“I don’t think of getting older as looking better or worse; it’s just different. You change, and that’s okay." - Heidi Klum.
If you put me in the nomenclature of generations, I belong to Generation X or Gen X as popularly known. Born in the post-Independence India mine is a generation that has seen India struggle and grow as an economy and as a democracy. I belong to the Southern part of India, which is equally culturally vibrant as the Northern part of the country but in a different manner. Acceptance of oneself has a lot to do with our cultural beliefs and value system. I think I can be fair and square but the onus on the shape my thought processes and understanding of the values inculcated by my parents. Growing up in those years was fun in its own way, we saw a great lot of things evolve around us.
It was the year 2018, the 49th year of my life when I started my journey of "Growing Grey". The transition into maturity is marked physiologically by the change in the color of one’s hair. It is the evolution one notices in self and the greying of hair is the most visible sign of aging. I decided to go with the flow. It was one of the conscious decisions of my life. A moment of self-realization in the times when most of people would prefer to hide their greys.
But was it that easy? To accept this change in my life, I had to do a lot of ‘Manthan’ or the churning. I want to share with the readers a few of the things I did in order to accept the change in myself.
Conditioning of the Mind: It is the most important step in self-acceptance. You need to be more self-aware and understand who you are and what you want to be. I simply didn’t want to hide myself and accepted to age with grace. Had to counter a lot of peer pressure because most of the people around me in my age group didn’t feel the need to display their maturity through their hair-greying process. You need to talk to yourself and keep reinstating again and again that the change is good, I am accepting it and I am accepting myself!
Get Inspired: Inspiration is an amazing motivation. We are a country that does not differentiate between the reel and real life. Cinema has a profound impact on us and we often seek inspiration from the actors of the film industry. Well, in my case my inspiration was the Indian Actress Sharmila Tagore (Pataudi). She inspired me right from my teenage days, I remember the famous song on Doordarshan, “Mile Sur Mera Thumhara” a video lip-sung by various Indian Film celebrities for promoting national unity and celebrating the diversity of the country. I had always told myself, “I will grey gracefully like her”. And yes, I have done that. It's good to have a positive role model or inspiration in life that motivates you.
Take Action- Style Yourself: One of the things about self-acceptance is to uniquely style yourself in accepting the change. I decided to take action and crop my hair short. We are aware of the fact that our appearance can have an impact on our self-esteem. Styling is thus important to gain confidence in the change that you have accepted. Its simply looks good to feel good!
Keep Assuring- Keep Smiling: It is important to accept the change with a smile and keep smiling throughout the new journey embarked on by your mind and body. I started smiling as I was turning grey. I kept assuring myself that I was growing to enjoy my new self. I told myself that I am going to lift myself from this whole set of people who believed in coloring or covering their greys to look young.
Concentrate on Developing Confidence: I also started concentrating a lot on maintaining myself in all the domains. Mental (including emotional), Physical, and Spiritual. This act of balancing the three enhances the confidence levels slowly and in a subtle manner. I probably could do this because of my athletic training as a young girl. But an athlete or non-athlete if we have the resolve and keep pushing, we can surely do it.
I just wanted to share a small story of my life with my readers. I am sure many of you can relate to my story and you have a similar or a more interesting one. Change is the only constant in life and the sooner we accept the change the better we are able to adapt. It's always nice to remain agile and grow grey with grace! Celebrate and enjoy your new self…
