Why I love Girl, Wash Your Face

I'm a Rachel Hollis fangirl...

And you should be, too.

Girl, Wash Your Face came into my life in a time I really needed it.

It was one of those time when everything went from working the way it was supposed to "oh no, what have I done?" really quickly.

In 2018 I lost about 20 pounds and was my healthiest self ever. I wasn't my smallest but I was definitely my fittest. It's the only time I've been able to run a full 5K. I went to Disney World for the first time ever (truly the most magical place on earth). Things were good. 

My then-boyfriend (now husband!) and I knew we wanted to move out of our home state and that year we decided to do it. Like, go big or go crawling back home, $150-and-a-dream moved out of our home state. We went for it without jobs lined up or a place to stay. We took a weekend to find a place to stay in the smallest unit of a triplex 45 minutes outside of Chattanooga. And the next week I packed up as much as I could in my tiny Hyundai Accent hatchback, plus my big dog and... left.

Y'all. I didn't grow up easy. We'll get into that another time. But I thought I was tough. I was so sure I'd be fine to move away from everything I knew to a place where I knew no one. What I forgot was that I'd never been alone. I have this massive family I was always surrounded by (even when I didn't want to be!). 

So, long story slightly less lengthy: I gained 50+ pounds -- I stopped weighing myself at a certain point. I was hella depressed. I was just plain not okay.

I knew I could do hard things. I had done them. I just had no idea how to recover from the hard thing.

Enter: Rachel Hollis

Rachel Hollis opened up the world of self-improvement to me and I am a proud nerd. I got Brendon Burchard's High Performance Habits on a deal, I revel in reading books on leadership, I have a mile long wishlist on Thriftbooks.com and when I have a few extra bucks, I buy as many of the ones that are under $5 as I can afford.

But before this book, I was so very sad. And I had no idea how to help myself out of it.

Girl, Wash Your Face has a lovely introduction by Rachel, and she sums it up best right there:

"The truth? You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you are. That's the takeaway"(xi).

The book has 20 chapters that are each titled after a lie we tell ourselves. In each chapter, Rachel breaks down what she means by things like "I Need to Make Myself Smaller" and "I am Going to Marry Matt Damon" with hilarious stories and bracing truth.

If you're feeling stuck but you know you were made for amazing things, I highly recommend you check out Rachel Hollis. She'll feature in my blog again -- you were warned -- and I can almost guarantee you'll thank yourself for diving right into the world she's thrown open the doors of.

And friends, you are worthy and capable of achieving all your wildest dreams.

See you soon!