Change- For the Better
Change- For the Better
The word that most of America is now beginning to abhor... “Quarantine.” We have been doing this for so long it has become routine. We have now become used to not seeing friends. We have become accustomed to not going out. We haven’t gone to the movies or a sporting event; our date nights have been spent in front of the TV or some other activity that we have come up with as a substitute. The current situation has forced us all to change. Most, I suspect, are becoming antsy and ready for the return back to normal life.
This morning I woke up and looked in the mirror. It was quite a sight. My hair sprung to life in only one spot, a rooster tail or a cowlick, a sign that my hair was getting way too long. I had suggested to my wife three days ago that she try to cut it; I was beginning to feel like a wild animal of sorts. My appearance must have been quite a sight, because when I finally drug myself downstairs today and met my wife at first sight, I felt my wife’s eyes looking at the wild spring of bed-head hair that won’t obey my wishes when grown too long. She stared at it for a moment, then said “I can give you a haircut today.”
Talk about a hint, huh?
So I got the clippers and got a chair; I picked out the three lengths I wanted for attachments. She said she had watched a YouTube video on how to do it, and after we argued a few minutes about what I wanted done, I sat on a chair ready to start. The clippers buzzed with excitement, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for what would happen.
It was the longest haircut I’ve ever had.
I wanted to tell her how to do it, but tried to keep my mouth shut… she continued to say what she was doing was what she had watched online. It seemed different than what I was used to. She clipped my hair, jumping all over the place, seemingly no method to the madness at hand. Barely cutting anything at first, when I finally heard the clippers working at something, I reinforced her, saying “there you go.” I had sat there for minutes already, there was hardly any hair falling down to the floor.
It was the longest haircut I’ve ever had.
Time was passing, and my back was getting tired of sitting on the wooden stool of a chair. She kept looking at me strange, as if she was unsure about what she was doing, or unsure she liked the way she was shaping me. It is an odd feeling when you can’t see what you look like, but can see the dissatisfaction reflect on the face of the one who is making you look that way.
It really was the longest haircut I’ve ever had.
I figured if worst came to worst, I’d just give myself a one length buzz-cut. In fact, I actually said it out-loud. I could envision myself with the horrible cut that I was getting. Her eyes kept looking at me sideways, squinting, twisting her face in odd ways, questioning, making me change the picture I had of myself into a worse and worse portrait of modern art. She had never cut hair before. Maybe this was a bad idea. Surely I didn’t look that bad, did I?
When her odd technique of hair trimming came to a close, she looked at the job she had done. She paused, thought, and then finally said “Well… it makes your eyes stand out.”
Really? The only comment from the whole job was that my eyes stood out? She then backed it up with the life-saving phrase of, “you have beautiful eyes.” Seriously? My eyes were the same before and after my haircut! What do my eyes have to do with anything? If the only thing to say about my new trim was that my “eyes stood out,” it told me not to expect much when I looked in the mirror. Last time I checked, my eyes and my hair were body parts independent of each other.
I kissed my wife and thanked her for the haircut.
I sent a text to my guy-group on my phone saying, “I just got my first Coronavirus-wife haircut and she said it makes my eyes stand out.”
I went upstairs to take a look.
I was shocked that it actually looked good.
Makes me think.
I know this whole covid-19 quarantine is driving everybody nuts. We are all ready to go back to normal life. But what I’m experiencing is growth inside myself, and I'm not that sure I should go back to what life was like before. I actually think the strain on life-as-we-know-it has forced us to become better in some ways.
Think about it for a minute. I’m not saying that I’m always going to get my hair cut by my wife from now on, but what I am saying is that this has pushed us all to grow and develop certain areas of our lives that we had not looked into before. For me, I’ve become more intentional about spending time with my family. I’m still limited with my head injury, but I’ve become closer to my wife through our daily walks up the street and back. The government mandate has given us time to grow by our conversations we share while walking. So much of our lives have changed and I’m actually glad for it. We have been reading more, watching less. We have been eating home cooked meals and not doing fast food. We have been interacting with each other during “family time” in the evenings and it has brought us closer together. Many of us have been forced to learn something new that you didn’t know how to do before the quarantine started. Many of you may even be surprised by what you have picked up. Maybe you didn’t even realize it happened. My son Justin and I fixed a fish tank filter pump yesterday because we couldn’t just run out and buy a new one. The quarantine has somewhat forced us all to think how things work, and problem solve. The quick solution isn’t always possible right now. Many businesses that are normal “solutions” are closed. If you stand back and look at yourself right now, you might smile knowing you have accomplished things foreign, or things you never thought possible. We actually have grown.
If this hasn’t occurred yet in your life (though I bet it has), my challenge to you is simple. Don’t be afraid of a horrible hair cut. Does something need done? Use this time to figure out how to do it, increase your independence as an individual. Have you always wanted to learn something new? There is no better time to start. The beauty of the situation we are in right now is this… it gives us a perfect excuse if things don’t turn out right the first time. We can be relaxed knowing that if our “haircut” doesn’t turn out perfect, we can just say, “hey… it’s a corona-wife cut.”
My point is, this is a perfect time to try. You might be shocked at what you can actually learn to do. Take advantage of the days at hand. Make them count for something. Stretch the limits of your comfort zone. Cook that meal you always enjoy buying as take-out but were always afraid to try making. Do it yourself! Teach a son how to wire a light bulb. Show a daughter how to make her favorite dessert. Help them with whatever their interests are. We have a tremendous window of opportunity right now to do things that we should have been doing all along, things that we have become too “busy” to do, to teach, to learn, and to enjoy. Personally, I actually have even learned some things from our children. It can go both ways. Don’t let this golden hour pass you by.
After all... Philippians 4:13 says: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Seize the moment.
And take a picture of your haircut for the scrapbook.
By
Chuck Carr