The Waiting Room

For those of you that follow me on Instagram. You’ll notice that I’ve been having quite the clear out of late. Partly because I need to, my flat is bursting. Partly because I need the cash (who doesn’t right?) and mainly because it’s actually not good for me mentally.

I’m a self-confessed hoarder. I hold so much sentimental value in everything that crosses my path. From the plane ticket from my last holiday to the pair of shoes, I wore on my 18^th birthday, to the dress I’ve had hanging in my wardrobe as my ‘one day I will fit into this' dress.

A couple of months ago I went to a talk hosted by Oliver Bonas to celebrate them turning 25. The talk was on body confidence, something you should know I feel incredibly passionate about. On the panel were Hannah Gale and Sarah Powell – wonderful women through and through! But something that’s stayed with me was something Sarah said.

‘Don’t put yourself in the waiting room.’

The waiting room is basically me on a daily basis. I’ll WAIT until I’ve lost some weight before I wear that outfit. I’ll WAIT for a special event to wear that nice dress. I’ll WAIT to see if I receive the pay-rise I’ve been badgering on at my manager about before I look for a new job.

There are so many excuses to put things on hold. The reason why we do it is to make ourselves feel better and protect ourselves for a moment. A moment, being the key point in that sentence.

In reality, it just makes us feel pretty shite. Putting yourself into the waiting room just relights the insecurities we already feel and makes them 10x worse. Waiting to start the workout is not going to make the pounds drop off. Waiting until your hair is done before taking a selfie is not showing the real you. 

I put myself in the waiting room a lot and since the talk have actively tried to avoid it. But the waiting room I seem to sit in often is the 'hoarding photos' room.

I’ll WAIT until someone posts a photo in a similar outfit so I don't get any comments on being too crazy or too 'out there'. Which completely defeats the point of why I have Instagram.  

It’s massively unhealthy to keep putting myself on hold because I can't win. I either am ahead of the game and put myself out there more than I already do. OR I wait and completely miss the boat. This snake print shirt for example - I love it. But so have about 50,000 other people who have been photographed in it, even though I bought this back in July or something ridiculous. 

I'm seriously trying to break out of this habit and I'm getting there. Slowly, but it's happening. I'm pulling outfits out of my wardrobe that I love rather than waiting to wear it. I start out a new workout routine on a Wednesday rather than waiting until a Monday. Yes, that is hard because it feels wrong starting something out of structure - but you get the gist here. 

No Spend November has also helped with this - as I'm making conscious decisions and it's making me wait for things I really want hanging in my wardrobe, rather than aimlessly buying something that will never make me feel good.

Try to take a step back and notice where you put your life on hold. Notice why you did it. Then most importantly, try to change it.

Sophie x

P.S Sarah does loads of workshops on celebrating how brilliant you are. Check it out here.