First time on these boards and am surprised at the replies, actually. I have little opinion on Audrey -- certainly, the longest-lived people on the planet, the Japanese, credit happiness and engagement with life as the source of their longevity. As long as Audrey's not choosing this lifestyle in order to run from some ugly internal truth, cool. If she is, Dr. Phil's right, the math of internal cellular degradation won't be argued with, and she'll be one of the growing number of those who will die with all sorts of materials imbedded in them with which they were not born.
Bobbie and the Swan winner: much more opinion there.
For Bobbie, a word of caution. I was a fat child and adolescent, and was treated very cruelly. When I became slender in college, it was like rain falling on parched earth, just like for you. I see you making some of the bad choices I made, including being blind to your obligations to behave in a manner that is 100% consistent with your ultimate desires (not to mention being sensitive to your responsible to your committment to respect and honor your husband.). IOW, if you don't want to hook up, NEVER flirt. Conveniently or inconveniently, men do not interpret things they way women do; it's 'just fun' for you, and a reason to hope for him.
I ended up with TWO stalkers because of being so naive, thinking that because my intentions were harmless, that I wasn't responsible for a man's interpretation of flirtatious behavior. As much as it will infuriate feminists to hear/believe it (and believe me when I say it infuriated me personally for a long time), from a practical point of view, each person is absolutely responsible for not getting themselves into situations where someone a little loose in the screws could decide, 'hey, I really think she likes me' and it becomes irrelevant that you're married. It was irrelevant to my 4-year stalker that my boyfriend was a 215 lb. football player. Basic mental unbalance in another person results in behavior that defies explanation for normal, balanced people. I came to accept my responsibilty way too late. And after great suffering.
One stalker sifted my garbage, sneaked into my house through unlocked windows, would trail me to restaurants then leave matchbooks on my windshield just to let me know he'd been there, would replace products that he found packaging for in my trash by putting them on my doorstep -- while I was home, btw, chased me at highspeed up the Interstate, showed up at my desk and told me he'd kill me if I didn't talk to him ... the other stalker prowled my apt. complex trying to get people to tell him about me, showed up at 5:30am and walked in through a 2nd-floor door left cracked for a cat while I was showering, and ultimately, let his *wife* in to a secure area at my workplace to call me a whore for seducing her husband (turns out she was unhinged, too) in front of the executive team who was meeting there (for which he was fired) and more and more.
The legal hassles were many and costly, Bobbie, but the psychological stress was indescribable. It changed me entirely. Not in ways I liked. It would have been far easier to have behaved more responsibly in the first place.
I understand the aphrodiasic quality of the attention, I do. It's a narcotic to be approved and admired after being invisible. I was a true junkie. But part of realigning your inner vision with your outer skin is simply this: Always choose the high road. Be more fair with others than they were with you. Concentrate on loving well all those who loved you when you looked differently. Appreciate deeply (with your ACTIONS) the love of a good and patient and faithful husband. Spend your time doing things that always made you feel smart, or creative, or more of a contributor to the good in the world ... things not particularly related to looks. I know, it's not sexy, nor is it rocket science, but being true to yourself through living the life given you in the best way you possibly can is the cure you seek. You always feel better about yourself when you're doing your best. Simple.
Even your young hot beauty will fade, as mine has now in my late 30's. But after all the trouble being a gorgeous 20-something got me, after legal expenses, post-traumatic stress disorder from the stalking, and 8 years of a sense of dread of going in public and meeting strangers, I love simply living my life with purpose as a moderately good-looking, a little plumper 38 year old.
Good luck!
(Original Air Date: 01/23) If you’ve got it, flaunt it! Dr. Phil's guests say they’ve gone from ugly ducklings to hot tamales, but their loved ones think they’ve gone too far. Audrey says she looks extra hot now that she's 62 ... and she's got a 28-year-old boyfriend to prove it! Her close friend, Crystal, thinks Audrey should hang up her miniskirts and start baking cookies. Then, Bobbie lost 140 pounds and gained an insanely jealous husband who thinks she looks way too sexy. What do the cameras reveal when they follow Bobbie out for a night on the town? Plus, a winner of the popular makeover show The Swan says she doesn't know how to handle her newfound beauty. Talk about the show here.
I missed the show due to coverage of Hurricane Ernesto & power outage, but this is a subject that gets my blood boiling. I'm not that old, but I clearly remember my parents raising us to dress appropriately. I'm forever shocked at what today's parents allow their children to wear to school or the mall. Nearly all of them seem to be trying to look like the local street hooker. Women who think they need to look trashy just set a very bad example for kids. I have always felt that this is just screaming of someone having little or no self respect. Shame... SHAME of them!!!!! Can't they see how Robin, the mother of grown sons, always looks so young and outstanding and classy??? She wouldn't lower herself to compete with the hookers on the corner & neither should these women!!!
