Tigers, photo by Diane Frymire ©2009
Last summer, I went home to visit and stopped by my old high school. Not a lot had changed. Even the door pictured above had the same sign along with the same ancient graduation photos that were there when I was in school. A feeling of entering a time warp touched me as I walked down the hall ways. Was it really that long ago?
Just a few days ago, there was a high school reunion back in Illinois. I was unable to attend. When I looked at the pictures, I thought about how everyone had changed. It wasn't appearances or getting older. I have several high school classmates as friends on Facebook now. They are funny, kind, wonderful people, but I really didn't know them back when we were teenagers.
High school for me was full of band, choir, and swing choir activities. I was not popular, but I got pretty good grades. Most of the time, I just did my thing and tried to avoid disasters as much as possible. How much has changed since then? I wonder.
Zander's book, The Art of Possibility, talks about vision. Vision is powerful and so is lack of it. My vision in high school was to live a life that would bless others. I wish I could say I've achieved it. Perhaps in some small ways, I have. One of my favorite songs then and now said that its the small things that spread wings and fly on up to the throne. Small is better than nothing. The journey is accomplished step-by-step.
" I just did my thing and tried to avoid disasters as much as possible. " This phrase sounds pretty familiar. That was my goal in high school too. It is very interesting how we can "people watch" on facebook now. At the same time, it is weird for me because I had a few concussions from sports and I don't really remember high school so I don't know the bad or the good from back then, I just have a view of people for who they are now. As much as most peoples first reaction is "that's horrible", it actually has a positive spin. I can't judge people for their past mistakes that I may have known about. It like cleared the slate for everyone.
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ReplyDeleteThat part about not knowing classmates back then really hit home. I have the same thing with Facebook friends now; people I barely spoke to in high school are actually amazing now. And adult life is so hectic! I’m doing online classes on top of work, and honestly, I’ve thought more than once about pay someone to take my online class. Priorities change, right.
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