A bad haircut feels like a disaster for a week. Then it grows. Most embarrassments have a growth rate.
STILLNESS
WHAT THIS MEANS
Embarrassment has a half-life, and it is shorter than it feels on day one. Hair grows, people forget, the next thing happens, and the event filling your whole head right now has a predictable fade. Knowing roughly how long something will last changes how you carry it.
Attach a number to it the next time you are mortified. Ask yourself how long this will actually matter: a week, a month, until Friday. Then wait that long before you do anything drastic about it. Most people spend more energy hiding from an embarrassment than the embarrassment ever cost them.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Which embarrassment of yours has already started to fade?
MORE IN PATIENCE & TIMING
- Ask your grandparents how they met. Their stories usually involve a lot more waiting than yours.
- Nobody plays the hard pieces in year one. Every level you skip now is a level you’ll have to come back for.
- Older people aren’t patient because they’re slow. They’ve just seen how many problems solve themselves with time.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.