“You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you are.”
Girl, Wash Your Face is a book for every mom who is trying to balance it all in life. Whether you feel like you have a hold on your sanity or if you feel like you’re barely hanging on, you can relate to Rachel Hollis and her path in motherhood. The book is written like a conversation with your best friend when you’re swapping stories about the real, nitty-gritty parts of life, being a wife and being a mother.
While Hollis does mention her faith throughout the book, it’s not heavy-handed and moms who don’t or barely believe in God will still find helpful tips in the book and a comrade in this daily balancing act. She really wants women to be the people they are made to be and find joy and balance in this life.
This book was written because as Hollis dealt with marriage, working and motherhood, she realized we all tend to fall into a trap believing how our lives ought to look and be when we really should focus on being ourselves. The tagline on the book says it all: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be. By examining the lies we believes, we can stop them and find a deeper peace. From the food we feed our children to the cleaning supplies we use, everyone has a different opinion. Should you stay at home or go to work as a mom? You can believe society, your family or your friends about what you should do, or you could come to peace with yourself and do what’s best for you and the way you were made.
Rachel goes through 20 different lies she’s believed at different points of her life. Some are serious and ones we all face at some point or another, like that we’re not good enough, we’ll never get past something or that we’re not good moms. Some are more light-hearted, but face issues that should be dealt with, too, such as that she’d marry Matt Damon, “I’ll start tomorrow,” and that something else will make me happy. There’s even a chapter on sex, which actually has some great advice for married couples and is a topic that is not often discussed in a healthy way. She ends the book talking about the lie of needing a hero – saying we are all enough when we are who we were made to be and not trying to be someone else.
I really enjoyed reading Girl, Wash Your Face. I laughed, I cringed, I related to the stories she shared. Each chapter really has the reader examine her own life and try to see what lies she believes about her own life and how it affects who she is today. I really think Rachel’s honesty is what makes the book great. She really bares her heart and soul because she cares about women being all they are supposed to be. We are all made differently, so there shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all way of doing life, marriage or motherhood. I have started following Hollis on social media and plan to read the fiction series she has written and talks about in the book. When she couldn’t get the first book published without changing the characters’ personalities for the publisher, she self-published and ended up with a book series (The Girls).
I think this is a great book to add to the conversation of being truly honest with each other with our struggles in this life. The book’s Web site, www.girlwashyourface.com, offers readers a workshop, quote cards and a spotify playlist. There is a Facebook page where you can see Hollis’ posts, quotes and videos. There is even a YouTube channel with videos covering marriage, motherhood, business and motivation. I think Hollis is a person worth following – she has a new book coming out March 12, 2019, called Girl, Stop Apologizing about reaching your goals. It’s on my to-read list.
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