Bangs. I think the only thing worse than a bad set of bangs is a bad set of bangs stuck in the grow out phase. An impulsive decision of mine a few months back has made this a personal reality of mine. As I obsess over the way my long bangs are oddly reminiscent of the 90s, I find myself repeating to myself, “Why can’t this just be over already? Why can’t I just be there?”
This is not just relevant to bangs. This aching feeling to arrive at a distant time in the future is something I experience regularly. Our college years and early twenties are suppose to be this fun and exciting transition time and yet all I can think about is getting to the end. I crave to arrive at adulthood like it is the next stop on a crowded bus. While this feels like the right mentality sometimes, plow through, put your head down and just get there mentality for all of us with a “13 going on 30” mindset aren’t doing ourselves any favors. You have to be 20 before you can be 21. Everyone does. It’s life. You have to be a child before you can be a parent. The more you try to rush time, the more time you miss out on. There is always going to be another place to get to. As soon as you arrive at one life milestone, you are put right back on the track to the next. If you spent all of your time trying to get there, you would miss out on all the lessons and growth that surface in the between phases of life.During my long bang stage I learned a thousand ways to pin back bangs, as well as hair is not quite as crucial to happiness as I originally had thought. In suffering through a year of being twenty while all of my friends were at the bars, I learned that my journey is not the same as any of my friends’ and the way I fill my time will serve me in a different way.
Ultimately, it's OK to not feel there yet, whatever “there” means. Whether being “there” is having your dream job, traveling the world or buying a Tesla. We will spend the rest of our lives watching goals and milestones come and go, but we will spend most of our time on the ride between destinations. Everything about that ride is a product of your mindset. You can choose to take the scenic route, you can choose to speed, you can enjoy it or you can spend it anxiously checking your GPS. Nothing breaks up a long road trip like a few detours and to always take time to stretch your legs when you get overwhelmed. Trust that you will get there, when you get there and suddenly the trip doesn’t seem so daunting. The less you put yourself on a timeline and obsess over arriving the more you can just cruise.
