Are You Stuck In A Rut?
I went to get my haircut and changed it up a little, I like to change it every 6 months because I just get bored with it and it. My hair stylist and I were talking about just this, being stuck in a rut and a client that had come in a few weeks ago that wanted a 'new' look because she was feeling old, nothing ages you more than never changing the way you look. The thing is that 'feeling' is more then a haircut, it's everything about you and although a haircut is a great place to start it can't end there. If you keep wearing the same clothes, makeup and thinking the same way all you did was change your hair. You have to keep growing in life or you will become obsolete. The key to happiness, youth is to never stop learning, exploring and evolving. One of the best things about being a woman is our ability to completely change the way we look.
After I had my daughter I woke up one day looked in the mirror realizing that I had become 'boring' with my pony tail because I didn't have time to do anything else and uniform of a white t-shirt and khakis it hit me I look like a soccer mom. Not who I wanted to be, i wasn't ready to be in the background lost in the sea of moms at the park so off to the salon I went. I chopped all of my hair off into a pixie cut and went platinum blonde which then led to all new makeup and an over haul of my wardrobe. Of course, my baby went into hysterics when she saw me I guess I smelled and sounded like her mom but didn't look like her. After a few minutes she calmed down and realized it was me, I will never forget that sigh of relief and melt she did in my arms poor kid. Funny things happened after that, I started exercising, reading books i typically wouldn't and I found myself again. Not who I was before having my daughter, after all becoming a mother is life altering but who I was becoming, not just a wife or a mother.
I made a lifestyle change out of that haircut becuase real change comes from within the outside is just a costume. You have to make a decission to change everything because we do evolve as our lives change and I think it is the secret to happiness. It is hard to let go of the past especially our younger, thinner and cellulite free youth. I'm closing in my mid 40's and that's ok becuase I am more comfortable with who I am, more so than my 20 something self. Life isn't over it is just begining. I see older women that just seem to fade into the woodwork and than I look at women like Beatrix Odis, she is vibrant and full of life regardless of her age (72). That is who I want to be, setting up tea in my eclectic garden wearing a Versace jumpsuit with my lilac hair peeking out of my velvet turban. We know that at her age she has suffered great loss but she still finds joy, she is still relevant, exciting and adventurous. Explore who you are becoming, who you want to be and the journey will be amazing, stay stuck in who you were and you will find the journey long and destructive.
Tips On Getting Out Of Your Rut:
A makeover is a great starting point but what you really need is a lifestyle makeover. Ask yourself who do you want to be, what makes you happy and what you need to fix in your life.
Embrace youth, don't be angry becuase their music is too loud or they have nose peircings instead talk to them. Befriend them because they will make you feel younger, if you stop fighting the differences. You just might find that you have more in common then you think.
Change your surroundings, start with the room you like to spend most of your time create and area or the entire room that is all about you. Your favorite color, chair and have pictures/books of things you want to do or places you want to go.
Change your routine. If you always get up and go to the gym switch out your treadmill for a dance class. Avoid the places you always go and find new places, expand your horizons.
Change your wardrobe! Buy something you wouldn't normally wear and shake things up a bit but elevate your style. There is no such thing as being over dressed!
Find new friends that are not just like you, surround yourself with the kind of people you want to be like, that you admire and respect
Change your hair, makeup, skincare becuase every few years (or more), they stop working for you and start aging you.
Step outside your comfort zone, make new friends and find new 'hobbies' or new things to do.
Try new food from what you cook to where you go to eat, you just might love Lebonese food.
Travel, but if you can't research different parts of the world and have one night a week were you emerce yourself in a different culture from foreign films to music to food of that area.
Find something you are passionate about, passion is youth.
Don't be ordinary be extrodinary