A Heart for Teens

Buy Yakima HoldUp 2-Bike Hitch – Adolescence is a time of exploration and experimentation. Depending upon a child’s earlier training and development determines the depth of their experience during this critical time of growth.

As a child, I was taught to be polite and pretend everything was alright, even through turbulent times. For years, I wore the mask of a smile when deep inside I hurt. By the time I became a teenager, I was filled with mixed emotions.

You see, learning to smile and pretend that all was well during adversity caused me to miss out on valuable life skills. Instead of learning to communicate my thoughts and feelings during difficult times, I pretended that problems did not exist. As a result, I never learned how to identify feelings and became confused about my emotions. By the time I reached adolescence, the emotions inside overwhelmed me.

My parents were college graduates, and worked hard in their professions. Both valued family and education. Provided with a beautiful home, the neighborhood make-up included ethnic cultures different from my own and predominantly white.

While initially culture shocked when I entered into junior high school, I eventually became compelled to connect with classmates that looked like me. Inspired to reach out to make new friends, I was rejected.
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