How I, a chronically depressed ARMY ,with an ambien walrus as a sibling, used mindfulness to mindlessly launch my life to the top of new heights.

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Chapter 1: Thinking too much but not enough.

Mindfulness is the art of noticing things and letting it go.

Mindfulness is useful because I often have thoughts of “I don’t want to do this” and “I don’t want to go”.

By being mindful, you practice noticing your thoughts, and you let it go. Then you can mindlessly do the opposite of what blue brain wants you to do. That’s also known as “step 2”.

STEP 2: show up.

Show up for yourself.

Make an appearance in the shower*.

Break down your morning into mini goals until the point that “goal = get out of bed” is a microscopic step. Repeat mindlessly until you mindlessly get yourself to work.

You practice the same, for any activity (that’s good for you) that you don’t want to do.

That’s the mindless part. Be mindful of negative thoughts, and mindlessly get yourself out of your funk by just going on autopilot with whatever you have to do.

Because the more you think, the more you won’t do. That’s what I call “thinking too much but not enough”.

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Chapter 2: Thinking enough, but it becomes too much to handle.

So you have plans. You stick to them. But you’re a beginner at your new life, and suddenly you are trying to juggle so many things, and you eventually drop the ball (or balls).

You certainly thought enough; enough to make intentional plans. But it became too much. You tried to do too much. Anyone who’s new to things would drop the ball. It makes sense.

Now you’re eating bread for days and not being present at events where you said that you would be. Oh no!

There are some lessons to be gleaned from failing.

1. No one is perfect, and we all fall down. The important thing is to get back up when you can. You can do this. Just get back to it!

2. Never talk yourself down. Talking down on yourself means saying negative things, discouraging words, and criticizing your performance.

3. The fact is, you’re trying. So be compassionate.

So now, you rest and set yourself up for a better day.

As my future husband would simply say:

One surefire way of preventing burnouts is recognizing you can have wants and needs. Yes you do what you need to do. But you have to balance that with what you want to do! Otherwise it’s not a life that’s truly living. So do what you want, and learn to balance that so you don’t drop balls, and instead are fueled to keep going. Because you’re happie. Please be happie ❄️

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Chapter 3: GRWM Face edition

One ball I haven’t dropped is nightly skin care. Tonight I’m going to share a quick list of the products I use (in order)

1. Charcoal nose strip: this isn’t every day, just when I see my pores clogging. This is a Walgreens generic product that does it’s job. You just have to wait a long time for it to dry. Worth the wait.

2. Eau Thermal Avene Gentle Toning Lotion. I double tone with this. It’s great on removing makeup and dirt by itself, and it’s my essential pre-wash pre-toner, and post-wash toner. I basically grab a round cotton swab and use it before and after I wash my face. Shake well!

2. Sabon Mint Face Polisher: this isn’t every day, just when I need a good exfoliant (once a week, heavy makeup, deep clean). I concentrate on everywhere except my nose area which is sensitive.

3. Sulwhasoo Gentle cleansing oil: easily my favorite part of my facial routine. This smells so good and the oil is light! Also checks off the “double cleanse” part of the Korean 10 step routine.

4. Eau Thermale Avene Cleanance Cleansing Gel: Soap Free Cleanser for Acne Prone, Oily, Face & Body, Alcohol-Free (it says but I still feel it). This stuff is strong, and I avoid the area around my nose. It’s super effective in treating and preventing pimples.

5. Eau Thermale Avene Tolerance Extremely Gentle Cleanser Lotion: the description says I can leave this on. I use this super gentle cleaning lotion to thoroughly clean the area around my nose and between my eyebrows (then everywhere else, to offset the strength of my previous cleansers). This is an add-on that replaces the prior stronger cleansers. I usually wash it off too. It’s gentle on the lips and that’s how I clean my lips!

*so basically I have four cleansers that I mix and match, with my oil cleanser being the foundation of everything. Sometimes I do three! Most of the time I double cleanse.

Post-wash

They say you should add products from most aqueous to thickest. I more or less follow this rule.

1. Toner (as mentioned above)

2. Hanskin Real Complexion Hyaluron Skin Essence – Hyaluronic Acid. This product vaguely advertise itself to be 5 in 1, but I’m focusing most on the HLA.

3. Beauty of Joseon serum. I use this everywhere because it’s natural ingredients are supposed to calm red skin. Its a tiny bottle with green liquid that’s dispensed by a dropper. I use the whole drop

4. Eau Thermale Avene A-Oxitive Antioxidant Water Cream: this has Vitamin C & E, Hyaluronic Acid. It’s a cream, and I put it on first because I want it to permeate first.

5. When really I should be using my more aqueous Emulsion. I use ETUDE SoonJung 10 Free Moist Emulsion. It’s like a super watery yet light lotion that’s easy on the skin.

6. Eau Thermale Avene Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Cream: this is my spot treatment cream that I lather on everywhere because my face tends to have t-zone inflammation and pink cheeks.

7. (Optional). If I’m feeling an extra need of thick cream as a barrier or layer, I use: Eau Thermale Avene XeraCalm A.D Lipid-Replenishing Cream, Atopic Dermatitis, Eczema-Prone, No Preservatives.

8. Add-ons: when my skin is calm and not inflammed, I use a Korean face mask (targeted at many things) I insert this step after cleansing and toning.

9. Newest add on: I’m using all natural sweet almond oil (by De La Cruz) as an eye cream. I’ll try it for two weeks and see how it goes.

All in all that is: 14 products.

On a typical night I use: 8. So it a daily 8 step skin care routine, at the minimum.

They say you should technically be doing these steps twice a day, but it’s a whole facial that I can’t sustain doing twice. It takes 20-30 mins that I don’t have the time or motivation for!

Day-time: I’m a good girl and I use sun block.

Sunblock: Anthelios Melt-in Milk Body & Face Sunscreen Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 100. That’s right, SPF 100 that is catered to my sensitive skin.

Results? I get compliments of Dewey skin. I corrected my lizard fungusy inflammed skin. I get compliments of not aging. So it’s worth doing this habitually. I’m going to try all summer and see where it goes!

Well, if you’ve made it into the third chapter then I sincerely hope you invest in these products and have clear skin! Thank you for reading through my GRWM Face chapter!

Jimin. Face. Perfection.

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R