I’ve had many hair stylists during my lifetime. I would stay with one for a year or so and then find another one. Until I found Sara—she did my hair for five years because she always cut and styled my hair just the way I wanted.
Once in a while Sara would be unavailable and I would get another stylist named Kris. I began to prefer Kris but couldn’t bring myself to make the switch because I felt bad. Sounds like a Seinfeld episode right?
Recently I ran into Kris and she told me she was working at another salon. She even gave me some coupons to make it easier for me to switch. I got up the nerve to cancel Sara and make an appointment with Kris. But I instantly began to feel really bad. I wanted to tell Sara I was sorry—but if I told her the truth it would hurt her feelings!
My dilemma amounted to the question, When do you tell the truth?
I even googled, How to break up with your hair stylist? The most common answer was, Write her a nice note and just move on. Really?
Anyway, when I arrived at my appointment with Kris I told her my feelings. She said not to worry about it—that it’s part of the business. So some truths are better left unsaid?
When I began to tell Kris how I wanted my hair styled she stopped me mid-sentence and said.
“I thought you wanted to change and do something different.”
She began to tell me I shouldn’t blow dry my hair anymore. That I should stop straightening it as I had been doing. She basically said I was doing it all wrong. She told me God made my hair a certain way and I should go with His flow.
“Just use a dime size worth of gel and push your hair back in the direction it wants to go naturally.”
She spoke the truth to me and at first it made me uncomfortable. But I listened. I’d been making my hair go where it shouldn’t go. Just like I’ve lived most of life going where I shouldn’t go. She was right. And now I’m saving fifteen minutes every day by not messing with my hair. Okay maybe ten minutes.
Sometimes we have to take a risk and tell the truth. Other times we have to embrace discomfort and listen to the truth. Either way good things will come.
It’s the same way with Jesus. He doesn’t just show us a path to the truth—He says, I AM THE TRUTH. Does that make us uncomfortable? Trust him. He is the ultimate blessing!
