About six months ago I was walking around the local mall. I was on the second floor of a store and happened to look down to the first floor. And I saw all these women with HORRIBLE roots staring back up at me. You know the type - an inch-and-a-half of grey hair and then jet black hair.

I quickly ran to the ladies room to do a quick root check, to make sure that I was not one of them.

Then I thought, "What are you doing, are you really this superficial?" And the answer was yes. As I continued to shop, I realized that one of the first things I had done every morning for the past 25 or so years was check my roots. And if they looked bad, that set my day off to a hectic start as I added a quick 20 minute hair color to my morning routine.

As your hair gets greyer and greyer, it gets harder and more expensive to maintain it. It also gets harder because your skin texture and color changes as well. And what worked well at 30 can be clown-like at 50. So most of us can't color our hair at home any more. We go to salons and spend hours getting striped and color. Okay the word is highlights, but I always felt like I was being striped.

Quite frankly $200 every six to eight weeks for my hair was starting to add up. And even then there was always some grey somewhere that I was worrying about.

Then came the basic question. What color is my hair? Who knows. A part of me just thought that I should know what color my hair is. And that I shouldn't be afraid of knowing. I began to think that it was sad that for 25 years I hadn't really known what shade of brown my hair is. Probably dark brown, but what about highlights.

I started to notice how many women looked great with grey hair. No roots to worry about. Most had short hair, some didn't. But I was really drawn to the short-haired women with grey hair. They still had savvy with-it clothes. They still moved like they had life in them. They didn't look old to me. They just looked so much freer.

At that time I had shoulder length hair. Very thick and worn in soft layers. Brown with golden highlights. I started to think why not. Why not cut my hair off and just see what color it is.

It just means that I'll know what color my hair is. Not that I'm giving up on life. I'll still exercise, run my own business, have lots of friends, go paddling and enjoy life. Just with short and honest hair.

So once I made the decision. I just walked into the local discount hair cutting place. I also decided that this obsession with the perfect and expensive hair was going to end.

So I went in and I did bring a picture of the type of short pixie cut that I wanted and I bravely said cut it short - like this pointing at the picture. And in about 20 minutes it was done. I paid $12 + a $5 tip.

And I loved it. It took about two more hair cuts before all of the hair color was gone and I could see my "salt and pepper" hair. But because of the length and highlights, I didn't look ridiculous. It's been about six months now, and the picture you see on this page is what my honest and true short hair color is. The picture doesn't show the grey but it is there. A little more every day.

I made the decision to use my real picture and just smile at the camera because it was part of my new life attitude. As I get better at using my digital camera, I add more pictures to this hub so you can see the haircut better.

But bottom line, grey hair is okay. And most people don't care what color your hair is. The only reaction has been from other women who want to know how and why I did it. I notice a lot of others making the same decision these days. That somehow for many of us, the hours at expensive salons just grew tiresome. That there are more important things to be done to maintain a healthy body. It does seem that now I can't miss one day of walking or yoga or I stiffen up a little bit. I have to eat my vegetables and fruits to stay regular. That there are more doctors appointments and tests to maintain and ensure health. And it is vibrant health that matters.