Life's Too Short, Put on Your Good Jeans

It’s funny how some things that you were told as a kid stays with you for life. Then you spend your adult life trying to unlearn those things. I grew up with the idea that nice things should be saved for a special occasion.  Those pretty, new, shiny shoes shouldn’t be worn until it was a special occasion and even then, don’t get them dirty or god forbid a scratch on them. Yesterday when I woke up, I looked at my closet and thought, well I’m not doing anything but working from home and then meeting a friend at Starbucks before I go for my run, so I shouldn’t wear my nice jeans. I should put on my old jeans, that don’t fit well, are a little stiff, and make me feel a little fat. WHAT WAS I THINKING? This goes against everything I believe in, but it’s been so ingrained in me to save things. This stops now!

This isn’t living and it definitely isn’t fun. So what if I don’t have anything special going on for the day? I should still dress my best and I should definitely dress to make myself feel great. Why did I knowingly put on jeans that I don’t feel great in when I have 5 pairs that do? Because God forbid the ones I like fade or get dirty.  I take really good care of my things, but this is a little extreme. The jeans will most likely go out of style by the time they fade or get holes in them. Also if they do fade, it’s not the end of the world, I can drive my butt down to the mall and get another pair. Somehow this thing that my parents kept telling me or expected of me when I was growing up, has stuck and it keeps creeping back into my life.

If I look back, it goes all the way back to my grandmother and probably her mother. My grandmother would save cookies and candy for special occasions, but usually by the time she brought them out to enjoy, they had gone stale or expired completely. This is where I get my phobia of mold and food gone bad, I have no problem tossing food that is slightly old. I can’t stand mold and I will freak out if the sell by date has passed and the food is still in my fridge.

Life is too short. These clothes, shoes, and accessories are just material objects, if you can’t enjoy them, then what’s the point? Clothes should be worn and enjoyed. They should make you feel great when you put them on.  What is a special occasion anyways? My last special occasion that really mattered was when I was proposed to wearing sweats, no make up, and messy hair. The moments that are important to us aren’t defined by what we wear and it wasn’t like I told my fiancé to hold on while I go put on my cute sweats, but I can’t help imagining the situation where I allowed myself to wear my nice sweats that morning. This is a perfect example of why you should always dress your best and for yourself, you never know what’s going to happen. You don’t want all the important moments in life to happen while your wearing jeans that make you look fat or sweats full of holes and coffee stains, do you?