This week, during a moment of near mental breakdown, I came to the realization that my collection of hats was perhaps getting too large. By hats, I mean my duties and roles in my personal and professional life. The hats I wear are piling high, almost to the tipping point and are honestly giving me a headache. The hats are literally becoming a pain in my neck!
I’ve always been an overachiever. I take on everything that comes my way and have a hard time saying no to anyone who needs me, I can’t help it. It’s part of my DNA. Honestly, it’s these hats that have defined me. It’s these hats that give me direction and purpose. I look good in hats, just maybe not so many at once!
Let’s start out with the hat I wear to work. In my Monday-Friday job, I wear the sales rep hat, a hat that has goals and quotas. This hat is expandable as I learn and develop. It is the hat that is the foundation of my professional self. The self that I portray to my customers, teammates and managers. I like this hat. It gets heavy at times, but I still have the ability to adjust it.
Next, I wear the coaching hat. In my spare time I coach cheer at FPC. This hat is fun, and it is one of the ways I enjoy giving back. I will dedicate an article to this soon. This hat lets me teach, encourage and mentor. It’s a very rewarding hat, although at times it can also be a bit discouraging. I enjoy wearing this hat though and I have a love for the girls I coach and for the sport. Yes, cheer is a sport. I said it.
My next hat has a few different feathers on the band, it’s my philanthropy hat. I have a passion for helping others in the community or those facing similar situations or trials that I have faced. This is the hat that holds my Facebook groups, Volusia/Flagler Standing Together for Community and Empty Nesters 101. This hat also holds this column, which I hope you enjoy!
Now that the professional hats have been balanced on my head, I need to add in the personal ones. First up, the hobbies and activities hat. This hat encompasses all the things I enjoy doing in my free time. It is the crazy, interchangeable hat in the group! Sometimes it’s a Miami Dolphins fan cap, sometimes a country concert/horseback riding cowgirl hat, sometimes a bourbon tasting hat. When I travel it might be a sombrero or perhaps a Costa straw hat when I am boating! No matter what it looks like, this hat is all about having fun.
Rounding out the collection, is my set of family and personal identity hats. These hats are connected to my heart and never really come off. I wear the daughter hat, the sister hat, the friend hat, and the dog mom hat. I also wear the empty nester hat and the single woman hat. My favorite hat of course is the mom hat. I will always wear that one . Even though my daughter is grown up I can still help her adjust her hat occasionally.
The thing about wearing so many hats is that sometimes they overlap. Sometimes they fall off or need repair. You also have to decide which hat fits the situation, and when and where you should hang your hat. There are times when you can give a hat away or even put it on a shelf for a while if it doesn’t fit at the moment. When you wear multiple hats at the same time, it’s important to know which hat should come first. Sometimes, just sometimes it is good to just take off all your hats and just rest your head. Just make sure not to put your cowboy hat on the bed because that is bad luck!
Melodye Lewis is a Friday columnist for Flagler News Weekly, inspiring women everywhere to follow their dreams of adventure.
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