Re: stop the obsession

you said how do I dtop thinking about it..I just don't know how.

You just stop...that's all. I know that sounds dumb and i don't really do a very good job of it some days but you have to be consciously aware of your behavior sometimes. I notice that when things are going ruff in my own life I definetly stress out on old issues and ofcourse my skin. When i catch myself I try to just breath and stop the insanity!!!!

I've had a bit of a tumultuos life as a child and had plenty of things to continualy bring to the forefront of my mind that could plaque my waking thoughts with bad images. I would start with one thing and then before I knew hours had passed and I had once again rehashed my childhood trauma. One year in particular in my early 20's was extremely tough. My rent was continually late if not bouncing. We had no food in the house and rent was due..it was a choice between pay the rent or eat. I just collapsed emotionally until my husband gave me a great peice of advice. He said "life will not end because of this..we will still be here tomorrow" it was his nice way of saying...pull yourself together women. (he was adoringly sweet about my whole falling apart bit) Finally we moved passed that hurdle and I found a new sense of peace inside that worrying myself sick wasn't going to fix things. However I still had all of those swirling issues to work out and think about everyday...it was like my comfort blanket. I did however work things down from too extrreme of an obsession that year.

One day about a year after the money issue I recieved a call that my cousin had been in a serious car accident and was in a coma. This really put me over the edge as I worried quite a deal about her. The insanity however was that as soon as i would fall into the trap of overindulging my concern for my cousins health I would go into autopilot and my brain would be overloaded with images of my childhood trauma. It was as if I had openend a door for all the negativity in my life to start flooding right in. I found myself crying and feeling as if i was going to have a breakdown of a serious sort as I could not get myself under a healthy amount of control. I went home and told my husband of the issue I had to face that day at work. He gave me probably the best piece of advice I've ever recieved and I use it still in everything I do. He said "when you start to feel these emotions and images take you over just stop thinking and count to ten. It will all go away" The very next day I tried his suggestion and it worked. I counted to 10 and my mind changed course. i did not allow the negativity to enter and I was able to move forward.

This personal story was to help you see how easy it is to obsess about something especially if you are experiencing other issues in your life. The whole thing about stress being a reason for breakouts is more true than the new skeptics would like to admit.

It's a great way to live your life...I see it as breathing now. Just take a deep breath and move past it. It's got to be hard to have had clear skin and then to suddenly not. I guess for me it's all I can remember for 15 years so to have clearing is like amazing. Just try to not think about it. Like I said try to let that zit be a whitehead when you can in the comfort of your own home and try to be relaxed about it. If you can't then realize that you are obsessing and obsessionis not only unhealthy but really unattractive. Who wants to be concidered mentally uncappable of controlling ourself?? It's a morbidly accurate way of really understanding and stopping the obsession in it's tracks. If you want I'll explain more later. It actually goes away sooner if you let it mature fully then release it. If you must open it then use neosporin on it....it is like the most miraculous thing ever!!!

As for your skin care routine. I think maybe you might actually need to be a small amount more gently rigorous to your skin. You do need to make sure that the oil get's off each time you wash. I've been using Zia's refreshing cleanser for the last few years now. It is in all honesty the only thing that has helped my now sensitive skin. I also use the balancig elixer which smells yummy and helps control the shine. Then as a nice touch up to hydrate with good things I use the aloe and rosewater toner. It's like healing water for your skin. I'm sure that any good organic line will carry similar products. However you really should not use aloe on your face. It's hard to explain exactly why I say this but it does not help. It doesn't relly absorb into your skin and creates a strange barrier layer like vaseline but different. I've tried it myself before and it just makes my skin feel crusty afterwards becuase the oil just kinda mingles with the aloe and creates a film. If you are looking for something soothing the rosewater or an herbal tea bag will help too.

So biggest new advice...wash your face with more than just water. However your water technique is really good. 20 splashes makes certain you get every residue off your skin. I like to use a small amount of the Refreshing green algae cleanser and wash my face once with 10 spalshes for a rinse and then a second time with 15 more for a rinse. I learned this from a high end cosmetics line. Great trick.

Good luck,

liss


btw...i'm very close to balancing myself these days. If i wanted to obsess about those things in the past I could but I don't...it just doesn't matter in the scheme of things. Tweet