‘Freshness’ always brought, still brings and will always bring to mind the 1975 ‘Liril waterfall commercial’ – the epitome of freshness, totally “Fresshhaaa!!” The bright teenager against the sparkling waterfall with the background jingle “laa, la-r-la la………. come alive with Liril freshness, tingling, tangier with the exciting freshness of life…Liril – the freshness soap to make a fresh new woman of you” brought a certain sense of novelty to the concept of freshness.
So, how does one look and stay fresh all day long? Do we start looking for waterfalls around our house to bathe in…well certainly not! For ordinary mortals like us, who are trudging through the daily humdrum of life, looking and staying fresh becomes a challenge in itself.
In general, we do need to follow a certain diet and a personal look-after-regime. So drinking adequate amount of water in a day is absolutely essential. What is the adequate amount of water and other fluids intake varies from research to research; however, we can safely presume that it should be just enough that we should not have to rush to the washroom a bit too often! It is also important to eat healthy to look fresh. Eating fried and calorific food will make us look dull, dreary and fatigued. So lots of vegetables and fruits in our daily diet is a must. Exercise is another essential. Gymming, walking, cycling, running – do whatever pleases you, but it needs to be done. It makes the body fresh, active and ready to go!
Other fundamental tips to follow in our daily routine for the body to be ‘fresh as a daisy’, at the risk of obvious truisms, are:
* Adequate and undisturbed sleep. I am purposely not using the standard maxim ‘8 hours of sleep’ as it may be 8 hours for some and, maybe, just 5 hours for others. So, to each his own.
* Wake up ‘Calm’. Grouchiness in the morning can ruin the entire day.
* You don’t need your mommy to remind you that bathing daily and wearing clean clothes everyday will keep you fresh.
* Use a good deodorant and antiperspirant. You can’t feel fresh if you smell like rotten eggs! Sadly, Indians, both gents and ladies, have still not got the importance of using a deodorant daily.
* Follow the famous axiom – “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.”
* Listen to good music. Music is like food for the soul and goes a long way in keeping us buzzing with energy.
* Positive thinking is the only way. If you think you are Nostradamus and your world is definitely going to end today, it’s almost a cinch it will and your worried face and body language will suck away all the freshness from your body. A smiling face lights you up!
* Wash your face every two or three hours, using soap if you have oily skin. This habit is something that Indians are loath to follow. However, I know of a couple of people who do this in office; not surprisingly, they always look clean and fresh and smelling nice. It would be a great idea to keep soap, a towel and a mouthwash in your office to use as often as possible.
* End the day thinking of new Ideas. It may be just wishful thinking and building sandcastles in the air but it will energize your brain and make you feel excited to look forward to the next day.
Eventually, however clichéd it may sound, the truth is that, ‘freshness’ depends on our ‘attitude’. We may eat healthy and have an awesome workout at the gym and spend our entire day at the salon, but if we have a wrong mental attitude we would have spent a fortune without even getting an ounce of ‘freshness’ in return.
Visual Courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/58842866@N08/
