Recently, a friend sent me a photo of her new haircut. I thought it looked great but she wasn't entirely happy. We've all been there. I've had haircuts that have made me cry. When I was younger I used to spend a lot of time and money on my hair - dyes, products, curling, straightening, blow drying, etc. And after all that, there were still times when I left the house feeling self conscious about my hair and allowed it to ruin my day. Now I've come to the point that I don't do much of anything with my hair because I finally realized that it doesn't matter. Hair will do what it does. And my hair is not me.
Hair is temporary. Not only can we change it as easily as changing a shirt, it will change on it's own by becoming frizzy on humid days, turning gray, or falling out. Hair will do what it does, regardless of how we feel about it. We could love the way we look today, then look at a photo two years from now and be horrified, or vis versa. Still, our hair just keeps on doing its thing, changing from day to day, and yet always essentially the same. It's a part of us, but it's not who we truly are.
Once I read something by Leo Baubauta where he described meditation and mindfulness as standing on a bridge watching sticks float out from under the bridge and down a stream. When thoughts come into your mind, take notice of them, and then allow them to float by just like a stick in a stream. The stream is your life. If you think you can control it, you're fooling yourself. Whether you allow your thoughts, possessions, or experiences to pass through your life, or you grasp onto them with clenching fists, the stream of life keeps on flowing, doing what it does. What matters is who you are and what you create while you're here. There has never been and will never be another you with your personality, passions, and gifts. Your life touches and affects others in ways you can't even begin to imagine, despite what your hair might look like. If you don't share yourself and your gifts, the world loses. There are no bad hair days.
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