Now I have a number of people on my friends list that I barely remember and who have no idea who I am. Only one of them actually asked who are you. You see I'm not the same person I was back then. Back then I hid inside my own little shell.
In high school I was not one of the cool kids. I was too shy. I am the one who sat at the back of the class and hid out. I would turn bright red when I talked in front of more than 2 people... I'm not kidding I did. I was in a drill team called the Shufflers. We sat in the stands and preformed routines by flipping cards to form words and pictures. But even then I was the quite one. I didn't have a car and I walked to and from school. So I didn't go hang out with the other students. But I did have great legs...
So what changed. I learned not to take everything so seriously. I didn't like talking in front of people so I took a speech class. I had to talk then.
Then life took over and helped trained me. I learned to joke around and not show my embarrassment. When you blush easily you become an easy target. So I had plenty of practice handling this one. Like the time I turned 18 while working at an amusement park in my hometown. The security guards that knew me got on the loud speaker and announced to all the employees “Hey Guys. She's legal.” You either laugh or die.....I'm still here.
Then I took ballroom dance lessons because I was going with a polka band to Octoberfest in Germany. I couldn't dance...period. I got hooked on dancing.
When I couldn't afford to pay for lessons any more I started teaching. I spent a lot of time in the arms of strangers. They were at my mercy and I was the boss. That helped. I took over the dance classes and taught 3 or 4 couples in the back room. That quickly became 15-25 couples in the large ballroom. I complained about the size because I was still a little bit shy with so many people. I was told they picked you we didn't do it. Wow... what a boost to my ego. It taught me to be loud too. I had to be heard over the music and the feet on the floor.
The embarrassment part, when your a dancer at competitions you've got sometimes 2 to 3 minutes to change costumes you don't have time for embarrassment. I have stripped out of one outfit and into another in bathrooms, in hallways and once in the corner of the ballroom with two of my students holding up a sheet. I have changed in a car while on the way to a dance competition, no I wasn't driving. But the truck next to us did do a sudden lane change as I recall. Hey I ya gota do what ya gota do. There was no way I was going to be the one everyone had to wait on. I never missed a mark.
I have danced in front of tens of thousands of people at the Astrodome and on live TV for the Texas Sesquicentennial. I think I got the blushing in front of people part handled. The hardest part of that was learning how to pronounce Sesquicentennial.
I was an RMT (registered massage therapist), who specialized in pain management. I have worked on athletes, CEO s, musicians, men, women and children. Out of survival I have learned to handle awkward situations, and extract myself from them. Yeah, Al G. you better not mess with me.
The dancers, musicians and very dear friends that know me wouldn't have recognized me in High School. So you see, even if you remember me from High School... you still don't know who I am. I am a person in a constant state of change, as we all are.
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| My old High School...ahh, Memories....or nightmares. |
I would like to thank Micheal for be brave enough to ask who I was and in turn giving me the idea for this blog.
