I always tell myself that I am eating very healthy and that's all it matters, thus, eventually, I will have glowing skin. I learned so much about nutrition 'cause of acne, ha ha.
I actually want to be a certified plant-based nutrition coach or something to help others. So yeah, I am healthy and that's all it matters to me.
I remind myself that the circumstances I am currently in were brought about by, seemingly, no action of my own. Therefore, I do not "deserve" the skin I possese which, inturn, envokes feelings of anger within myself. Futhermore, it is this anger that fuels my continued pursuit of life.
In short, I am driven by the fact that I was, seemingly, dealt the "short stick" in life. Akin to a chip on my shoulder.
This might be strange, but this quote helps me. Spoken by Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones.
Tyrion: "Let me give you some advice, bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you."
I try to wear my skin issues like armor. I'll be the first to admit that I'm flawed, but the fact that I accept and understand that I'm flawed takes away the power people might use to make nasty comments or just be unintentionally rude. That rarely happens because most of the people I surround myself with are very understanding, but life in general can be tough for an acne sufferer so I always think of that quote when I'm at my lowest.
Well, the thing that keeps me going is that it's not gonna last forever.
One day I will die, and the pain will be over.
My broken body, which I hate more than anything in this world, will be destroyed, and I will never have to deal with it again.
And hopefully when I'm dead, I'll gets some answers as to why some people have to suffer, while others don't.
My whole life, I've watched sociopaths and assholes get everything they want, while decent good-natured people gets stomped on, and I would like to know why that is so.
Elvin
Keeping hopeful, finding something that makes me laugh and remembering that there is SO much more to life than acne. But at the same time though I think it's good to remind yourself that it is ok to be upset or have a good cry about it sometimes- and I agree with what 'nfamousjade' said, - that a good cry can help.
Aside from having terrible skin, when I consider everything, my life is great. In fact I feel a bit stupid for sometimes getting so down about acne when I consider all the things that I often take for granted every day that other people aren't so lucky to have. So I am thankful for that and realise that I am actually very lucky (except in the skin department 
, but you can't win them all can you?), keeping things in perspective keeps me going. That and knowing one day I will have clear skin, clearing it is a huge matter of trial and error but I will make it there one day...
Knowing that it's not permanent really helps me. Six months ago, I had TERRIBLE skin. The worst I've ever had in my life, probably. Red marks all over my cheeks, with active pimples, too. It seemed like every two days I'd get a new pimple. After going on medications, it took a few months for me to see actual progress. And then, without me even really noticing, it seemed like everything just got under control. No more pimples, the redness subsided, and the marks faded significantly.
Now, my cheeks are fine. I enjoyed perfectly clear skin for about a month or so and then I got this weird pimple in between my eyebrows that I picked at. Now, it's left a dark mark, which at first, devastated me. But thinking about it more, it's nothing compared to what I was dealing with six months ago. Knowing that this mark will fade away with time is promising, and all my marks seem to fade significantly within several months. Knowing that I will get perfectly clear skin again someday is also promising as long as I stick to my regimen and don't pick at new pimples, if they ever do form. I also think about the thousands of worse problems I could have - I'm perfectly healthy physically, I like my body, I have wonderful family and friends, a nice home, I go to university, I have a car, etc....I see people everyday that deal with disabilities, permanent deformities, horrible scars, etc and they go through life too. Everyone is fighting their own battle, so I just try to remember that.
For me, it's just that i'm glad that i'm healthy and i do not have any terminal illness. Acne in comparison, isn't that bad. Just take solace that you are doing the best you can to stop your acne. It's not about fighting the fact that you have acne but accepting that it's part of your life and that you are doing whatever is within your power to get better. Stop scrutinizing your face as in reality, we are our worst critics.
Persoanlly,i now just focus on my career.I had extremely severe acne and now left with permanent scarring.Was the popular kid in junior highschool.Made out with all the beautiful girls,troublemaker etc.Acne scarring has totally changed that.Iv given up on women.
Still,sometimes u gotta look around and remember lots of guys have zero luck with beautiful girls.At least i got to experience that.
However,when u are born good looking u dont know anything else and when thats taken away its difficult but iv accepted it.
Persoanlly,i now just focus on my career.I had extremely severe acne and now left with permanent scarring.Was the popular kid in junior highschool.Made out with all the beautiful girls,troublemaker etc.Acne scarring has totally changed that.Iv given up on women.
Still,sometimes u gotta look around and remember lots of guys have zero luck with beautiful girls.At least i got to experience that.
However,when u are born good looking u dont know anything else and when thats taken away its difficult but iv accepted it.
sucks how life is never fair cheaters win/liers get away with things good people come last and suffer/ when the rich wage war the poor who suffers.
Well, the thing that keeps me going is that it's not gonna last forever.
One day I will die, and the pain will be over.
My broken body, which I hate more than anything in this world, will be destroyed, and I will never have to deal with it again.
And hopefully when I'm dead, I'll gets some answers as to why some people have to suffer, while others don't.
My whole life, I've watched sociopaths and assholes get everything they want, while decent good-natured people gets stomped on, and I would like to know why that is so.
Elvin
I found this to actually be a very beautiful statement. I think some others will get a kick out of it too.
What keeps me going is what some have already said above, my life is great except for the skin department. I have a loving family, great friends, i'm in college.. A lot of people don't have that. I let it get me down a lot but I realized the people around me the most care the least. What I mean is that they aren't affected at all by it and would never make rude comments, and i'm also thankful for that.
All we can do is push on, and when our acne finally does clear and we have won the war, life will be oh so much better.
Talk about appreciation.
The fact that I can walk, talk, eat what I want, greet the sunshine (or clouds, depending on the day =P). All of those might sound cheesy, and maybe they are...to be honest, acne isn't that much of an issue in my life anymore, but we all have our own burdens, and we all have to shoulder those, everyday. I try to count my blessings everyday, and while my faith is personally how I can greet each day with a smile, I also have to fight for that. Life is crazy, but would you want it any other way? =)
i think of myself as a statistic. life isn't unfair. it's just life. some percentage of people in a given place will have acne. a smaller percentage will have severe acne. these things are out of our control. we aren't all meant to live life with perfect skin; we are just given the illusion that we were supposed to. just like natural selection, there will be people with a poorer gene pool.
now then, how will you, among the 0.01% of severe acne sufferers, deal with your problem? will you be one of the few in that group to accept it and move on? or will you be like the majority and mull in your loss? everything that happened to you to culminate into acne was some sort of biological process. there is a reason for every mechanism of action that caused your blemishes. those reasons were out of your control and you could have done nothing to stop it. just think of yourself objectively. like a science experiment. it's not unfair, it's just chronic inflammation due to a malfunction in your body after taking long term antibiotics, or [insert rational explanation here]. now that you objectify your problem, it no longer becomes an irrational, emotionally-driven train wreck.
idk if this helps or even makes sense, but it helps me a lot.
I simply try to ignore it and pretend i dont suffer from it, put myself in denial. I also tried this method with my assignments...I firstly ignore them, pretend I finished them and then get crzy stressed when i realise they are due in the next day. Yeah don't listen to my advice, it's really bad sorry :/
I concentrate on my hobbies and passions that do not require interaction with people and being looked at:) I excel at piano playing, painting, jewellery and dress making..... and all of these make me happy and no one else needs to look at me while I do it. I mastered the skills and enjoy them rather than being depressed looking in the mirror. We are much more than the condition of our skin.