Going gray – 12 weeks – 7 lessons learned

Here I am at 12 weeks.  Yippee ~ 3 cheers for 3 full months of commitment!  Depending on your perspective and what you’re going through 3 months is a long or short time.  For me, some days I wish it was going by a bit faster.  Just getting through this growing out stage seems like it takes forever.  That’s okay.  Time going slower than you wish is a great opportunity to learn more about yourself.

3 months of going gray taught me 7 lessons:

1. As more people know or notice, this is your chance to continue building self-confidence.  Days of thinking you’ve made a stupid decision start to fade.  Congratulate yourself for 12 weeks of commitment.  Don’t try too hard to hide the gray hair.  Just be confident in your appearance.  Soon, or at least I’m banking on it, the days of feeling lonely will fade.  Freedom of living on the lighter side of life will shine brightly.
2. Get used to your feelings taking you on a roller coaster ride.  Emotions range from the elation of seeing gray evolve to the horror of seeing gray evolve.  Definitely depends on lighting, what clothes you’re wearing, how much sleep you had the night before, or how much comfort food you consumed.  My favorites are salty foods.  The puffy look, it isn’t nice no matter what color hair you have.
3. It’s a great time to modify and ditch some of the stuff you used to use for taking care of your hair.  After finding the new shampoo, I must say, I absolutely love not having to use a bunch of products to enjoy my natural curls.  I haven’t used the straightener at all.  Amen to less bathroom clutter.  Oh and, trust me, your hair and scalp will love not going through the hair coloring process.
4. Ignore negative thoughts about gray hair and what it looks like to others.  This is a tough one.  Especially if, in your coloring life before going gray, you too were a judge of people changing their hair color.  It’s humbling to overcome this one to say, the least.  I wish I could find every person who I ever saw with transitional hair, aka, the skunk line.  Or those I thought looked old with gray hair.  I’d run up to them, hug them and say, “I’m sorry for not showing you empathy.  I’m so proud of you for doing what you need to do for yourself.  Way to go!”
5. Enjoy and appreciate the people close to you.  They are a gift.  Gratitude always warms the heart.  Thank them for being okay with you and your changing hair.  Tell them how much you appreciate their support.  There may be silent people who don’t appear as supportive.  Who knows, maybe they are secretly wishing they were up for the challenge of going gray or something else?  I was there once.  Embrace moments of golden silence.
6. There will be people who think you are nuts and a traitor to the coloring life.  And my favorite, people who frankly don’t give a damn darling.  It will appear there are more of those than the number supporting you at this stage.  Cut them some slack, they too have their own things they are going through.  Not everyone has to like what you’re doing.  You’re doing this for yourself.  
7. Learn to love your new look.  Feel free to be a bit selfish.  You are going through changes.  You are your best ally.  Take as many quiet moments as you need to just pull your hair back, smile in the mirror, see your true colors coming through and remind yourself it is going to be okay.

People often say that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder.  This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves. – Salma Hayek

Good graycious

Your hair, in whatever color you’ve chosen, is uniquely yours.  You’re beautiful.  You’re being your own good graycious self.  From me to you, here are 3 cheers!  I’m thankful for you and proud of you for being true to yourself!!!