And I really didn't have time for it.
Since Cyrus' birth, I've remembered that it is in the witching hours from 1:00 AM - 4:00 AM that a gal can really get some work done. By "work" I mean sending emails, planning events, packing lunches or researching a new mascara.
Eight hours later I grabbed my CVS coupon and the baby and I made our way to the CVS a town south. I purchased Lash Paradise in Mystic Black because you and I both know when you're 30-something and frazzled, paradise sounds like a great idea.
I'm a fanatic face washer. I can count on one hand the number of times annually that I go to bed without washing my face. It's just part of my way to wash the day away. So after my big purchase of a new mascara (I think I used my yellow tube type for probably 10 years), it took one face wash to realize I made a terrible mistake. I had bought waterproof mascara.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Can't do it.
It's one thing to cry pretty, but another to waste 45 minutes of your evening trying to get tar out of your eyelashes.
But the tube was like $10.00, so I did what any frugal, frustrated gal would do. Rather than throw it away and buy the correct type, I bought $47 worth of various eye make-up removers over three weeks until I found one that was nothing short of anointing oil and Country Crock.
After another three weeks of that bedtime fiasco (I realized there was a problem when I'd used the holy oil and lard to wash my lashes, then couldn't see well enough to climb the stairs to bed) I gave up and tossed the tube. Straight into the trash.
I returned to CVS the next day and bought Lash Paradise, non-waterproof.
The next evening my face-washing routine was like the good old days. The black sludge rolled down the drain and I was reminded why a concealer is no longer an option. I was also reminded of this:
Don't hang on to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
This is real and it is true and it is good.
I think far past mascara and wonder about the things I may have hung on to much longer than I should have because I had invested too much time, money or pride to let go of them. That didn't do much for my state of mind, but it sure gave some blog content, I guess.
So I ask you -
- the one holding on so tightly to
the job that leaves you uninspired because it is familiar and easy
the shoes you never wear because they hurt your feet but they were expensive
the relationship that you know isn't "it" but it's been pretty good for three years of your precious life
...Is it time to let go of the mistake in order to find what is best for you?
Toss the tube.
Swallow the pride.
Declutter your closet and life.
Realize that sometimes staying is worse than leaving.
Ain't nobody got time for waterproof mascara. Especially middle-aged gals with cows and kids to feed.
