Gray Hairs A-Coming

I’ve entered that patch of life (late forties) where, I swear, every time I exercise, a new patch of gray hair sprouts up. I go for a run, and poof—another shock of dead stalks appears. After cardio I feel like a shriveled prune who can’t inhale water fast enough, and whenever I rub the back of my head, it feels like it’s gone dry from the lack of hydration.

I suppose there are two ways to look at this transition into the next half. One is to lament, “Oh no, the end is coming!”—which I may have been guilty of once or twice. The other is to accept it and embrace it. I’ve read a few articles recently about embracing older age by thinking to yourself: I get to be older. I get to have gray hair. And that’s a good way to look at it—to be grateful to have the opportunity so many others don’t.

Looking Back

When we are in our twenties and thirties, the graying years can feel too far off to imagine. Or maybe we just want to live in ignorance of them. But there is a beauty in their arrival. Well, there is for me at least, because I find them very motivating. They are reminders that time is fleeting, so you’d better focus on what’s important—and on who is important. And if you have any dreams you haven’t realized yet, why wait any longer?

One of the wishes older people have for younger people is to live fearlessly. To pursue their wishes and not waste time. But I suppose wasting time in our youth is why that message becomes more powerful in our minds. I imagine if we didn’t have any fun in our youth, we’d be saying the opposite: Just relax. None of it matters.

Whatever the path you wish younger people to take, the universal theme is that we all want them to take a lesson from us and live better than we did. If I only knew then what I know now. At the end of our days, I think it really boils down to one thing: what is the message you want your life to deliver to those who may want to hear it? If whatever you do coincides with that message, then you’re doing alright. Gray hairs come just to remind you not to forget what it is you want to say.