”, etc.? Binging on chocolate takes a good thing and turns it bad, because let’s be honest, who feels amazing after scarfing down 35 pieces of chocolate in ten minutes? Too much of a good thing means more than just eating good food – for me it means taking more walks after dinner, staying up an extra hour to see a new episode of Chopped, running an extra mile because I feel a rush of energy at the end of my planned distance, etc.

 “Smile”

• It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Now listen to some fun music and have a great Friday – the weekend is only hours away!

Questions:

• What’s your favorite type of Dove chocolate? I love regular milk chocolate, dark chocolate caramel and dark chocolate sea salt
• What’s your favorite cliche lesson you’ve learned? Please don’t say  “Dance like nobody’s watching” – this isn’t your 13-year-old dream board… 😉