DAY 20: USE HAIR GEL

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11

I promise this is applicable to your life! :)

One of the most important rules of my dancing days growing up was to use hair gel on performance days. I know it sounds very insignificant compared to other things, but it was key. We were trained to use serious gel…we used to use the brand called Dippity Doo (I have no idea if they still make it or if that’s how you spell it).

First we wet our hair, then we took a brush…the kind that would not make “railroad tracks” in your hair…smooth our hair into a tight ponytail and secure it with a rubber band. Then we would get a big scoop of dippity doo and slather it ALL OVER our hair. Then we would repeat the hairbrush strokes to smooth out all the hair wispies. Wispies are loose hairs…and the reason we don’t like wispies is that from stage, they show! With the stage lights, hair wispies seem to glow and take on a character all their own. And that’s a no, no! Wispies look sloppy, and we don’t want sloppy hair onstage. After applying gel, we would then spray hairspray all over our head. Later after the show, our hair was literally crispy…but oh, it was beautiful when we were dancing onstage!

I carried this hair gel method into my professional dancing years because I discovered that on stage, slicked-back, smooth, no-wispy hair was professional. Wispies are distracting. Smoothing back all those loose strands simplifies things. It’s stunning on stage.

I promised you this was going to apply to your life! So here we go! Simplifying our lives, especially at Christmas time, actually beautifies our lives.

What is distracting you?

What is frazzling you?

How can you simplify your life this Christmas?

Sometimes we take on too much. Sometimes we try to do it all. Sometimes we get so lost in preparing for Christmas, so busy in our to-do lists, that we miss Christmas. Sometimes we live so distracted that we feel frazzled on the inside. Simplifying sorts us out.

For me, simplifying is several things…

Unplugging – when I unplug from the internet, social media, and email…my soul seems to take a deep breath. As I go dark, my soul lights up.

Slowing down – when I am aware of my pace, when I notice my rushing tendency and physically slow down my pace…my soul seems to unwind.

Say no – when I let go of the pressure to say yes to everything and instead pray about each commitment and ask for God’s wisdom…my soul seems to relax.

These are just some of the ways I simply my life. We all feel it when our souls are growing frazzled. We all feel it when our hearts are feeling stressed. What do you need to do to simplify your life today?

When we simplify it down to this…

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life”…

A quiet life. A quiet life of Jesus leading our hearts.

It’s good for the soul.

Christmas invites us to know this Jesus. He is the One who offers a quiet life.

Prayer: “Lord, how do I need to simplify my life in order to know the beauty, the rest, the soul-deep peace that you offer?”