[This article was originally published on Medium on July 24, 2018.]
Let’s say you woke up today and spent a little extra time — maybe 10 minutes — doing something with your hair, just to mix it up a little. Gel, mousse, wax, hairspray, blow-drying, straightening, curling, whatever. You go through your day and run into that person who you think is pretty cute and want to impress. They take one look at you and screw up their face into a dismayed expression: “Uh, what happened to your hair?”
Depending on your mood and self-esteem, you might respond in one of several ways:
- A. Laugh it off — “Yeah, haha, guess I went overboard with the gel this morning.”
- B. Stammer and run away — “Ummmm … SEEYOULATER!”
- C. Fake it and slink away — “Heh, yeah, guess I … forgot to blow dry … gotta go now … ”
- D. Ain’t no thang — “Oh, you know, just something I’m trying out. What do you think?”
Each response has psychological consequences that interact with a concept named “emotional resilience.”
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