G.H.O.S.T.S.

Grey Haired Over Stressed Twenty Somethings.

This is apparently a new thing, but common enough it already has an acronym. I found out I am one. I knew that I was going to go grey well before my peers strictly due to genetics. My dad was full blown grey by the time he was 35 (I'm 26 and catching up fast). However, he is now into his 50s and still has a full head of (white) hair, other than the one spot where his hardhat sits. I'm OK with this trade off. I don't wear a hard hat.

Why am I OK with going grey? It's because every girl I've met recently thinks I'm way younger than I actually am. I even have a beard which helps but everyone still thinks the early 20s instead of  being on the down slope of the good years.

What I'm not OK with about the title acronym is the middle part. Over stressed. I give this facade in my daily life that nothing effects me. There is a couple reasons for this.

Growing up, I was a crier. I used to cry over everything. I'd stub my toe, tears. Some kid said something mean to me I'd cry. My parents, being the problem solver type people they are, figured it would be a great idea to stick me into martial arts at age 5 (this also coincided with my first broken nose). I was decent at it. Then my dad said something that will stick with me to the day I die. "Sometimes, son, there isn't another solution other than to defend yourself." Which translated to my sugar filled 8 year old mind. "Punching people is OK." I got really good at martial arts after that. This never cured my crying though. Instead I would be bawling my eyes out beating the shit out of the school bully, picture karate kid with sniffles and stutter breaths. I'm pretty sure he now has a complex and flinches whenever someone starts tearing up.

I started to hate how easily the water works would flow when I was about 10. So I learned to bottle everything up. After a few mishaps, of what I'd akin to "a diet coke with mentos in it" type explosions of fury, I learned to hide my pain, anger, and stress. I now give off this calm cool collected self that isn't phased by much, or anything at all. I don't even think after all these years of practice, pretending not to feel the negative, I'd even know how to show it, so instead my hair is starting to.

Not showing any anger, stress, or sadness is kinda cool. When I was waiting tables I never gave the impression that I was ever crashing, or falling behind; it translated into cold hard cash in my pocket. It means that I could teach college at the age of 25. It means that I can thrive in my career. It also means I'm going to be grey.

What is awesome is that grey is the new blonde. Read here. Looks like my genetics aren't going to hurt at all. I'll be in fashion by accident.

Later days,