- gray matter
- Function:
- noun
- Date:
- 1840
1 : neural tissue especially of the brain and spinal cord that contains nerve-cell bodies as well as nerve fibers and has a brownish-gray color 2 : brains , intellect
Well, it looks like we might have to wait up to a year before we’ll hear from Sully Sullenberger, the pilot that safely landed the plen in the Hudson. The above definite is another reason to applaude senior adults. The more I read about his mental strength it is evident that the collequial expression for “brains” describes Captain Sullenburger. He was described by his wife as “a pilot’s pilot and that he loved the art of flying.”
Once gray hair was seen as an indication of wisdom and strength, something to be honored. Even the Presidents of the United States gray twice as fast as the average American. It seems that stress increases the aging process. I like to think that the graying of our hair is an indication of experience.
There’s an old saying: “When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience gets some money and the man with money gets some experience.” I worked on a Habitat project when a follow worker who is an experienced carpenter worked to President Jimmy Carter. I was amazed that this experienced carpenter went head to head with the former president regarding how projects were to be done. Mr. Carter suggested doing it one way, but the experienced carpenter stood his ground against the former President. As I observed their conversations I was made aware how experienced wins out even in face of a former President. I’ll take by chances with experience any time before youth untested.
Baby Boomers and others who have Gray hair or once had gray hair, we have something to say and do in this world, so since our body isn’t what it once was, let’s use the “gray matter” in our head because “gray matters.”
