Time To Go Public

3 in 30. April 2011. Goal #1

I do a lot of blog stocking. And blog hopping. Blogs have become my newest cyber black hole. It used to be Facebook, but thanks to a goal I made about 2 months ago, to stay away from FB for 2 weeks, my FB activities have significantly declined. Now I spend a lot more time reading blogs. This is an activity I feel better about because I gain more from blogs than Facebook. I am given lots of good ideas by others. I am taught by others and I am inspired by others.  

I was blog hopping few weeks ago and I found this blog that has a segment that I really enjoy and have decided to do. She calls it 3 in 30 and basically she focuses on 3 goals that she wants to implement over the next 30 days. (I have thrown up her button over there to the left… You can click on it to get more info.) We have all heard that it takes 21 days of doing something to make it a habit, or is it 28? Now I can't remember. But it doesn’t really matter because doing something for 30 days will be sufficient. The basic idea this woman came up with was to take it slow and steady. Choosing only 3 goals to focus on every 30 days and hopefully turning them into habits is the whole basis of this 3 in 30 thing. Pretty simple right? I think so too. And it fits in pretty perfectly with this new life’s perspective I have seem to taken on. See,

The past few months I have really been focusing on self improvement. One of the main reasons why I have been doing this comes from a lesson I was taught by the Doc on self esteem. I blogged about that a while back and it continues to be one of my favorite postings. Since learning about where self esteem comes from, and finally getting some for myself, I have become addicted. I am not sure if this contrast comes from having a lifetime with no self esteem and then finally having some but it feels so great to finally believe in myself, to finally know that I am worth someone amazing. Since learning that the more efforts I make in improving myself the more confidence I have, the stronger I feel, the more able to conquer life’s trials and heartaches, I have only wanted to continue on in that path in my own life. I am doing this for several other reasons, reasons I am not sure that I will share today, but the main one is that I can finally feel good about myself because I am trying. That is all that I can hope for in my life. That is all I believe this life’s journey is about. And man is it satisfying! I am so grateful that I have come to learn this lesson so early on in my life. Efforts to self improve are highly rewarding and satisfying.

One of the things that I would like to do with this blog, in an effort to find my voice, and in an effort to better myself and strengthen my self esteem, is to document efforts that I am making at self improvement. I have found that when I put a goal on this blog I am far more likely to keep it. I feel like I am far more accountable than I am when I just make goals that I keep between me and myself. I found that with the Facebook goal I made. I tried to stay off Facebook for 2 weeks straight. I would have cracked many times if I had not publicly committed to stay off of it. There is also another post in which I came clean to being shallow. Since I went public with that I have been making great efforts to keep my thoughts away from the physical appearance of people and really get to know them before deciding whether or not they were quality people with which to associate with. I have come to learn that I was only hurting myself by judging others by their appearances. I still resort back to my default reaction from time to time but I have come far. I see progress almost every day. And this pleases me.

So, now that we are already about a week into April, I figured it was high time that I went public with the 3 in 30 that I have chosen to tackle in April. When I first decided to do this 3 in 30 I started making a list of goals that I want to do over the next few months. I have come up with a huge list of goals. I actually got really excited to start implementing a ton of them, so much that I actually had a very difficult time narrowing it down to just 3. There are lots of different categories of goals too, social goals, goals for my health, goals to expand my mind, goals that have to do with my spiritual development, lots of different goals. But, since I don't want to get burnt out I forced myself to pick just 3 as my 3 in 30. I can and have been making some efforts towards some of the other goals, but my 3 in 30 are the main ones I am focusing on. 

I’ll have you know that I have been doing a swell job at my 3 goals for this month. I have succeeded in doing each of them daily. I am very pleased with my progress. I am only going to tell you about one of them today. The other 2 will be revealed in the near future.

Now, this first goal may seem a little petty, perhaps insignificant to many of you. Others of you may gasp in horror when you read my soon confession. But you will soon learn that it does have significance to me. 

Deep breath. (I still get really self conscious when I make public confessions like this.)

I never wash my face.

Or at least I didn’t until April 1, 2011.

I know I know, those of you religious face washers are probably disgusted with me right now. It's like confessing that I never brush my teeth. {Now THAT is disgusting.}

The truth is, I'm super duper annoyed when it comes to washing my face. I seriously hate when you are done and the sink is covered in water. Your shirt is covered in water. Your arms are soaking wet and the water keeps running down your arms. Your eyes are closed and you are trying to feel your way to the towel that is never big enough to clean up the water mess you just made. I get so annoyed by that process that I stopped doing it years ago.

It's always the shoe maker’s children who go without shoes right? Well my mom is an esthetician. Which basically means she has the most gorgeous skin, she uses the most expensive and highest quality products on the market (her current regimen retails at close to $500 and she would probably kill me for posting that) that are worth every penny, and she spends probably hours each week taking care of her skin. She is getting “older,” in the skin department but she could easily pass for 15 years younger than she is because she takes such amazing care of her skin. Her skin literally glows (and not only because she is such a great person… which is part of it… but literally that her incredibly healthy skin just glows.)  She has the most advanced products and techniques to take care of skin, and I don't utilize any of it. She typically gasps in horror when she hears me talk about how I never wash my face, how I never clean off my phone (which I think gives me bad zits when I press it against my face) how I pick at my zits that are not ready yet (a BIG no-no in the world of esthetics) and how even when I am in the shower I don't wash my face. She asks me over and over what products I am using, and if I need some toner or face wash or mask that is literally top of the line and never ceases to shudder and lecture when she hears that “nope, I don't need it.”

So, the consequences of this….

{How awkward are those close-ups of my… ahem… ‘blemishes’…. I know I know I know, very awkward, but we are being honest here today.}

Let me just start out by saying that I am embarrassed by posting this photograph. And that the current state of my face, showcased in this photograph is actually pretty good. It’s typically worse than this, and the camera cannot even show what the naked eye can see, which is again, even worse. What this photograph also doesn’t show you is the hundred more tiny zits that can only be seen in the correct lighting and a close-up mirror. And what this photograph also doesn’t show you is what is under the makeup. Thank Heavens for makeup. Yes I know, my mother is ashamed at the state of my skin.

I don't know why having a face full of zits has always been less annoying to me than washing my face has been, but it has. (Probably it’s also been a heavy combination of me being lazy, which is a common theme in certain aspects of my life.)

But truth be told, I am trying to be a better person. And taking pride in my physical appearance is one of those things that I feel would improve my overall person. This isn’t in a (nor is it intended to be in a) vein or prideful way, because I feel that one can take pride in his/her appearance without being prideful. It is more the fact that I do have inner and outer beauty that deserves to be showcased. So, that is goal number one. To wash my face every night. And you guys will never guess the excitement my mother showed when I told her that I wanted to start to wash my face. She took me into her bathroom and began to throw about 20 different products at me. Products that I know cost her a pretty penny. (She is so generous!) Products that I had no idea existed. Products that I had no idea how to use. I ended up only taking 4 with me. {And you might be interested to know that she had to slowly explain to me 4 times how to wash my face. What steps to use and what products to use and in what order.) I think I finally got it down. And I am very proud to say that I have washed my face every day since then.

ME: “How long until I start seeing results mom?”

MOM: “How old are you… 26 right?

ME: “Yep”

Mom: “That would make your  cell turnover rate at about 20 days, and you will need 2 cell turnover rates to start seeing results, so 40 days.” (She is a good esthetician. Smarty pants that one)

ME: {defeated sigh} “Alright then. 4o days.” (I want everything to happen overnight.)

So, here is to me and my new face washing regimen. And you know what? It is inspiring me to go the extra mile nightly too, with other things… Such as flossing and taking out my contacts, which I had the tendency to overlook all too frequently.

What are your 3 in 30’s?