I Like My Grey Hairs

Last month I turned 40. ,  Strangely enough this didn’t seem to bother me. 40 sounds mature, I like the sound of 40. I don’t have to pretend I’m 20something, I’ve got two kids, I’ve seen the world and done a fair bit with my time. I can be 40.
I don’t like late nights and can’t drink too much anymore, so what!
I’ve started liking musicals and costume drama, so what!

Every time I look in the mirror there is a new grey hair. Someone asked me if I am going to dye my hair or highlight it or something. I don’t think I will. Not yet.
I quite like my grey hairs, they remind me that I am nearly 40. They remind me that over the past 4 years things have been tough but we got through them (you should see how little hair my husband has and how much of it is grey).
They remind me that there is a reason I can’t quite shift that extra bit around my middle, there is a reason I can’t do cartwheels anymore and there is a reason I see the world a little differently.
That reason is NOT because I’m older, it’s because I’m more mature. That maturity has brought a certain acceptance of things that were once intolerable, ok that could translate as sinicism but its not; well not always.

I feel that 40 should be as special as 21. The true celebration of adulthood. 21 marks the passage into adulthood, 40 celebrates making it through adulthood alive.
Many of us party our way through our 20s, with all the naivety and irresponsible behaviour expected of a 20 something. We might make head ways into a career, we might meet our future spouse, or the first one anyway. Some may have made an early start on a family while others are busy putting notches on the bedpost. On the whole 20s is fun. No?
30s are still fun but we might be focusing on the future a bit more. Our careers might be well under way, or we may have gone thru several career changes. The bedpost vandals may have settled down or at least settled on one for now. We may have growing families or only just embarking on parent hood, either way we still have a lot to learn and more to experience, the ride ain’t over yet.

So by the time we reach 40, we should pretty much have the hang of the whole adulthood thing regardless of what kind of adult we have grown into.
I don’t know what we do in our 40s. More of the same but with better knowledge? Is it like 30s but more relaxed? That would be nice. Anyway, I’m ready and I’m keeping my greys, I don’t need to look an age I’m not. The age I am is part of who I am and I think I’m comfortable with that person now.

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