Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

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Rachel Hollis has seen it too often: women not living into their full potential. They feel a tugging on their hearts for something more, but they’re afraid of embarrassment, of falling short of perfection, of not being enough. She doesn't sugar coat it, she doesn't tell you it's going to be easy nor does she tell you that change will happen overnight. What she does tell you is that YOU ARE WORTH IT. You are worth the fight, the struggle, the battles, and the pain. YOU ARE WORTH the hard work, the tears, the rejection, and the exhaustion. Because, ❝Life isn't meant to be merely survived-it's meant to be lived❞ Multiple people told me to read this book, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I've never heard of Rachel Hollis before or anything about her. You must choose to be happy, grateful, and fulfilled. If you make that choice every single day, regardless of where you are or what’s happening, you will be happy.”

I believe we can change the world. But first, we’ve got to stop living in fear of being judged for who we are.” Each chapter of the book is a different lie that the author at one time believed: something else will make me happy, I'm not good enough, I'll start tomorrow, etc... Through her own stories, she shares how she came to learn the truth and offers action steps on how you can break away from the lies, too. While Hollis now lives a pretty charmed life (she's married to someone with Hollywood connections and has an awfully cushy existence), she remains relatable and, dare I say, down-to-earth. She's not always had an easy life and has clearly worked her butt off to get where is; her wisdom is hard-earned. I spoke with more than a dozen women for this story — friends of friends, people who responded on social media, and at least two women I spotted out in the wild — to try to understand exactly what it is about Hollis’s gospel that appeals to them. Read for book club. Not something I would EVER choose for myself. The fact that people like this, quirky bloggers who are experts in precisely nothing, get to write entire books about how to live is probably the strongest argument I can think of in support of shutting down the internet, full stop. It works because it is catchy. Hollis knows how to take a concept and frame it in such a way that it seems brilliant.

Hollis spills quite a bit of ink trying to convince you that no matter what your big dream is, you should never let it go. Don’t take “no” for an answer, she insists. But instinctively, we all know this doesn’t work. This is confirmed each time we cringe at the tone-deaf American Idol contestant screeching his way through the audition, only to be told he has a different calling. ​We all know he should give up on his dream. We all know it’s not realistic. Full Book Name: Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

You need to be healthy. You don’t need to be thin. You don’t need to be a certain size or shape or look good in a bikini. You need to be able to run without feeling like you’re going to puke. You need to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. You need to drink half your body weight in ounces of water every single day. You need to stretch and get good sleep and stop medicating every ache and pain. You need to stop filling your body with garbage like Diet Coke and fast food and lattes that are a million and a half calories. You need to take in fuel for you body that hasn't been processed and fuel for you mind that is positive and encouraging. You need to get up off the sofa or out of the bed and move around. Get out of the fog that you have been living in and see your life for what it is.” Someone else’s opinion of you is none of your business.” Let me say that again for the people in the cheap seats.” You are in charge of your own life, sister, and there’s not one thing in it that you’re not allowing to be there,” Hollis writes. But Hollis’s glibness makes clear that her “sisters” are only such if they look like her, share her padded bank account (and her priorities), and don’t venture too far into the real and wrenching difficulties of life. It works because Hollis has an engaging story at its core. She has achieved quite a lot over the last few years and because of that, it seems that what she says comes from experience.

Sadly, Hollis doesn’t attribute this wisdom to knowing who she is in Christ. She credits self-love. Hollis is a self-proclaimed Christian, and the book is published by Thomas Nelson (a Christian publisher). References to the Bible, Jesus, her faith, and Christianity are peppered throughout the book. It’s not some kind of devotional—but it is marketed as Christian. And yet much of Hollis’s advice isn’t Christian, though some of it is still good. Throughout the book Rachel was vulnerable. Shared the good and the bad about herself; her life experiences; her life. It was touching and eye opening and reminded me I'm not alone in my thoughts and experiences. I actually wish she had a FB group because I would love to meet liked minded women, living in their truth. Two reads completed, several passages highlighted, and a whole new perspective on life and the pursuit of happiness. :)