16 again

Would you want to be 16 years old again?

My daughter had her year 10 formal (prom) last Friday. It was a fabulous night. The excitement of dressing up. Receiving a corsage. Pics with her friends. Going in a limousine. The dinner, laughter and dancing. The after-party. The memories.

She was on an emotional high for days afterward.

I remember being 16 and my school formal - although it was a lot simpler! The hair was much bigger, shoulder pads were absolutely the height of fashion and Dad dropped us off in the pea-green Ford Falcon.

But I also remember having an incredible time. Celebrating a milestone. Being excited to be "grown up".

It's an event which stays with you.

Which made me ask myself - if I had the choice, would I want to be 16 years old again?

The irony is at that age, you think you know so much (or at least I did!). You have grown from child into adult, you have studied hard at school accumulating text-book facts and you may have even had a part-time job and your first heartbreak.

The truth is though, you know only a sliver of what life has to teach you. It's that still child-like simplicity of being sure and confident because you haven't experienced enough to know differently.

You haven't yet experienced the greatest of highs, or the tough challenges.

Of discovering what you are capable of, when things don't go to plan.

Or perhaps things actually do go to plan, but it's not actually what you want!

Sometimes it's spectacular. Sometimes it's hard. Even horrible. But it means you become more than what you were.

Growth is forged from what's difficult, not what's easy.

It's figuring out how to make meaning from the fragments:
The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Which is why age is a badge.

Experience literally is priceless. And going back, would be giving up what you have learnt.

Those hard-earned life insights. Around who you are. What you believe.

And as much as I miss being able to stay up all night dancing and feel fine the next day(!), I don't want to go backward.

I like being where I am.

I'm excited for the next phase.

The journey is still underway!