Sixteen is the age where everything is important, but nothing really major is going on. It’s all about your friends and what you’ll be doing on Friday night. High school dances and football games (especially in The South) are really what teenage life is about.
When I was 16, I had fallen in love but I wasn’t the girl who thought I would marry my high school sweet heart. I was Miss High School. You remember that person who everyone thought was the overachiever? That girl was me; I was in every club and helping out at every event. I was always one step ahead thinking about my future. But I really was all about my friends and I thought they were the greatest people ever. I DID think that I would be friends with those people forever. Needless to say, I don’t talk to anyone from high school on any basis. I didn’t even go to my high school reunion.
I sometimes think about what I thought I had accomplished in high school and the people who actually accomplished stuff in high school. For example, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez have really made the most of their teenage years and I think they will continue to have great and successful careers. Yes, they are apart of the entertainment industry but they had to work hard to get where they are today and work even harder to make sure they will be there tomorrow.
But today I was reading about Abby Sunderland and the amazing things she has been doing. It’s been her dream to sail around the world since she was 13. At 16, she made her dream come true on January 23, 2010. But she’s “lost” at sea now; she’s in a very remote area of the Indian Ocean. I prayer for her safe return because she should not be punished or penalized for following her dream and actually doing something with her life. It amazes me what teenagers are able to accomplish now and they are very fortunate to grow up in a world like this. But we should be fortunate that teenagers can teach us to live without fear, go after what we want and share the good the bad and the ugly with the world.
We should really follow the examples of the people younger than us and go after what we want and inspire others to do the same.
