I looked in the mirror today and frowned.
I saw thick patches of white hair.. too many to pull out like I had so many times before. My mind immediately went to dyes or highlights. How can I fix this? How can I remove the evidence of the years of life lived? How can I keep my youth alive?
Seeing myself with the patches of white nearly ruined my day. I sat and stewed for awhile, and then actually started to think about it. Why are we so scared to show signs of aging?
I think the thing that scares us most about growing older is that it sneaks up on us and feels a bit like a jump scare from a movie. It happens all at once and we aren't ready for it.
When we're kids, we think that the people we love will always be there. Grandparents are these immortal beings, and there's not a single thought that someday they won't be around.
Until one day, they aren't,
You grow up and have your own children and like so many people have told you, they grow up in the blink of an eye. One day you're holding a tiny baby in your arms, and the next they're walking into school without holding your hand. Then driving, and then moving away to college. And all the times you wished for a break, you now wish you could take back and hold them for just a little bit longer.
When you become a parent, you step into the role that your own parents held. You look away from your parents and start looking at your kids.
But one day, you look back up at your parents and realize their own hair has been replaced with white. The strong, quick strides they used to take have slowed. There's a hunch in their backs. Their hands tremble. When they walk out your front door to head back home, you ache because you can't imagine any life without them. But you see it. The years of life they've lived, the time being taken minute by minute. And it scares you. Worse than any movie jump scare.
You might be wondering why I'm writing about this. Let me get to the point.
Time? It doesn't slow down for anyone. You can't get it back. You can't ask for more when yours runs out. The moments you miss when you're "too busy" are gone. And those moments are more precious than anything else in this world.
Take the pictures.
The candid ones that show the cheesy smiles.
Take the videos.
It doesn't matter if you have a shaky hand.
Just take them.
Because someday you'll start getting those white patches in your hair and you'll start to forget. You'll forget the way your dad's home office looked and how you'd sneak in and play with the magnets on his filing cabinet while he worked. How the picture you drew of goofy hung proudly next to him, even though it was an eyesore. You'll forget the way your mom looked when she would stand an inch from the mirror and put on her makeup. Or the way tears would fill her eyes when she'd laugh hard.
Stop wishing away the white hairs. They are your proof of LIVING. And you've lived long enough to earn them. Maybe you've had more stress than you would have liked. Maybe it wasn't all great.
But my friend, you have LIVED.
You've experienced love. The highs and lows of it all. Don't waste the time you have left wishing to be younger.
There are still so many memories left to be made.
