How baldness helped me

OK. I know this sounds ridiculous. We all know the down sides of balding, people are talking about them incessantly here as elsewhere. And they are right to do so. I feel the same pain and anguish as most people do. But is there a good side to balding? That is the question!

As strange as it may seem; for me there have been some positive aspects. I'm 24 and I started loosing my hair at 22, but very aggressively. This was the first moment in my life when i seriously took into consideration TIME. I became aware of it, of its passing, of life being short, of aging. Before 22 i was an optimist with no care in the world and no desire for competition. But since i started loosing my hair a constant desire of improving myself and my life has been haunting me. I became competitive, a fighter in life's struggle and always feel a need to reach for the top.

Realizing this i quit my country, family and friends. It was a 3rd world country with middle ages mentality (doctors hadn't even heard of propecia). That's when i learned never to fully trust what anybody is saying, always look into it, question, weigh and consider.

I moved west and started from Zero. Recently I've received residency and the legal right to work. I applied for a master of arts at one of the most prestigious universities in the world and I've been accepted.

I started eating healthier food, checking the labels, exercising, reading. I also changed my mentality about girls. I used to have very high standards in beauty. I used to say to myself I'd never go out with a girl who isn't stunning, but I'd fall in love with them and always ended up with a broken heart. I am much less superficial now...sure good looks are very important but there are other things I'm now taking into consideration, things like character.

I used to discriminate, laugh at people who had no blame for what they were like...perhaps just childish jokes but i came to regret them.

A great poet (T.S. Eliot) once said "the only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility". Well I've learned my lesson in humility.

I'm sure that without having this hair loss problem i never would have done all this. I would have still been in my country confident and superficial and NAIVE. To put it short and concise: HAIR LOSS HAS FORCED ME INTO MATURITY.

Now, if i were to choose I'd choose to have hair in a heartbeat. But loosing it have helped me a lot.

I would really love to hear other opinions on this subject. If there is someone out there who has seen similar benefits, please share them. Those opposing this thread are welcome too.

Heh. And now you've done all this, I bet you wish your had your hair back.

Hair or not, people learn this stuff growing up.

I think you make a very good point. But... some of us have already been through tough times. We already learned all this. I was already competitive for other reasons and I live really healthy and exercise a lot. I have strong goals in what I do. Hair loss didn't really help me as much as you. But I do see what you mean.

After every post I always want to say "hopefully I can recover some of my hair" this thought haunts me. What if I cant? What if I have to live this way? Always? Really?

Man, I don't know what to think anymore. I think I stand a good chance to improve my hair, because I am young and taking aggressive steps. But what if I don't?

I can't imagine.

BTW, sent you an email :)