Life Is Short, Wear Your Party Pants

I have a book that I can go to for encouragement anytime I feel the need and here lately, I’ve needed it a lot. Life Is Short-Wear Your Party Pants by stress management consultant Loretta LaRoche reminds us to slow down, love more and treat ourselves more kindly. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. I know I beat myself over the head when I don’t get all of the things on my “To-Do” list done. I stretch myself too thin and then wonder why I can’t get it all done…sound familiar?? Her practical advice about wearing your Party Pants will set you free to claim peace and happiness in your life!


Loretta said her Mom used to say “You never know.” They would clean the house on Saturdays because…”You never know.” In the middle of a wonderful meal her Mother would remind them to save leftovers because…“You never know. Small pieces of wax paper were saved, as well as string and empty egg cartons because…well, you know! She said she kept trying to understand what it was she didn’t know but needed to know. She used to ask her Mother if something bad was going to happen, but then her Mom would counter with, “Someday you’ll see.” She had a hard time coping with all of this as a child, but the thing that really pushed her over the edge was underwear. Her Mother bought her the most hideous underpants, on sale…the kind that wouldn’t wear out, ever. Loretta longed for the kind that were pretty and feminine with little flowers and lace. When her Mother finally had a weak moment and bought her a pair she was ecstatic, until Mom said the usual: that she couldn’t wear them often because… “You never know.” She added they were going to be her “Party Pants.” Just how many parties did a nine year old go to? The pants stayed in the drawer surrounded by their ugly step-underpants. She wore them twice, she still had them but they didn’t fit anymore!

Loretta mentions a favorite story about a woman who was in her kitchen preparing roast beef for dinner. Her young daughter was watching her make the meal, and the young girl asked, “Mommy, why did you cut the ends off the roast beef?”And the Mother told her: “Honey, that’s just the way you prepare it.”“But why?”And the Mother had to think about it for a second and acknowledged, “You know, I’m not sure why. It’s just the way my Mother did it, and I’m sure she had a good reason.”“Let’s ask Grandma.”So the woman called her Mother and asked why she cut the ends off the roast beef. The older woman had to admit she didn’t really know why she id it either, but she did it because that’s the way her Mother prepared the roast beef. So they called the old woman, the child’s great-great-grandmother who was now in her 90’s, and asked her why she cut the ends off the roast beef before cooking it.“Well,” the old lady said, “it’s because I didn’t have a roasting pan big enough to hold it!”

How many of us have inherited that scarcity mentality from our parents, a mentality that says we shouldn’t celebrate and use the good things in our everyday lives. But like the woman who cooked the roast beef we should look beyond what we’ve been brought up with to try to find our own path to a happy life.

It’s a great self-help book that will bring insight to your life and you’ll laugh your socks off the whole way through!

Please, wear your prettiest panties today!