Ah, youth. Mine was such a long time ago now, I barely remember it.
I do recall spending it doing whatever I could to win favor with my parents, my teachers, and my friends, which meant I was being the "good girl" who did her schoolwork, practiced lots so she could play well at all her concerts, didn't stay out late, drink, dance, or go to bars.
I never allowed myself the luxury of goofing off, I was never willing to risk the possibility of screwing up, I would never take a chance on looking foolish.
How boring.
If my youth was misspent at all, it was in the opposite of this term's colloquialized meaning. Rather than frittering away my time so that I would never amount to anything, I amounted to way too much, way too soon. When I was 23, I had been married three years, and was caring for a toddler and a home.
Technically, my youth was over.
But...here's the funny part.
Now that I'm in my 50's, I often stay out late with my friends, we goof around and act silly, we sometimes drink too much wine. I go quite a bit farther out on life's limb these days, and I don't really care whether people think I'm a "good girl"- well, not too much anyway.
Perhaps when I'm in my dotage, I'll look back fondly on these days of "misspent middle age."
At least, I hope I do.
for other's tales of misspent youth, go here
and here is the number one Google search result for the words "misspent youth" ~very cute!
