Life After Jr. High

I was the 2^nd of four kiddos. I have an older sister, a younger brother and a younger sister. My older sister Natasha or Tash as I call her, are 54 weeks apart and very connected in almost a twin sister kind of way.  Because our birthdays were only two weeks apart and we shared the same friends, we would have these Colossal Slumber Parties.  There would be games like "Light As A Feather" but that always scared Tash, so we would play a rousing game of Charades and then of course we had to play Truth or Dare.  When it was my turn, I would often select Truth, and then make stuff up to make myself more exciting than I actually was.  Am I the only one who did such a thing?  When playing Truth or Dare and you are asked to be truthful are you really truthful?  I hardly doubt it.  When we are in Jr. High and High School, we want so much to be liked and accepted and it ends up driving us crazy which in turns drives our parents crazy.  I remember asking my daughter "What's going on with you?"  and her reply would be "I don't know"  I would get so aggravated, but truth of matter was she really didn't know.  She was struggling with issues of self-esteem and fear of rejection.  I remember looking around at my friends and classmates and often thinking how cool they were and it never occurring to me, that they were struggling with the same insecurities, they just did a better job at hiding it.   I have come to discover over the years, that even the most popular kids in school struggled with feelings of inadequacy, self-esteem and fear of rejection.  The teen years are a journey we all must take and as brutal as it may seem at the time, it does help to define us and the struggles we endure, make us stronger.  When we feel alone and feel like every day is struggle to find out who we are and where we belong or which lunch table to sit at, just remember, every kid is waking up each morning with the same struggles and issues.  I wish kids at this stage of the game could learn to relax and just enjoy each day they are blessed with, because 20 years from now, the people that you thought were nerdy, or HOT or best dressed in Jr. High and High School, will be your friend on Facebook and they will not remember that you split your milk on the hottest guy/girl in school.  Truth be known, the kids you thought of as the most popular, were truly jealous of you and never saw you as you saw yourself.  Be yourself and embrace who you are.  The more you love yourself, the more lovable you will be to others.  There is life after Jr. High & High School and it will be amazing!