Thursday, I did something BIG! I cut 4” off of my hair. That may not seem like much for some of you but for me…I love my hair! I’ve wanted long hair for as long as I can remember.
Recently, however, I had to take a step back and ask myself WHY? Why did I want long hair? What did it represent in my life? What did I feel it would gain me?
I saw long hair as a form of beauty I was striving for. I also saw long hair as something with unlimited potential. So many hairstyling options for long hair… messy up-dos, French poufs, twists, top knots, buns, chignons, messy ponytail, and a multitude of braids, waves and curls. All of this unlimited potential for styling, color, and to be playful, crazy, or funky. Now for the reality…was I using that potential? How many times when I tried to do these things with my hair…be fun…be playful…be funky…did it turn into a disaster? Then, what did I do? I go right back to my default styles…straight, wavy, messy bun. It quickly went from unlimited……..to 3! The vision I had for my hair with all of its unlimited potential never quite manifested into reality. This only led to an incredible amount of frustration.
So, every morning I would look at my hair and see unlimited potential that never seemed to measure up to the vision I had for it.
My hair had a heaviness that I couldn’t figure out how to lift…no matter the cut, no matter the product. Nonetheless, I was emotionally attached to it. Have you ever had something you were emotionally attached to, but it simply wasn’t measuring up, fitting into your current reality or serving your current purpose? What do you do with that?
Recently I had the opportunity to do some deep internal digging and reflection, some soul searching, and I realized that the thing I loved so much was weighing me down. I wasn’t part of my “now” or my future. So, Thursday, I walked into my hairdresser and I said, “let’s do something different. My hair no longer reflects me and who I want to be.” “I want playful. I want spunk. I want a sense of lightness and freedom.” She proceeded to cut off 4 inches.
I was uncomfortable; I was still questioning my decision as she and her scissors were working their magic. When it was styled, it wasn’t exactly how I had pictured it in my mind’s eye, which, I have to admit, had me questioning again my bold decision. But in this case, the styling…the result… was her vision…not mine.
Sometimes personal growth can feel very similar. It can be uncomfortable at first. It can be messy. It can look different than we anticipated it. We can land in an unfamiliar place where we have to learn to navigate new territory. We come home from transformative events with new products to help us produce new results.
Fast forward to today. Today I’m LOVING it!!! I have a hairstyle that is meeting and exceeding expectations. I love it. I feel lighter. I feel freer. I feel ready to take on the world.
I want to ask you…what is your 4 inches? What is weighing you down? What is causing you to continually feel like you are on a hamster wheel, unable to get ahead? Is there something that is no longer serving you or your purpose or the legacy you want to leave? The difficult realization comes when you recognize that sometimes it’s something that you are very much emotionally attached to. Maybe that something is like a carrot dangling in front of you that is distracting you. You see its potential, but it just isn’t happening. Maybe that “thing” is no longer for you. Maybe it is something that isn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t your “now”, maybe it’s a “later”, maybe it was intended to get you to where you are now and it’s time to let go and move on.
Find some time to just sit still and be quiet and begin to ask those hard questions. Is this for me right now? Is this where I’m supposed to be? Is this where I’m supposed to be serving? Is this where I’m supposed be expending energy, mentally or physically? Is this how I’m supposed to feel? OR is there a 2.0 version of YOU that is waiting for you to have the space- emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually- open and ready to accept the thing that will get you to the next level into your reality? Your intuition will tell you.
Sometimes it’s helpful to reach out to someone like a coach. Someone who you can lay it all out to. Someone is already thinking at that next level. Someone who can look at things from that 30,000-foot view without the emotional attachments who can look at your situation from another perspective. Having that sounding board can be invaluable.
Some people may at this point use the word REINVENTING ONESELF to describe that process where massive change takes place and I guess that correctly describes specific times in our lives. But personal development should be a lifestyle; I like to think of this process as a polishing, sharpening or a carving.
Michelangelo once said, “ I saw the angel in the marble, and I carved into it until I set him free.” This journey allows me to get closer and closer to that 2.0 version of me. Gaining more clarity as to that woman is, what that woman’s purpose is, how does she feel, what is her energy level, how does she want to think, how does she want to show up in her life (emotionally, physically, relationally, spiritually, financially) and then making those necessary adjustments. Becoming that woman sooner rather than later…or heaven forbid, never.
We evaluate and we remove what isn’t until we have brought into reality what was there the whole time…our true self along with it’s unlimited potential and deepest desires. It’s at this point that we are set free.
What is your 4 inches to freedom?
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