Girl, Wash Your Face

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I was just lukewarm on this book. It’s been a huge seller but maybe I’m just not the audience for it. Rachel Hollis is a blogger, party planner, motivational speaker, influencer... She has a huge following. If you’re a fan of hers, you’ll enjoy this book. You’ll read a lot of stories about her own life, including very personal things. She uses her own successes and failures and flaws to illustrate her life rules. It is refreshing to see someone reveal their flaws in this world of Instagram perfection. 

However... here are the basic ideas of the book:

• You are responsible for your own life, and if you’re unhappy about any aspect of it, you need to change it. You can’t blame anyone else. Now, as someone who has seen family members struggle with health issues that they didn’t bring upon themselves, screw this. I know she would say, “Well, I didn’t mean cancer... but giving absolute rules like this means you really are applying it to everyone. Some people have life circumstances they just can’t change. They have to learn to live with them or live around them or sometimes they become too much to continue living with. I would rather refer people who are unhappy with their lives to the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Even if you’re not religious, it’s valuable to step back and decide what you can change and what you have to accept.
• Stop comparing yourself to others. Well, yes. Solid, but not original.
• Stop caring what people think of you. Luckily (?) I pretty much stopped caring about that in about 8th grade. Trust me, it’s nice to not care. Sometimes I think I should care a little more but then I realize that’s crazy talk. One of my favorite quotes is “what you think of me is none of my business.” I don’t care who thinks I’m smart and who doesn’t (unless I work for you), who thinks I’ve gained or lost weight, who thinks I read too much or spend a little too much time with my cats or in the woods or what anyone thinks of my boyfriend sometimes going on vacation without me... Seriously, I have a negative desire to know this.
• Make a vision board.
• Set goals and go after them.
• Be grateful for your blessings.
• YOU CAN DO IT!

So that’s it, in a nutshell. I should also add that she’s Christian and mentions it a lot. I’m not religious but it didn’t bother me or feel overbearing. Your mileage may vary. Buy it if you’re a fan of hers. Library it if you just want some motivation to get through your Monday.