Have you ever asked an 8th grader why they don't like something? If you haven't, I'll let you in on their response 90% of the time: "It's just stupid." It's a pretty clear cut statement and you can't argue with them. But I'm can't really be too frustrated when I get that response because that's exactly how I saw the world at that age too. There was only black or white. There were mean girls or nice girls. Things were stupid or cool. You were in the "in crowd" or you weren't.
I was personally one of the worst about this. I refused to go to movies that I thought would be "dumb." I would change the radio station if the music wasn't the genre was into at the time. I would judge people by one comment they made to me at one time that I completely overanalyzed. I hated math and biology just because they weren't my best subjects and even in English, my favorite subject, I didn't finish two books because "I got bored."
Recently, I have realized how much that has changed. I spent a lot of time with family recently and realized there were many things about people I had known my whole life that I didn't know. I have also tried new things and/or tried things I didn't like the first time again and was pleasantly surprised. Books I used to just hate now have many redeeming qualities. I have heard many friends and classmates reveal the same sort of changes in their life recently. One friend has recently decided not all country music "sucks." Another made friends with someone she thought was "so mean" in high school.
Some of my classmates were recently telling me about how the students in their class were writing essays about how much better it was to be an adult than a kid. I laughed at the time, thinking how they wouldn't think that when they starting paying bills, but I would never go back to their age. Why? Because I love seeing the world in color. As I have grown up I have learned that the lines are not so clear cut and that is what makes the world so bright and beautiful.
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