i make a lot of bad decisions

i have learned, in my 23 years of living, that i make a lot of rash decisions that i don't think through. then i get to reap the benefits for those decisions for days to come. my most recent realization of a poorly developed decision:

why, oh why, did i ever decide it would be a good idea to color my hair??

naturally, i have beautiful, curly/wavy dark brown hair. however, when i was a sophomore in high school i decided it'd be a good idea to wreck my beautiful Hershey's colored hair with fire-engine red streaks.

two words: bad. idea.

ever since then it's been a constant battle to reclaim my previously virgin locks. and i'm losing the battle.

i hate that i can't have my natural hair color back, because it's so pretty! instead i have pretty highlighted hair for a week or 2, until the color fades to orange and my roots grow out to remind me of what i've done. then i contemplate shaving it all off and starting over (don't worry, i'll never have the nerve to actually do this). i attempt to dye it back to my natural color, though many friends hate when my hair is dark, but it only washes out to reveal the same yellow orange mess i've created.

obviously, this is a very silly example of bad decisions i've made, but it's a perfect one, too. i did something i thought i wanted. in fact, i did want it in that moment. i wanted bright red streaks in my hair. so what did i do? did i think about it? heck no. i bought some red hair dye and let my best friend, christa, go to town on my hair. did i like it? for about a week. do i regret it? absolutely. this pattern of desire and regret plagues many other moments in my life.

while other bad decisions may have been more serious, and more damaging, the lesson is the same: think before you act, ashley. and still, i fail to learn this lesson. and the sad thing is, i really do miss my dark brown hair - plain as having dark brown hair may be. it's not as fun and exciting as blonde hair. and it's not as wild and attention-grabbing as red hair. but it's my plain old brown hair, and i'd like it back.