Sunday, October 2, 2011

Late Bloomer

I rarely think much about my past, but the last few days I have thought a lot about high school......not sure why.
Well maybe what triggered it, was being at a local high school this week as part of self-esteem program.
High school was not  the experience for me that it was for many that I know.......I was not a geek, not a cheerleader, not a beauty queen.....I often felt invisible.  I was stick thin, and often the brunt of skinny jokes, you know....turn side ways, stick out your tongue, you're a zipper. My high school counselor told me I would be a good housewife or maybe a secretary.  My family was very religious.....I never went to a movie, a ball game, I never wore make-up( that list could go on  for days).  The night of my graduation as those around cried and were sad, I was ecstatic because I knew my life was about to undergo major change.

Being at that local high school last week, I could tell that nothing much had changed.  Well the clothing, for sure....but the groups were all there.  The jocks, the geeks, the beauties, and the kids who were invisible.  One of the invisible girls talked with me for awhile, I told her she would graduate in a few short months, 
to walk out the door, never look back and live the life she was born to live.  It's hard to understand when you are a teenager about the concept of being a late bloomer.

I knew, even as a young teen that my life would get better and better as the years went by......I had never heard that phrase, late bloomer, but the first time I did hear it.......I totally understood it, because that was me.
I am glad that I was  a late bloomer, I am glad that my life did not peak in high school, I am glad that my "good old days" are the ones I am living now. 

Being a late bloomer gave me the confidence to choose paths I would never have tried.  I wished that I had had more than a few  minutes with that young girl, but she probably would not have believed much of what I told her.  I could see in her eyes, she had bought the goods that she had been sold by those around her.
Her eyes widened in shock when I told her , come graduation to walk out the door and not look back.  She was full of fear and sadness and resignation.

Being considered average, was good fuel for me......it pushed me to "bloom".  I don't know where it came from or how it was planted, but there was something always in my heart that told me I was different, and that it was ok to be different.  Blossoming later in life was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.  I learned to work on my talents,  to "package'" myself as well as I could,  to read, to listen, and never stop learning.
My "roots" were deep and well developed, I learned interesting and confident were great ways to be described.....and as the years went by, compassionate and kind were even better ways to be described.
I am glad I bloomed late, life has been magical because of it.

10 comments:

  1. I hated high school. You were thin, I was fat. Took me years and years to recover. But then I went to my 40 year reunion. And I actually had a good time because I too had grown into myself and bloomed. No longer could those people intimidate me or make me feel useless. It was wonderful.

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  2. High school for me was a something to be endured I was for the most part invisable too and I was picked on and teased but I just went and bad no attentioned to anyone else I had a couple of friends and we just kept to ourselves.

    I think it is sad that many young people can not see that high school only lasts for a few short years of their lives and then they can move on and grow,and because they can not see the big picture they take their own life to escape the hell of high school......

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  3. And you bloomed al right:)
    I still have to smile when I think how teachers would tell us that we will remember high school as best time of our life(of course we had to laugh back than about that).I only smile because yes at least for me they were right:)

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  4. I remember telling my children, 'You think this is the most important time in your life, but it is only the blink of your eyelid and the grand scheme of things. Don't ruin the entirety of life on this one blink of an eye'. Thank goodness they didn't. My Mom was lovely enough to give me that advice in High School and it played true for me as well.

    Bloom on!

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  5. I didn't walk out of my school gate. I ran, hard and fast. I have no desire ever to go back.

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  6. I love being a late bloomer!! And I seriously am that!! I think I started to bloom when I turned 39 - seriously. The years before that - well - guess that was me just taking my time! LOL!!

    I too got the "I'd make a good housewife or secretary" talk from my careers officer! LOL!!

    Glad you told that young woman that her life is yet to begin! I just know hers will turn out beautifully!! Take care
    x

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  7. Loved your post today. I always think that the person who said that "schooldays are the best days of your life" must have been mad! They certainly weren't for me. I couldn't wait to leave school, and that is when my life really began.

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  8. Well that is good news for me - my grandson is a late bloomer for sure.

    sandie

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  9. I didn't hate high school, but I wasn't in the "in" crowd either and frankly, I couldn't have cared less. My only regret was listening to my guidance (I use that term loosely) counselor who told me I wasn't college material, go and be a secretary...well, I listened until I graduated and thankfully fate turned me in the right direction. Dean's list at college didn't hurt either.

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  10. Lovely message, Jilda. What a kind person you are. It's evident in your words. I was an early bloomer. A friend of mine who was very flat chested told me her mother had said that she was normal and I was overdeveloped. I thought I would die of embarrassment.

    Love,
    Lola

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