We face lots of difficult challenges throughout our lives, but there is nothing that can stop you dead in your tracks like a hair tie breaking. The natural reaction to this occurrence is to shriek and rage in anger, but this isn’t always the best option in your daily life. Still, some people will not understand your pain, and it is best to try to try and keep your shit together. Here’s how:
Focus on Damage Control
Your hair was neatly put up and now it’s down. Not only is it in your face, but it’s not down in the elegant way that God intended. It now has a visible crease from where it had been held tightly by a hair tie for hours. This cannot continue. Instead of flipping a table or throwing a glass across the room as your impulse guides you, use that adrenaline rush to try to search for a solution. A rubber band, a piece of string – anything is better than the havoc, which hath currently been wrought.
Focus on Acceptance
Maybe you did find a rubber band or a scrunchie by now, but deep down, you know it looks ridiculous. Either way, you have to own up to your current reality. Until you’re back within range of a well-stocked bag of hair ties, this is your life now. You want to scream, “Fuck fuck fuck, why does this shit always happen to ME?!!! God, WHY?!!” But hey – that won’t help anything. Take some deep breaths. Look at your surroundings and say, “I’ve got this. I can handle this excruciating reality for as long as needed.”
Plan for the Future
One productive way of dealing with a crisis is to assure yourself that it will never happen again. So start making lists in your head of places you can stash handfuls of spare hair ties – in your purse, in your coat pocket, two on your wrist at all times, etc. While you probably want to set something on fire or punch someone in the head right now, that won’t solve anything, nor will it prevent you from future pain. So focus your energy on what you can control – future days when you won’t need to rage uncontrollably in anguish at the loss of a hair tie.
Find Release if You Have to
If you simply must, see if you can find a space alone to quietly sob or scream into a pillow. Your feelings are natural and at some point you do need to process them. If you can do it in a contained way that makes you look less insane to those that don’t relate to your current situation, all the better. Once you’ve let off some steam, return to the room of people who witnessed the hair tie breaking incident and calmly explain “sorry, my hair tie broke and I’m pretty disappointed but I’m ready to continue what we were doing now.” Hopefully, on some level, they’ll understand.
Having a hair tie break is a special level of hell for long-haired women. But it doesn’t have to end you. Use these tips to try to keep your shit together, and you will get through this. We promise.
