Age is an issue of mind over matter....

I started going gray at a very young age - an event in which heredity played as major a role as did a chronic sinusitis ailment. For a few years I went the natural way using Henna to color my gray strands but soon the gray far exceeded the limits to which henna could hide it - leading me reluctantly to chemical dyes. Initially, and because I was younger, more flexible and definitely very enthusiastic about it - I colored my hair myself, but a fading eyesight and a cervical problem drove me to salons for professional help.

The guys and gals at the salons are terrific sales people. They tell you about your imperfections with such finesse that you are left with no recourse but to believe them. You think you have 25% gray in your hair and they convince you it is  hundred percent. You see three wrinkles and the girl threading your eyebrows will see a hundred - 'madam, your skin is very lose. Too many lines. Facial nahin karate kya?' The premise being that if you don't go in for a facial every 15 days your jowls will hang low enough to touch your shoulders. 

One of them (herself a 30 something) tried to convince me of the benefits of taking Botox injections to ease out the lines on my 60 year old face.  No amount of telling her that I loved my wrinkles (they do add character to my face) helped. Her logic was simple. If she at the age of 30 something was taking Botox why was I at 60 refusing it. I had to run out of the place to save my skin! Well, I do admit to certain vanities - despite my age. Dying my hair is one, swathing my face with day and night creams is another, dressing well and being aware of my appearance can be added to the list and I guess there are a few more foibles in the running which need not be mentioned here. But it's all normal everyday stuff. I don't want chemical in my face that would probably freeze me so much I won't be able to smile. 

However, of late I have started getting second thoughts about coloring my hair. Too much chemical, too much hassle, too much waiting for the color to act on the stubborn gray, waste of money and a myriad other reasons I conjure up just after getting it done. No more I tell myself. There's going to be no next time. I will go bald - okay not really, really bald - maybe a sharp crew cut to let the gray grow our fast and what will emerge from the mess will be this silver-haired, elegant woman who despite the silver hair will not look old! 

The point is I am so very unsure about who will emerge - a silver-haired elegant woman or a dull gray old one. And therein lies the dilemma!! To do or not to do - that is the question.