To Go My Own Way

Daily writing prompt

Describe something you learned in high school.

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The most important thing I learned in high school was how to handle peer pressure. I am not going into specifics but there were many things my high school friends wanted me to do that I refused to do. It was interesting to see their reaction. Many of them took it personally. The reason I refused to some of the things was because they were illegal. Most of time the reason I did not do something was because I simply did not want to. The other reaction to refusing to do something is that you are afraid to do it. I call it pulling out the fear card. They think by calling you chicken or a coward or whatever, that this will goad you into doing it. What is really humorous about that thinking is that these people don’t realize how much courage it takes to say no. Some people never say no. Even though this did have a tendency to isolate me many times and did curb my social abilities, I have never regretted those decisions. They made me a much stronger person and gave me the ability to make my own decisions and do what I really wanted to with my life, no matter how scary it was. It has contributed heavily to the fact that I have not really kept in touch with any of the people I grew up with. It still does not change the fact that in their own warped way they made me into a stronger and much happier person. See, assholes are not all bad.