It has been a long time since I was a High School Student and I am sure a lot of you can recall all the many struggles we had with our self image…  we may not have even been aware that there was a way to describe it, most often we blamed it on what others thought of us, how we were criticized for being different, we weren’t thin enough ,we weren’t talented enough we didn’t have enough money, friends, clothes, the right clothes, where we lived, where we vacationed , what kind of car we had, You know, the list was endless and not anybody reading this, if you are honest, escaped some degree of what today is called “hazing” or “bullying”.  The wonderful days of our youth! Well now as I approach the end of the second quarter of my life I wonder what will be better the youthful days or the days fast approaching. ??

I have to tell you that I was blessed as a student and young girl with, for the most part, a good experience in school especially high school. I did not feel the typical peer pressure or ridicule that many other kids did. I am not going to write about how I survived the worst years of my life and how awful it was to be in school because honestly it wasn’t.  On the other hand my sister who is 2 years older, would.  Same upbringing with the same parents and I will tell you  we are Ebony and Ivory!!! But I am not even going to write about that contrast.  

What I did want to take a few minutes and write about is one’s self image.

 How too often there is too much emphasis on all the wrong attributes that one calls self image… I have always been a proponent that a healthy self image was not  anything extreme . Healthy to me is not a stick figure and self confidence is drawn from many things not just the scale.  Above all else I chose to focus on a balanced self image and on qualities that would last and survive the test of time, honesty,  kindness, integrity, personality, many things that were not seen on the outside but were ever present and always obvious to those who cared enough to take the time to get to know me… These and many other qualities make up self image in my opinion.

I was lucky enough in High School to have a few good friends I say lucky because too many friends can bring too much drama, and even then I was not into drama!  This one particular girlfriend and I spent a lot of time together and we had the best heart to heart  discussions and shared time with each other’s families. Patti was a bit of a rebel in High School but that’s another blog !  Anyway I got to know Patti’s parents very well and our Moms  were like another Mom to each of us. As lots of you women can relate to we grew up during those school years always feeling that we were judged on our appearances, no matter how we planned our outfits, our hair styles, our shoes, our stockings, we still would feel that something just wasn’t right, wasn’t good enough, would it make the grade? (whatever that meant) But each day with the support of a few good “girlfriends” we would pull together and support each other and try to boost each others moral and off we would go through the years … The joke between Patti and I was that she was blessed with a bust line (lets just leave it at that) and I on the other hand had been told by my heart throb at the time, “Hey, if you had bigger boobs (I loved that term) then your thighs would look smaller”  Now when you are 17 and questioning enough things already, this was not what I wanted to hear from my boyfriend BUT for some strange reason I have the distinct, bold memory that I thought to myself that I wanted to explain specifically what I would  do with my foot and his ass!!  

Moving on …… ladies that same guy taught me so much  about myself and my self image.

High school days continue and as I mentioned Patti’s mom and I were close, she had such a warm and loving personality and I remember visiting their home and how welcomed she made me feel . Patti’s mom loved me and she never held back her feelings she would tell me how beautiful I was and what a great figure I had. Most times you expect that from your parents but Patti’s Mom was probably the first adult who was not a family member who made so much of me…and I always appreciated that she was such a fan. One time we were talking and I must have been saying that I wanted to lose weight because something must have been too tight on me , and I would be lying if I didn’t say that the statement she said to me it is one of the statements I repeat more and more to myself as I age… she said , “Lisa, don’t say that, you have a body like an hour glass!”  Now in those days typically women had figures that sometimes measured were referred to in  inches, for example a good figure would  be 34″, 24″, 34″  Women were built different. BUT anyway I remember my reply to her as though  it was yesterday,  “Thank you, but  an hour glass with TOO MUCH TIME on it!”…    We giggled but I kept those words with me always, she meant it as a compliment and I was touched by her words …One other time Patti’s  mom handed me a gift and  thinking back I believe it was intended to cement her compliment and demonstrate her support to me. To this day I still have it.  

It was a little rock with a smiley face and those little plastic eyes that wiggle…

The writing on the front says “Just because I don’t flaunt it,

On the other side it says: doesn’t mean I haven’t got it”!!!

Yes that’s me in a nut shell.  So just a little summary for you as you get to know me … I have a bit to much time on a body that I don’t flaunt!!!… Believe me I mean that in the best way!!! I could not have grown into the woman I am today without the experiences from all those years ago and turned out any other way I have always been the same, as I am today …Proud to be the stable, pretty and sensible girl with a GREAT SELF IMAGE…

If you want to be inspired, educated or just entertained and want to know more about life through a unique perspective please visit my site www.jimandlisasama.com for more blog posts.

Thanks for reading,

Lisa Monica Sama