I recently went through a change that took a lot of courage to execute. Over my spring break, I decided that it was time for a change, but not like a "New Year, new me" sort of deal. Here's why I bleached and dyed my hair purple.
I Got Too Comfortable with Being Comfortable
My friend told me the other week, "You need to start getting comfortable with being uncomfortable." My professor over the summer said the same thing. You truly are never going to make any sort of progress until you push yourself out of your comfort zone. You may even end up losing several opportunities that could do you a lot of good. So I decided to take his advice literally. The thought of me having purple hair makes me incredibly uncomfortable, so that's when I knew I had to do it.
I Like the Color Purple
Sure, I could have dyed my hair a "normal" color, like auburn, or jet black, but I decided that I should go big or go home. The colors on the box weren't of much help because the photos were obviously photo-shopped, but I took my chances. I had a hard time choosing between pastel purple, or the purple I have now. I didn't want to go so big that I shut down the stadium. I thought this was a good start.
I Wanted to Force Myself Out of My Shell
That turtle you see up there is me. I get so scared to try new things. I thought I knew myself pretty well because I forced myself into a shell a lot of the time, but it turns out that I don't know myself. By doing things like this, I will eventually learn so much about myself that I get surprised. I figured that this is temporary and hair grows back. So I went for it.
I Wanted to Be Adventurous
I often find the most entertaining things I do to be waiting to do an assignment the day it's due, no joke. I wanted a lot more excitement in my life, so I tapped into my impulsive side, which is usually ignored, and went with it. I took a big risk, but the results were worth it in the end. At first, I cut my hair. Then I got an adrenaline rush and decided to dye it purple. Then I decided to go all out and get bangs. So now, I'm totally bangin'.
I Care Less About What People Think
I have become a lot more comfortable with myself and I realize that it should not matter what other people think of me. If I like what I'm doing and it makes me happy, I should be able to continue doing it -- no questions asked. I'm tired of limiting myself and stunting my personal growth because I'm afraid of what society will think. No. Enough of that. I'm going to do me, and do me well.
The moral of the story is, do what makes you happy and do it well. At the end of the day, all you have is yourself, so why waste your time molding yourself into someone everyone else wants you to be...? Someone you won't be happy with? I'm going to continue to do things that put me outside of my comfort zone. Hopefully I learn more about myself.