Chuck T here... reading that last thread kind of shocked me, some people really do let this control them.. I said everything I had to say about acceptance in my last post, but since we're on the subject I'll give my own personal example of this weekend.. This forum has been a GREAT deal of help to me but there are many negative posts.. Time for some positive... So this is my second month of EC, and recently is spread to the bottom lip, the outer bottom lip so it covers about 2/3 of visible skin, and there is a contrast between healthy looking lip and redness. Yeah, it sucks. But I've slowly but gradually made myself accept this, and for the past few nights I've decided to completely return to my social life, this time in the day light and in bright rooms, and act completely as I would have if I did not have this shit. So on friday an Army buddy of mine and old room-mate came over, first time I've seen him for ten months, we spent hours kicking back and I realized that I could not enjoy myself because I was thinking about my lips. I made sure we stayed in an area with bright lights. Then I took it another step further, I invited my girlfriend and her friend to come with us. Daylight, no mirrors, just me and beeswax lip balm. I broke the ice, had a 'somewhat' fun time everybody and i then spent the night with my girlfriend. the next morning when we woke up she did comment on my lips, how they were dry or some shit and I just put some lip balm on and they were soft, even though slightly redder in the upper bottom lip. she wouldnt stop kissin me, its not like she was eww dry lips. the ice had really been broken, so i felt more comfortable. The rest of Saturday I chilled with her and ALL of her gorgeous friends, talk about completely bringing it to a further level. Everybody talked to me normally, i was still kind of self-conscious about it. later on in the night, we hit up a PARTY for the first time since I got this shit, and believe me it just got better. i regained much of my self-image and confidence, and sometimes people would glance at my lips but i didnt really give a fuck. girls were still talkin to me, which pissed kirsten off... throughout the night i was just so outgoing and i felt like the old me, the confident social partying chuck T, you know? i didn't give a fuck about the lips, and no one else did. kirsten is still madly in love with me. i think some of us put this shit in our mind like we're not gonna be accepted because our lip is a little fucked up. its so petty. anyway, i had some amazing sex last night with kirsten. so the point im trying to make is, instead of trying to do what so many people on this forum have been doing, trying all this different shit on their lips, just do everything normally, a few trips to the bathroom to check out the lip-situ wont hurt, and no one will notice or care. i experimented this weekend not with any cream or pills but with the power of acceptance and i tried applying to this situation. it didnt make the lip problem go away, but it's sure as fuck a lot better than isolating yourself from society trying to find a cure that just isn't there (or for you optimistic ones, has yet to be found). i also believe our mind magnifies this issue 100x. if acceptance and humility really to link to the condition of the skin, it may also even help the lips return to "self-regulation" in the long run. so stay up ! !

i hope i had something to offer to some of you, me being eighteen i am in the prime of my life so i can more relate to young people on here with this shit. i just figured if there could be a negative thread that has nothing to do with a cure/treatment, just bitching and whining, why can't there be a positive one? if i can do it, you guys can. for real stay up. if anyone has any uplifting stories similiar to mine, please feel free to give an example and keep the positive vibe going. fuck negativity. laugh about this shit. think about it, we're on the fucking internet desperately trying to find a cure for our lips. a friend of mine recently traveled to india and visited a lepor colony, and couldn't even emphasize how warm and compassionate these people were, who in our eyes are "hideous" and "disfigured". Think about all your blessings and how you can use this to grow into a better person, get some humility out of it, let the positive come out because God always allows a positive to unravel out of a negative. Always.

i'm talkin too goddamn much, feel free to keep the positive vibe goin, share your thoughts, or we could always just go back to putting fucking lemon juice on our lips and letting a fucking lip eclipse the beauty of life.

peace and stay up! - Chuck T

BTW these are some pictures of my girlfriend and I.