For all the people here who are depressed about their acne, who feel less than, ugly, gross, etc because of it, I just want to say to you that you are beautiful despite your less than perfect complexion.

I know it is a daily struggle sometimes to even go out and face the world without wanting to hide. I know the feeling of having a good day and then spotting zits on your face in the mirror and feeling like you want to cry and nothing else mattering. I know it can take over your life and ruin your self esteem. I have been dealing with it for 20 out of my 31 years...most of my life. I just want to say the following:


Do not let it define you. If you had a perfect complexion, would you feel like you were perfect in every way? Like you could have anything you wanted in life? Realistically, no, you wouldn't. Your perfect complexion would not suddenly make you the most fabulous thing to hit Earth. So, why would you believe that having an IMPERFECT complexion suddenly invalidates all your good qualities to the point where you can't look people in the face or go out in public? You were put here for a reason. It took a lot of effort for you to be created and born. There is only ONE you. There has never been anyone like you before, and there will never be anyone like you again. Give your life a chance. Don't let yourself be held back by the condition of your skin. Do not reduce yourself, your ENTIRE SELF ( think about it!) to some acne on your face.

It's okay to have acne. Yes, I said it. It's OKAY to have acne. Despite what the acne commercials want to tell you ( they're trying to sell you something...), it is perfectly okay to have acne. People arent embarrassed about having migraines are they? Or..the flu? So why is acne different? It's a skin condition, it's not the plague, and it's not contageous. Accept the fact that you have less than perfect skin. It's okay. Everyone has flaws. EVERYONE. Yours just happens to be more visible and on your face. It' s okay. You are beautiful anyway. =)
I have worked with people who have faces full of moles, hyperpigmentation from sun damage, eczema, psoriasis, you name it. After about day three after meeting them, guess what? Don't notice it anymore. I do not think of these people as "James with the eczema on his face' or 'Amanda with the moles". They are James and Amanda...and I think of them as people..their personalities are what make them memorable to me in my mind. And believe it or not, it is the same with you and other people. Sure they will notice your acne when they first meet you, but after they get to know you, it will be a non issue. And if they dont get to the point where they get to know you and they feel the need to say something rude about your acne, well then, they just showed you THEIR flaws, which are MUCH MUCH worse than your acne. Would you rather be around someone with a great personality who has acne or someone who is a jerk with great skin? Think about it. =)

You can have acne and be beautiful. Yes, yes it's true. You can have a face full of cystic pimples and be beautiful. I have seen it with my own two eyes. ( On someone else, of course =)) I have seen many people with acne and other skin issues who were beautiful..and I noticed them BECAUSE they were so striking, not because of their acne. It is a matter of your perception of yourself, not the condition of your skin.

Having a chronic condition like acne is a daily process that has to be managed. Just like you apply your creams or what have you to your face, you also have to manage what you tell yourself about it and yourself. If you put all your acne lotions on every day and at the same time tell yourself how ugly you look because the medication isn't working and begin to cry and not want to go out and live your life, it feeds your mind these terrible, untrue, images, that over time, become obsessions and compulsions and poison your mind. You begin to hypnotize yourself into believing these negative things.
It takes discipline to focus on the positive aspects of yourself, the fact that you only have acne on a small percentage of your body ( most of the skin on your body is clear), and to remind yourself that you are beautiful and okay just the way you are right now. Not tomorrow when the stuff starts working, not some day when your skin clears up, no, today. You are beautiful today. Zits and all. If you look in the mirror and do not see that, it's not because it isnt true, it's because you are not seeing yourself correctly. I have never in my entire life met a person who had a skin condition and thought they were ugly because of it. I have never not wanted to have someone in my life because of that. Who the person is as a person ALWAYS supersedes what they look like on the outside.

And lastly, everything is okay. I know sometimes the mind goes nuts with what ifs and oh my gods and what if this and that, but it's wrong. Don't believe everything you think. No matter what happens, or how bad your acne may get, just know that you will be okay and even if all your biggest fears came true, you would still be okay. Someone would still love you, you would still have a way to survive, things would work out even if you don't believe it.

Always question your negative beliefs about yourself. You will find that most of the time, you are wrong. Be brave. On your worst day when you want to cry, hide your face and feel depressed and desperate, do the opposite. Make yourself get out of bed, put some clothes on, and face the world, zits and all. You will find that people wont treat you any different, and you'll realize that you're not repulsive or ugly.

I wish I could look at every one of you on what you consider your worst skin day ever, give you a huge hug and let you know how beautiful you really are.

Let's work on accepting our acne mentally, while we work on treating it physically. =)