Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional.

Yesterday, I found my first gray hair. I don't know how this is possible, considering the fact that I fairly frequently dye my hair a particularly dark shade of brown. But somehow, I gray ninja managed to defy all scientific reasoning, and escape the colouring. I must admit, at sixteen years of age, the last thing I expected to see when brushing my dark bangs, was a shiny, gray hair. What's with that anyway? Why is grey hair so much thicker and shinier than the rest? Maybe it's just because it wants to be all "Hey bros, look at me! I'm in ur hairz, makin u look old."

I like this idea much better than the scientific explanation of "It's because you're getting old. Old as in, closer to dying. Dying as in dead. Nothing. No longer part of this world." Because, let's face it, when you're sixteen, the last thing you want to think about is growing old and dying. So, like everyone who wants to ignore the truth, I swiftly ripped the grey hair from my head. Most people would simply throw it away, and pretend that it was never there. I, being my melodramatic self, went running through the house, waving it in the air and dramatically yelling

"I HAVE A GRAY HAIR! AT SIXTEEN! I'M GOING TO DIIIIIIIIE! WHY MUST I GET ALL THE BAD GENES IN THIS FAMILY? WAAAAAH!"

This was followed by a ranting session to my Dad about how he shouldn't have had the right to procreate. You see, my Dad started going grey around the time he entered highschool. I was hoping that I would get my Mum's genes for greying, because she is in her forties, and has probably had as many grey hairs as I have now. Unluckily, I got her extremely thin hair, rather than my Dad's think, dark head of gorgeousness. That's right, I got the thin hair and they greying. It is my common complaint that I got all the stuffed genes in the family. My parents usually respond with "Well, you are smart like us!" Little do they know, I was only talking about appearances.

Now, dear readers, I don't want you to all go out and assume that I am a hideous beast. I'm not great at complimenting myself, but this isn't true. I just seem to have ridiculously bad luck sometimes. I seem to always choose duds, and I have the worst luck when it comes to being overheard in conversation. But that's okay, because these things make for excellent anecdotes, don't they?

Surprisingly, I'm glad that I found a gray hair on my head. Why? Because I have been getting much too complacent about life at the moment, and assuming that things can just go on without changes or consequences. The hair proved to be the perfect visual reminder that life is short, and no matter what age you are, you cannot take anything for granted. My biggest fear in life is putting myself out there; sharing an opinion with people, even just simply talking to people, or posting something where it can be seen. I've hidden behind this fear for at lest five years, but now I've resolved to change it. The worst thing you can live with in life is regret, and doing nothing is worse than stuffing up.

One of the main reasons I haven't been blogging a lot lately, is because I don't want this blog to have too serious a tone, and I've had a lot of stuff going through my head. That and the fact that my computer completely crashed at least five times and had to go through days of intensive repair. Thankfully, it should be all good now.

Have you ever had a wake-up call about your life? Do you have any weird theories about why grey hair is so different? Feel free to share. My newest one is that the one grey hair was actually Excalibur in the form of a hair, being there just to bug me.

And remember the saying that everyone writes in birthday cards: growing up is mandatory, but growing up is optional. Or something like that. Just trust me though, I may be growing older, but I won't be growing up any time soon.