Epiphany in the Nail Salon...

The other day I was getting my eyebrows waxed when I had a mini life-changing moment--I realized I was at that age that your mother is referring to when she says,"You'll see when your older." Well you're right mom, I finally "see!"

So back when I was young and "wild," I got my eyebrow pierced in a short-lived phase of being an "alterna-chic." The phase lasted maybe 6 months, until I realized I couldn't skateboard and the eyebrow ring was becoming more of an eyesore than anything else. Flash forward now almost 10 years as the kindly women doing my brows noticed my scar and asked if I had gotten injured there. I laughed and told her that it was from an eyebrow ring I once thought was cool and she began to tell me about her 19 year-old daughter who just got a tattoo. I had sort of this outer body experience where I found myself telling the women how her daughter will realize when she's older that her mom was very wise and that a Chinese symbol on the back of your neck may seem cool now, but probably won't look very cool with your wedding dress or in 50 years when your old and saggy. I think I even said something like, "have her call me, I'll talk some sense into her."

As I walked home from the nail salon, I realized I was no longer in the stage of my life where I can blame my age or my naivety for my actions. From now on, I have no excuses for rash decisions and I will be held fully accountable for my choices. Kind of a scary thought for an admittedly impulsive risk-taker. But I also realized that I had grown up a lot since my eyebrow ring days. Although I'm still more impulsive than I am cautious, and would probably still be considered a bit "free-spirited" by some, I think that I definitely have made some strides in the "stopping to think things through" category.