But you know, I'm totally ok with it!! That's the best part! I'm a dork, but it's ok!! And you know what else...I've always been a moron!!
Last night, I went for a short walk down Dunwoody Rd. to Memory Ln. and briefly visited with one of my friends from high school (through facebook, of course). I was looking at old pics and memories, laughing the entire time. While I was not in many of the pics (such a LOSER! I wouldn't have wanted me in them either!), they were of trips and events and days gone by that I remember well. I was laughing at the fashion, the hairstyles, the inside jokes...all the while remembering "who I was."
Working with teenagers/students, I have determined and defined the true meaning of maturity. For some reason that I still haven't figured out, the teenagers world is greatly about image. What people think, what people look like, where people go, yadda yadda yadda. You'd think I could come up with something more insightful than that after 12 years of working with students. BUT, I haven't. I'm not very smart, so I like to keep it simple. So here's what I've come up with in regards to defining maturity. This is so complex and deep and brilliant and ingenious that you may need to take a minute to take a deep breath and be prepared to go where mentally you've never been.
Laughter.
Yes, laughter.
Looking at all those pics, laughing as hard as I was, it dawned on me that I'm not much different now than I was then. I'm a little older, got married, and moved into the Fatherhood, but I'm pretty much the same guy. Few things are different: I'm not NEAR as self-conscious about my choice of clothes (I just gave up...it didn't work for me then, doesn't work for me now...), I drive a cooler ride, and I can shave now and notice a difference. But everything else is about the same. And that's what's so funny!!! I can laugh at myself then and now!!! I see how bad I screw up and it's hilarious. Sometimes, it's only hilarious after it gets fixed, but still hilarious!! Then? I would screw something up all the time, and then take the next month analyzing it, second-guessing myself, play out 'what-if' scenarios to put me to sleep, analyze the scenarios, and then realize that it was then too late to do anything about it!! All of this probably contributed to the absence of a dating life. But I was hilarious!! I couldn't laugh at myself then, but I can laugh at the 'old' me (young version) just as hard as I can laugh at now me (older version)!! Some of the coolest students I know are the ones that can laugh at themselves and not care! The people that make the biggest impact are those who do not take themselves too seriously. So if you're a student reading this, don't put on the fake "Yeah, I can laugh at myself" just to convince yourself you're mature. Rather, look back and see if you can laugh at some of your most momentous blunders in your life!! If they still sting, give it time.
But don't take yourself too seriously. No one else does, so you're only wasting YOUR time!! Rather, enjoy the ups and downs; the victories and failures. Embrace life for what it is and quit trying to make it something it's not!! And who knows, maybe one day on your trip down Memory Ln. at the end of the street where you OWN A HOUSE (it's still weird at times!! I'm not old enough to own a house...), you'll be able to look back, laugh, and learn that life is about the here and now and not what was or what it might be. And always remember...
It's ok to laugh!
Special thanks to you, C!! Thanks for the grins!!
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