Loretta Laroche - Life is Short, Wear Your Party Pants: Ten Simple Truths that Lead to an Amazing Life

Words of Praise for
Life Is ShortWear Your Party Pants

Loretta LaRoche is a force of nature, the nations favorite
stress maven. As brilliant as she is hilarious, Lorettas witty
wisdom is grounded in solid science and cutting-edge positive
psychology. Her practical advice about wearing your party
pants will set you free to claim peace, creativity, humor, and
happiness. This is the best self-help book youll ever read,
and it could be the last one youll ever need.
Joan Z. Borysenko, Ph.D.,
author of Inner Peace for Busy People
and Inner Peace for Busy Women

I loved Life Is ShortWear Your Party Pants. Loretta is the
master at using humor to both create a lively and entertaining
book, but more important, to make one stop and pay attention
to what shes saying. And what shes saying is that we all need
to slow down, love more, treat ourselves more kindly,
and seize what life has to offer.
Alice D. Domar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of
obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology,
Harvard Medical School; author of Self-Nurture

Ive loved Loretta ever since I first saw her on
Public Television. This book is filled with insight, wisdom,
and is presented in a humorous, fun way. I loved it.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer,
author of 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace
and The Power of Intention

Life Is ShortWear Your Party Pants had me laughing out
loud at the first paragraph of the Introduction. Loretta has
done it againwritten a book that instantly puts things
in perspective, by being wise and extraordinarily
funny at the same time.
Christiane Northrup, M.D.,
author of Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom

We all need more laughter and joy in our lives, and this book
delivers the goods. Youll not only have fun reading it, youll
walk away with solid, practical ways to slow down, reconnect
with what matters, and celebrate your life!
Cheryl Richardson,
author of Stand Up for Your Life

OTHER HAY HOUSE TITLES BY
LORETTA LAROCHE

The Best ofLoretta LaRoche (4-CD set)

How to Be a Wild, Wise, and Witty Woman (4-CD set)

Kick up Your Heels... Before You're Too Short to Wear Them
(book)

Life Is ShortWear Your Party Pants
(also available as a 2-CD set and a DVD)

RelaxYou May Only Have a Few Minutes Left (book)

Squeeze the Day (book)

The Wise and Witty Stress Solution Kit

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Please visit Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au

Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk

Hay House South Africa: www.hayhouse.co.za

Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Loretta's Website: www.LorettaLaroche.com

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Ten Simple Truths
That Lead to an Amazing Life

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Loretta LaRoche

HAY HOUSE, INC.
Carlsbad, California New York City
London Sydney Johannesburg
Vancouver Hong Kong New Delhi

Copyright 2003 by Loretta LaRoche

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Published in lndia by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Editorial supervision: Jill Kramer Design: Amy Rose Grigoriou

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for "fair use" as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews without prior written permission of the publisher. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

LaRoche, Loretta

Life is short wear your party pants : ten simple truths that lead to an amazing life / Loretta LaRoche.

p. cm.

ISBN 1-40190-148-4 (hardcover) 1-40190-149-2 (tradepaper)

1. Conduct of life. I. Title.

BF637. C5 L365 2003

158.1dc21

2002152701

ISBN 13: 978-1-4019-0149-3
ISBN 10:1-4019-0149-2

11 10 09 08 20 19 18 17
1st printing, February 2003
17th printing, January 2008

Printed in the United States of America

To my girlfriends
Myra, Colette, Joan, Susan, Cheryl, Eva,
Barbara, MaryJane, Sloane, Peggy, Annie,
Jean, Ali, and Christianne thanks for being there.

CONTENTS

I wish to thank all the following individuals for their love and support:

To my husband for being there in good and bad times. To my children, Jon, Laurie, and Erik, and their mates and children. To my mother for teaching me to hang in there, and for her sense of humor. To Brian Defoe, my literary agent, for all his efforts on my behalf. To Joan Borysenko for introducing me to Reid Tracy, president of Hay House; and to Reid for helping to make this book and its PBS companion possible. And to my business partner/son, Erik, for his devotion, loyally, and insight. I am blessed to have you all in my life.

PPP

W hen I was growing up, one of my mothers favorite expressions was You never know. Wed have to clean the house every Saturday, because You never know. If we were in the midst of enjoying a wonderful meal, we had to make sure there were leftovers, because You never know. Small pieces of wax paper were saved, along with brown string and empty egg cartons, because ... well, you know.

I kept trying to understand what it was that we didnt know but needed to know. It was certainly enough to make a child anxious. Maybe that was the point. After all, we did have fire drills at school, and we were in the midst of the Cold Warwe were even taught to hide under our desks in case of nuclear attacks. Or maybe a meteorite was going to hit the earth, which was something that our third-grade science teacher, Mr. Funkhauser, told us could happen.

Maybe my mother knew that something bad was going to happen and we had to get ready. I used to ask her, but she would always counter with, Someday youll see. See what? Whatv?2.s I going to see?

I could deal with most of it, but I really had a hard time not being able to wear my patent leather shoes until Easterespecially since we had bought them in February. The only thing I was allowed to do was put Vaseline on them so they wouldnt crack. Isnt that a thrill? I kept begging to wear them, but my mother kept giving me the same answeryou know what she said, dont you?