Greetings! I hope everyone's summer is off to a great start! The summer heat has definitely arrived in Charleston, along with the thunderstorms. After lightning struck a tree right outside my daughter's bedroom window a few years ago, I have acquired a fear and respect for these summer storms. This last weekend I escaped the heat and headed to my alma mater, Dartmouth, for its commencement ceremony. My reasons for attending were several. Commencement is a very special time at Dartmouth. The ceremony, itself, is beautiful, even when it rains as it did on Sunday! Alums return to campus, and given the tight-knit student body and community, you're bound to run into old friends. Lastly, Roger Federer was the commencement speaker. As many of you know, I am a rabid tennis fan, so I could not pass up the opportunity to hear the speech in person. I had a partner in crime in my college roommate, who happened to play on Dartmouth's tennis team back in the day! She is a radiologist in Atlanta. We met up in Boston, and then made the drive to Dartmouth after stopping off to see some dear friends in a nearby town.
From start to finish, the weekend was magical. I did, indeed, see and catch up with former classmates. We had a fabulous time, and we had many Federer sightings in the small, quaint town of Hanover, NH. The ceremony itself took place on Sunday morning. At the outset of the ceremony, the honorary doctorate degrees were awarded to a group of individuals who were more than impressive. It was a very humbling experience listening to their many and varied accomplishments. Roger Federer then took the stage, and his speech did not disappoint!
I have to admit, I always find this time of year fun to hear graduation speeches. Many of them are inspiring, uplifting, and full of sage advice. For instance, I also enjoyed Jerry Seinfeld's remarks at Duke this year. But Federer's speech was remarkable in many ways. As he said from the outset, he "was out of his comfort zone." I think that speaks to his greatness; those who succeed in life are not afraid to step out of their comfort zone and take chances. His nervousness was palpable, but he accepted the challenge and hit an ace!
He offered 3 lessons for life. The first was the lesson that "effortless (success) is a myth." Success does not come without hard work. In the world of entitlement that we seem to live in, the importance of hard work cannot be emphasized more. Another statement that hit me was that self-confidence and "belief in yourself must be earned" through that same hard work and drive; you must keep pushing yourself to expand your horizons and reach for more, and as you do, that confidence will come. The second lesson was about losing. Using tennis analogies, he explained how you cannot win all of the time or even the majority of the time. But when the mistakes and losses happen, you must move onward and leave the losses in the past. "Negative energy is wasted energy." Perfectly said. Move on, don't dwell on the self-doubt, and keep working, not just harder but he emphasized the need to work "smarter," too. Lesson 3: "The world is bigger than a tennis court." I am paraphrasing, but expand your horizons, surround yourself with a great team, make strong bonds, and think outside the box. For any of you who are interested in watching the speech (or seeing his little tennis lesson at the end), I have the link below.
Another bonus of the weekend is that the NH rain gave my skin a break from the southern sun. Despite my efforts to wear sun protection while taking walks on the beach recently, my skin is already looking like an alligator when I look in the magnifying mirror. And given my recent frustration over the tennis program at the University of Florida, the gator look is particularly irksome! I know as well as anybody about the ways to protect your skin: walk in the mornings and evenings, wear a hat, sunglasses, and sun protective clothing, and yes, sunscreen. Despite this, I have gotten too much sun exposure over the last few weekends. Looks like a chemical peel and more laser is in my future to undo the damage I have done. The good news is that I can do the chemical peels in the summer, whereas I'll now have to wait until my tan fades for the laser. The sun has also had the effect of dehydrating my skin. While topical modalities are helpful and recommended, I did beg Kelly to inject some Skinvive last week. This is the product I have previously mentioned that has been approved by the FDA as an injectable moisturizer. It consists of HA (hyaluronic acid), which is the same as many of the fillers on the market, but this is designed and FDA-approved to hydrate and replenish the skin. It has become a staple in my practice!
As I get ready to sign off, I will, of course, leave you with a song that makes me think about summer...another great classic.
But we are also going to run a couple of specials to help you combat the effects of the summer sun (see below). I hope you have a great week!
'Til next time,
Heidi Williams
Specials:
Receive a free Moisturizing Antioxidant Sunscreen with the purchase of a chemical peel, offered for the month of June.
Flash sale of 10% off a Skinvive treatment or receive a free HylaMoist Cream with any Skinvive treatment for the remainder of this week only.
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