Daddy, Do You Want To Die?

I was thinking this morning..... I visited Abuja this past week for a few days and decided to hang out with my Hussey College Class of 86 friends. We visited a Warri inspired restaurant called Enerhen Junction Kitchen at Gwarinpa to savour some Owo and starch and other orishirishi. After a scrumptious meal, we set out to earn our pay for the rest of the day.

As we drove back to the office, our main host accused us of not acknowledging his new haircut and how he had eliminated all the grey hairs he had. When we asked why he dyed his grey hairs, he told us a short story. 'Recently, my 8-year-old daughter had come to me and said 'Daddy, why do you have so many white hairs? Daddy, do you want to die? That statement from my little daughter completely changed my view about grey hairs.' He concluded.

The innocent 8-year-old believes the more grey hairs you have, the closer you are to the grave, and she was alarmed that her dad might be going. In recent years, I have taken notice of the rate at which young people grey. It is quite alarming. You see people in their twenties and thirties with grey, and you wonder like the 8-year-old, are they that old and ready to die?

To avoid giving the impression that they are ready to die, some have adopted the 'bololo' look by completely shaving off every strand of hair on their head, while others mask the grey hairs with black dye. For the few bold ones that are happy with the silver and shiny greys on their head, you should reflect on the question of the little girl, 'Do you want to die?'

Apart from genetics and vitamin deficiency, stress from the challenges of life is the biggest cause of greying. It's like when someone is overthinking his or her problem, the brain becomes so hot that the hairs get fried and manifest as grey.

The world is full of problems and may even be worse in Nigeria, because of a condition many call T-Pain Syndrome. Job 14:1 says, 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.' My appeal to you is not to overthink your challenges else you turn grey and an 8-year-old will ask you, 'Do you want to die?' Relax and make the best of life.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey