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Girl Wash Your Face
Over this last week my husband and I took a much-needed vacation without kiddos. Besides the fact that I was absolutely anxious over the whole thing, it was a good trip, and it was much needed. I took the chance on several plane flights to and from to read. I cannot say, since becoming a mom that I’ve really had time or the energy to just sit and read. It actually has made me sad because I LOVE READING. So, having the chance to just be with my husband and take some time to read while going on vacation was amazing.
I’m glad I chose this book.
Motherhood is hard, it is joyous, it is challenging, and warm. It is so many things and I have to say understanding that everyone is flawed, and nobody is perfect is uplifting.
In Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis is something that I truly think every woman should read. Yes, a lot of her points do center around motherhood, but you do not have to be a mother to take to heart what she says.
Each chapter outlines a lie about herself and as she writes she explains the lie she believed about herself, how that has changed, and what has helped her.
Her first chapter, for instance, the lie is “Something Else Will Make Me Happy.”
Starting with this was probably the smartest thing she could have done because in the 2.5 years I’ve been a mother I would probably tell you the thing I see that many, if not all, moms struggle with at least at some point of their lives is comparing themselves to others, and it’s hard not to do. It’s hard not to see another mom with their smart 2-year-old, speaking up a storm, when my child has a speech delay. It’s hard not to see that mom that had her child potty trained by 18 months where I’m still dreading trying and my daughter will be 3 in 4 months.
We do need to continue to strive to be better, strive to be more, strive to grow everyday but that does not mean we need to compare ourselves to others. A great quote I took to heart was “Comparison is the death of joy, and the only person you need to be better than is the one you were yesterday.”
Within this book I can see many may be deterred if they realize that Rachel Hollis is Christian and does speak of her faith and religion.
The fact that this book is published by a Christian publisher may keep people from reading it, but, I want to say, her faith is what I hope every Christian can be. Her open heart and open mind is heartwarming. Her Christianity is by no means judgmental, that alone makes me hope someday I can meet her and have a deep conversation with her.
This is easily seen in her chapter where she outlines her lie “I’m Better Than You.”
In this chapter she states “Judging each other actually makes us feel safer in our own choices. Faith is one of the most abused instances of this. We decide that our religion is right; therefore, every other religion must be wrong. Within the same religion, or heck, even within the same church, people judge each other for not being the right kind of Christian, Catholic, Mormon, or Jedi. I don’t know the central tenet of your faith, but the central tenet of mine is “love thy neighbor.” Not “love they neighbor if they look and act and think like you.”’
I’ve found that we can believe so many lies about ourselves, and honestly, I think this is something we all do but it can be so unconscious we don’t realize it until we really delve into why we do or say something. I often feel like I need to change myself to be a part of my in-laws. I have such a longing to belong but at the same time I am stubborn. I feel like I should change but also feel like why, I’m me. Rachel Hollis touches on this with her chapter on her lie: I Need to Make Myself Smaller.
I often feel like a failure because I have a master’s degree in entrepreneurship but am not the owner of some amazing business that pays all my bills. Her chapter about her lie: I Should Be Further Along by Now is exactly this.
Life throws us curve balls, hard times, stress, love, joy, and a community. We will make it through it all. Especially if we realize the lies we tell ourselves are false and we can do everything we strive to do. The lies are just that lies. So, I think everyone should read this book, and when you do so, think about yourself. What lies do you believe? How have they held you back? How will that change when you realize the lies are not true?
The Lies:
- Something Else Will Make Me Happy
- I’ll Start Tomorrow
- I’m Not Good Enough
- I’m Better Than You
- Loving Him is Enough for Me
- No is the Final Answer
- I’m Bad at Sex
- I Don’t Know How to Be a Mom
- I’m Not a Good Mom
- I Should Be Further Along by Now
- Other People’s Kids Are So Much Cleaner/Better Organized/More Polite
- I Need to Make Myself Smaller
- I’m Going to Marry Matt Damon
- I’m a Terrible Writer
- I Will Never Get Past This
- I Can’t Tell the Truth
- I Am Defined by My Weight
- I Need a Drink
- There’s Only One Right Way to Be
- I Need a Hero
Sarah
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