BLOG spot
Lucky Me!
By Julie Cross
Hello friends…In this article I just wanted to talk about YOU! In all of these challenging times that a pandemic can bring we are constantly on high alerts emotionally and mentally. Lockdowns, and rules constantly changing. It is tough, that is for sure. Now is the time we need to fire up our muscles of resilience and remember we are stronger than we know... just look back at all that you have been challenged with already. I call it the ‘Lucky Me’ Principle, and for me it goes a little like this… People talk about luck... it is very easy to look across at somebody else’s life and go, “But it is OK for you, you are lucky you are strong, courageous, have family support” Luck... well I am lucky for sure that I was born in this country Australia, that I know for sure, and I am lucky that particularly for those vital first five years of my life I was so loved and nurtured, I was kept emotionally and physically safe and for that I am so very grateful, and then I am also lucky because... We shifted something like 10 times in the 16 years I was at home, my Dad was always the hired help and we moved where the work was, stability wasn’t an option, our home was wherever the work was, that wouldn’t be considered lucky these days, well would see that as a tragedy for our kids, but lucky for me I learnt that home wasn’t about the house or the address but where the family was, and that change won’t break you, in fact it may make you, and that started to build a foundation of resilience that one needs to live a big life. When Mum left Dad (he lived at the Pub a lot) I was 13, we shifted into a friends Motel, stayed in one of the rooms while Mum cleaned rooms, until she could afford a flat for us. Lucky for us we had an example set that women can be strong even when faced with what seemed like impossible odds, and even when it might have been easier to stay. My sister left to go and live with some friends in Brisbane to repeat grade 12, my brother went to live with my Grandparents. That left Mum and I, I was 16, left school, got a hairdressing apprenticeship, and then Mum left me to go and live closer to my 74
Beauty Biz Year 14 Issue 4
little brother, who really needed her more. Lucky that I had the opportunity to live on my own, on $90 a week and learn about budgeting... in that time I also saved up for a trip to Day Dream Island with my friend, we were 17, I saved for it $20 a week, lucky me. This is great stuff for building true self-esteem, the foundation of everything! I then got a job in Brisbane, transferred in my apprenticeship to chase a guy, which was a totally dysfunctional relationship. Got to Brisbane, after a week in the job, my new boss told me I wasn’t good enough and that I should give up hairdressing as I would never be any good... my relationship then fell apart (lucky me!), and I did choose to believe this woman for a while and I worked in a newsagent for about 6 months. I then woke up one day, remembered where I had been and I had resilience and strength and I decided I could do this, went for a hairdressing job and was prepared to start from the bottom and do it all over again, so I did like a 6 year apprenticeship instead of a four year one, but I sure did appreciate it and gave it more than I had to every day... lucky me, look where that got me! Do more than you are paid for then one day you will be paid for more than you do. My manager at my salon I was working at during my apprenticeship the second time around introduced me to my fist personal development book. I used the strategies in that book and went on to win ‘Hairdresser of the Year’, and won a trip overseas. Lucky me... I worked hard, saved more money, and booked a backpacking trip around the world, first stop Africa, no phones, no social media... just trust and a little bit of courage, an emotional muscle that had been exercised and gained strength through what I had already been through. I cried my eyes out on the plane and went on to have the time of my life... lucky me. Fast forward I meet my husband Flash... it was love pretty quickly although the road was rocky for a while. I had no long lists of expectations of what he should look like, the kind of car he should be driving, and the label of suit he should be wearing. I went for kindness, strength, laughter, fun, conversation, common ground
