As I have mentioned before, I tend to listen to a lot of Pandora. I have several different stations but I pretty much have it tuned to “Matt Maher Radio” all day, every day. One day, a station suggestion appeared at the top of my screen that I couldn’t resist: “Summer Hits of the 90’s.” So, I tuned in. It started out fun—a little Oasis, a little Dave Matthew’s Band—songs that reminded me of the second half of the 90’s i.e. my college days. FUN TIMES! But then it started shifting to the early 90’s and I realized something. I realized that I really didn’t like high school.
Ok, it’s not that I have had great memories of high school. Well, with the exception of my senior year which, for some reason, we spent an inordinary amount of time at Waffle House and rolling down the sled riding hill in the park—hey, nobody ever said that I was “cool.”. But outside of the total creep I dated most of high school, I didn’t have particularly bad memories either. It was weird how hearing those songs could stir up emotions that I haven’t felt since those vulnerable teenage years. Then I realized that it really wasn’t high school that I didn’t like, it was being a teenager.
I had a nun for religion my freshman year that said something to the effect of “I know that everybody says that this is the time of your life but it’s not. Being a teenager is hard and not fun.” I thought that she was a little crazy at the time but it turns out that she was right—for me, anyhow. (I know people who look back on their high school days like I do my college days….crazy people.) So, I figure that I have approximately 12 years to prepare my girls to deal with the emotional rollercoasters of not being good enough, smart enough, skinny enough, athletic enough, pretty enough, rich enough….the list goes on. I just hope that I can give them a healthy enough outlook on themselves and life that, someday, when they listen to Summer Hits of the 20’s (2020’s that is), they can listen and smile.
Who knew that Pandora could be so inspiring?
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