Growth

I am very lazy about many things, but getting my hair trimmed is one thing about which I'm almost disgustingly lazy. I make a concerted effort to remember to get my hair trimmed at least once every six months. This time, though, I'm ashamed to admit, I waited a full 8 months to get my hair trimmed.

I quickly made an appointment with my hairdresser when I realized that, even if I could use my recently gifted Chi straightener to work magic on my obstinately curly hair, I had some serious split ends. Carrie, the wonderfully gifted hairdresser who's been cutting and styling my hair for over a decade, is always good about squeezing me in whenever I call at the last minute.

I have been in the habit, for several years, of having Carrie straighten my hair whenever I go in for a trim. That is also the only time my hair has been straightened.

After getting my hair quickly trimmed and styled on my lunch hour this afternoon, I used my afternoon break to peruse some pictures I'd posted on Facebook over the past year or so. I came across a picture from exactly a year ago, on another occasion when I'd just returned from Carrie's ministrations.

While I'm always shocked at the amount that my hair has grown, I was blown away at the comparison between last year's picture and today's. Of course, that comparison started me thinking: wouldn't it be wonderful if we could gauge personal (emotional, spiritual, etc.) growth in a similar manner?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if one could look in the mirror (or at a picture) and instantly see visible proof of how far he or she had come in life?

I know that I've grown exponentially over the past two years. I know, too, that I am no where near the point of life where I need to slow that growing process even the smallest bit. Similarly to the fact that I couldn't do certain things with my hair when it was shorter than it is now, there are many things in my life that I was in no way ready to handle last year at this time. The biggest hurdle I wasn't ready to tackle last August was a relationship. Sure, I could blame my anti-relationship stance on the harsh breakup I'd gone through just six months previously, but the reality is that I knew I wasn't ready to commit to someone on the level that an adult relationship requires.

Fast-forward to August 2010 and I'm struggling through my first "real" relationship (with the man with whom I hope to spend the rest of my life). I am forever grateful to my friends who have been in my shoes before and have been an endless source of advice and encouragement. Like my hair, my ability to commit (among many other things) has grown to astounding lengths.

I am not naive, I know myself well enough to know that being in a relationship (not to mention life in general) will remain an almost constant struggle as I fight against the growth I know I need but do not want.