Be Yourself

You know who they are.  Those impossibly gorgeous, popular, ever-cheerful girls you went to high school with.  I ran into one of these girls - now all grown up of course with teenagers of her own - the other day.  She's still stunning.  She is still sparkly and enviable.  And she still has that same lovely personality.

For some of us, 25 years does not mean anything.  We are still about two emotional steps away from our high school days.  That's because they are formative years.  I am always surprised at how often teenage experiences, like first love, are dismissed by adults, as though they were not real or important.  I believe the opposite, that the growth, identity development, social dynamics, love and heartbreak experiences are all deeply significant.  And yes, an adult life is rife with conflict, problems, stress, intensity, and depth that most teenagers have not even imagined yet, however, the things that we experienced as adolescents still significantly mark us. 

If only we could have known then what we know now.  I wish I had known that all of the young women I went to school with were sparkly and beautiful and had gifts.  If only I had known that none of them, including me, had anything to apologize for, or be ashamed of.  I wish I had known that being yourself was all that really and truly mattered.  That it still is. And that there is less that separates us from the impossibly gorgeous girls that you went to high school with than you thought. 

wishing you a day where you can beautifully be yourself and know that is enough,
hk