That Classroom

I saw this writing prompt awhile back and it made me smile. High school was a whole ‘classroom’ by itself.

‘Describe something you learned in High School’

Many of us from my high school class are still in touch. We attend birthday celebrations, weddings, funerals, and meet up just to meet. My high school was a miniature version of life itself – thorny yet beautiful. There were many opportunities for lesson learned outside of the academics. I learned how to laugh at myself – I still do. Somethings need not to be taken so seriously. As teenagers, the best of us, made blunders. We’ve lived long enough to realize it wasn’t the end of the world. Thankfully I learned earlier to laugh more and cry less. I learned to ride out the storms and exercise my ‘bounce-back’ power. We were a tough group from a culture where self-pity didn’t get you far. At a young age I learned to ‘laugh at the winds’ and keep moving.

We are a crazy bunch who survived the rugged terrains of the 80s. We came out on the other side wiser and sweeter. We still know how to play; we still laugh with and at each other. We discovered it takes the edge off the bitter experiences of life. This old adage rang in our ears until it sunk into our bones – ‘It’s no use crying over spilt milk’. And so we laughed instead.

“He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” Job 8:21