Skin experts tell us that in order to get rid of the occasional blemish on one's face, one must resist the temptation to squeeze it. Instead, keep it clean (morning and night wash with a clean washcloth and soap, rinse well and pat dry, let the skin breathe for 5 minutes before putting any other product on). In the morning, moisturize after washing, and before doing any skin care / makeup routine. At night, after washing and before bed, take a little toothpaste on the end of your finger and apply it in a circular motion. Leave it on overnight. The next day the blemish should be half the size it was.
I don't know anyone who doesn't look in a mirror at least once a day - sometimes several times. The mirror tells us when there's dirt on our faces, or whether there's anything out of the ordinary that needs attention. Usually when there's something wrong, we stop and take the time to fix it (or start to deal with it), and don't walk away from it. Food stuck between the teeth? floss. Bar-b-q sauce on your chin? wipe it off. Pimple? look after it as soon as possible. Fresh coffee stain on the shirt? treat it by rubbing in some salt before it dries, put it in the hamper and get a clean shirt. (There's a little cleaning tip for you there - a freebie...)
There's a quote on healing from the inner scars from a life spinning out of control, a quote I like to repeat to myself. It talks about those who recover as those who are capable "of grasping and developing a lifestyle which demands rigorous honesty." They are like those who look in the mirror and say, "Oh, that's not acceptable - that needs to be dealt with right away" instead of shrugging their shoulders and pretending the problem doesn't exist.
The kind of honesty I mean is the truthfulness we practice with our self. It's fearless. It's realistic. It sees the good AND the bad. It does the "next right thing." It trusts God to do for us what we have no power to do on our own. And it keeps listening. Trusting. Doing the next thing that God leads us to do, whether that's dealing with a resentment in our heart, going to visit a sick friend or not taking paper clips home from the office.
There's a verse somewhere in the Bible that talks about the kind of day-to-day rigorous honesty I'm talking about. It says, "... line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little..." or words to that effect. Basically it's saying that everything is important enough to leave in God's hands, to trust Him to handle, and this is played out in giving every little thing to Him as it happens. In doing so, He heals us.
And this same process of healing never stops, by the way.
I don't know anyone who doesn't look in a mirror at least once a day - sometimes several times. The mirror tells us when there's dirt on our faces, or whether there's anything out of the ordinary that needs attention. Usually when there's something wrong, we stop and take the time to fix it (or start to deal with it), and don't walk away from it. Food stuck between the teeth? floss. Bar-b-q sauce on your chin? wipe it off. Pimple? look after it as soon as possible. Fresh coffee stain on the shirt? treat it by rubbing in some salt before it dries, put it in the hamper and get a clean shirt. (There's a little cleaning tip for you there - a freebie...)
There's a quote on healing from the inner scars from a life spinning out of control, a quote I like to repeat to myself. It talks about those who recover as those who are capable "of grasping and developing a lifestyle which demands rigorous honesty." They are like those who look in the mirror and say, "Oh, that's not acceptable - that needs to be dealt with right away" instead of shrugging their shoulders and pretending the problem doesn't exist.
The kind of honesty I mean is the truthfulness we practice with our self. It's fearless. It's realistic. It sees the good AND the bad. It does the "next right thing." It trusts God to do for us what we have no power to do on our own. And it keeps listening. Trusting. Doing the next thing that God leads us to do, whether that's dealing with a resentment in our heart, going to visit a sick friend or not taking paper clips home from the office.
There's a verse somewhere in the Bible that talks about the kind of day-to-day rigorous honesty I'm talking about. It says, "... line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little..." or words to that effect. Basically it's saying that everything is important enough to leave in God's hands, to trust Him to handle, and this is played out in giving every little thing to Him as it happens. In doing so, He heals us.
And this same process of healing never stops, by the way.
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