I’ve heard the term, let your hair down, time and time again. Recently, I stopped to think about what that really means. I even googled it. ‘Letting your hair down’ refers to letting go, enjoying yourself, having a little fun. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I’m not quite sure when the last time I really did this. I’m a woman who is single, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a professional. I have a household to run. I have children to feed. I have a job, a career, and people that rely on me. One mistake or bad decision and our lives can be turned upside down.
It’s easy to become so focused on taking care of business that you forget to ‘let your hair down’ and enjoy yourself. For a moment, not caring what someone else thinks about you, or the bills that need to be paid, about your career, your plan to get to the next level, your checking and savings balances- or lack thereof, about what the kids need, how many pounds you need to lose, about work and what needs to be taken care of there.
I am writing today because I suddenly realized that I don’t have enough of those ‘letting my hair down’ moments. And, those moments don’t just happen. For some of us, we’ll have to be very intentional about making them happen. Life is fleeting and it can be gone at any time. We need to enjoy it! Yes, if we fail to plan, we plan to fail. I know. But, for me, I want to embrace laughter and good times a little more. I want to stop worrying about what is next on my to do list at some point of my day. I want to take a little more time to live in the moment. And, I suggest that you do the same.
Ladies, how can we let our hair down and live in the moment?
The first step is, carving out time in your day to do something that makes you happy and brings you joy. There are only 24 hours in a day. We sleep 6-8 of those away which means we have 16 hours per day to get things done. For a lot of us, we work 8 hours or more and so now we are down to 8 hours left. Therefore, it may just mean that you carve 30 minutes out of your day to light candles and lock yourself into the bathroom for a warm bath while listening to soft music. Or, instead of working overtime, saying, not today, and heading to the library for a little bit of quiet time and good read. Or, going to the nail salon and treating yourself to a pedicure. We all find joy in different things, what is your thing? I wrote in another blog post that if I don’t put it on my calendar, more often than not, it doesn’t happen. So, if you’re anything like me and the day gets away from you before you know it, set a calendar reminder to help you out.
The 2nd step is setting boundaries around your time and not allowing anyone or anything to stop you, unless of course there is an emergency. If you decide to take 30 minutes in the evening to enjoy a warm bath, don’t take your cell phone in there with you. Do what you need to do in order to protect your peace and your ‘you’ time.
I read a quote (not sure who the author is) recently that says, “trust the wait, embrace the uncertainty, and enjoy the beauty of becoming.” So, the 3rd step is realizing that it may take time for us to really get this thing down. Try not to be super hard on yourself if you don’t get it right away. Just continue to put effort into making it happen, consistently! Over and over again. Until, it becomes habit. Let’s be honest, we need it.
In closing, we are a work in progress. And, becoming victorious women rising isn’t something that we can just snap our fingers to make happen. But, it definitely will happen if we work at it each day. Little by little. Rising victoriously requires us letting our hair day every now and then. We work hard, and we deserve it! We are victorious women rising!
