Re-Polish

Re-Polish

Glossy, full of color, painted perfection - my nails. The ideal length, shape and strength. Well they were a week ago anyway. Now they are chipping and one nail is broken. In a way they are a metaphor for life - one minute all is well, your life is perfect in every way, complete with a glossy finish, but then during a shower, whilst washing the dishes or even opening a draw - bam - there goes your polish. Its chipped. Life can turn 180 in the same space of time that it takes to chip your nail.

If you leave the chip uncared for, it grows and soon your whole nail is a non-perfect code red area - a war zone. Just like life's problems. The more you ignore them the bigger they get.

Then there is that creeping kind of peeling polish - you know, it starts in the corner of one nail as a dot, and the next thing you know every nail is half painted - a Mexican wave of imperfection. It reminds me of slow creeping problems: a few small ones that you don't notice until they get too big to hide any more. You don't see them coming until it is too late. They creep slowly so they go undetected but progress so fast that you cannot catch them mid destruction.

Before you know it, your life is chaos - chipped broken and bare. A scene of disaster and sorrow; no longer the sexy manicure that you put so much time into.

Sometimes nail polish is used to hide 'problem areas' - a bruised nail for example, is easily covered by a dark color until the bruise dies away. Its much like a fake smile that covers heartbreak. The problem is, you can still feel the dull thump of the bruise no matter how many coats of polish you use.

And then of course you get your specialist nail fixers - there is a fixer for cracked nails, weak nails, peeling nails - nail strengtheners. These in life are what I call my friends. They make things better, they mend, they protect and they take care of me when I am unable to help myself.

The thing about nail polish is, once your nails look more 'man-i-need-a-cure', rather then 'manicured' you tend to fix them; you take off the old polish and re-apply.

Which makes me think about life. Surely the same is applicable?

First you remove the shit. You remove the creeping/chipping/problem. Nail polish remover - you rid yourself of the problem. Strip it down to the bare minimal; just your nails, or in life, just you. Let you nails breath. They deserve a break. YOU deserve a break.

Then you apply your base coat; your protector aka your friends. Wait for it to dry and settle so it can do its magic. Choose the right base coat and it will help restore your nails health. Choose the right friends and they will help to restore your happiness.

Then pick a color. Any color; with so many to choose from its sometimes hards to decide. Do you go for dark or light. Pastel or bright? It doesn't matter, as long as you make a choice. Your color is the life you want - the opportunities in front of you and the decisions you make. Paint it on, let it set. Accept opportunities and make choices that allow you to live the way in which you wish to. Your nails look better with every stroke; you feel better every time something goes your way.

The final stage is the gloss. The topcoat. That lil bit extra that keeps things in place. In life its called laughter. Its a smile. Its eating what you like without guilt. Its accepting your life is where it should be for now and deciding to preserve it just for a while anyway. I am heartbroken; my topcoat is being able to see my friends without having to juggle him and them. Its broadening my horizons. Its reassessing what I need.

Nails do not remain perfect nor does life. But the deterioration of both allows us to fix and heal; to make over. Its an opportunity to make new choices and consider fresh opportunities. It all comes down to a conscience decision. You either let the chip/crack of a problem take over, or you remove the shit and re-polish.