Growing your hair out is probably one of the most frustrating things you will ever endure. When people compare tedious tasks to watching paint dry, they really should compare it to watching your hair grow. The ups and downs you experience while growing your hair out are similar to being far too invested in a TV series. There are several stages everyone must endure while waiting to get those long and luscious locks it seems like everyone has but you.

A while back you decided to go for it and chop your hair off. After having long hair for what seemed like forever, you decided it was time for a change. Hair always grows back, right? The short hair is cute for a while. You really like the way it looks, but eventually you start thinking to yourself, “Maybe I should grow my hair out.” Whether you’re sick of not being able to do anything with it or just miss having long hair, you decide to start the tedious process.

In a couple of months, you can see a noticeable difference. Mostly because it’s at that awkward stage where it’s not long, but it’s not short either. Your hair literally looks like you’re trying to grow it out. You start thinking that it's getting longer, but to everyone else, it just looks like you need a haircut. This is the first time you think, “Maybe I should just cut it; it would look better.” But you know that if you ever want it to be long again, you have to get past this stage. You wonder how celebrities go from short hair to long hair in the blink of an eye. If you had the money, you would get extensions, but it looks like you’ll just have to wait it out.

Finally you pass that awkward in-between-lengths stage. Your hair isn’t quite as long as you want it to be, but people start to notice just how far it has come. Everyone starts commenting on how long your hair is getting. You look good and you feel even better. Your hair is an actual style again, and you feel hopeful. You’re surprised at how fast your hair has been growing; you thought it would take a lot longer to get to this stage. If your hair keeps up like this, it will be grown out in no time.

And then it hits. The waiting game. Months have passed, and it feels like your hair hasn’t grown an inch. It looks the same, and you’re pretty sure that it’s not going to get any longer. You keep getting it trimmed so it’s healthy. You rarely, if ever, use heat on it so that it won’t get damaged. You buy all the fancy hair remedies that promise to make your hair grow faster. You take biotin. You literally do everything, but nothing seems to work. You’ve put so much time and effort into growing your hair out you know you can’t turn back now. Plus it doesn’t look bad; you just want it to be longer. You know the only way it will ever get longer is if you just keep waiting.

After what seems like forever, your hair is finally the length you want it to be. You enjoy it for a time, but it took so long to grow that you start getting sick of it. All your hair does is hang there. You’re tired of long hair, and you start daydreaming about how cute you looked with your short hair. Sure, you can do more with your long hair, but your short hair wasn’t as much maintenance either. You wait it out for a while, but before you know it, you find yourself back in the salon chair saying it’s time for a change. And so begins the cycle again.