Acne

My younger sister has acne. She's in first year high school and she has to contend with this issue. I'm not sure if her episodes are starting to have an effect on her self-esteem. But, every time I see her massaging a pimple, hoping to make it go away, I resist the urge to just hug her right there and then. I understand her predicament. I really do.

I started having pimples way back in high school. But my bout with my face worsened in college. In high school, I only had to settle with a pimple a month. In college, I had to deal with breakouts every week. They would always crop up, like a never-ending array of pustules all bent on tormenting me.

I experimented with a lot of skin products back then, which made my face extremely dry or oily. Still, my acne wouldn't go away.

My respite came after I had chicken pox. I was literally acne-free for months. However, they came back during my final year in college and things have remained that way since. I remember hoping then that by the time I reach age 21, my debut, acne won't bother me anymore but I still have a pimple every week

Looking back, I can confidently say that acne didn't take away anything from me. But it did make me uncomfortable at times, especially when I had to speak in public while living through a period of dark blemishes and numerous emerging pimples. 

It is frustrating. Acne definitely is. It is one of those things in life which one doesn't have any control over and it is with this quite unforgivable quality that acne taught me something of value. It is that, inasmuch as I would like to believe that I control my destiny, there will always be things that are beyond me. Things ranging from the quite mundane, such as acne, to the more heavier stuff, such as fate and death, all lay before us, tantalizingly near but always beyond our grasp. 

With this, what matters simply is one's attitude towards what cannot be directed or dictated upon. And with this realization comes the need for a more stoic acceptance of life's surprises and a healthier appreciation of its certainties.