Youth

Taking my wee dog Peppy for a walk a couple hours ago, I looked up into the night sky, took a breath of crisp air and recalled something that I kinda miss, and will never have back...
My mid-teenage years.

Thinking back to an awkward, goofy and hopelessly single sixteen-year-old Tony brings a grin to my face, as I try and immerse myself as best as I can in the memory of his surroundings. None of us drove, our work obligations ranged from simple to non-existent, and we had to make our own fun. Oftentimes, we would find this fun in roaming the streets of Melton, acting out the stereotypical role of Southy mischievous youths.

What do I remember doing? Nothing and everything, depending on the day. Sometimes we would bounce from house to house looking for something to do, I'd hit on chicks all the time without them realising (something I really don't miss at all), and sometimes, we'd get up to some wild stuff in the evening, like sneak into places where we were unwelcome, or crash parties (just by showing up, no assaulting guests, mind) or attack things with sticks, or steal a rubbish bin so we could light a hobo-riffic campfire, stuff of that ilk, before we'd retreat to the safety of whoever's house we were staying at to play Mario Kart into the wee hours of the morning.

From the years of backyard wrestling (something we were terrible at) to hours on end of video gaming... to an old favourite, playing flashlight tag on other people's property in the night and getting Matt and Michael stuck in a tree with suspicious residents seeking them out while the rest of us knicked off to go eat ice cream.

My teenage years were stupid, y'know? But that doesn't mean they weren't a blast. And as the end of my life as a teenager draws nearer, I look ahead to the world of a twenty-something rapscallion.

No more late night mischief (unless alcohol's involved).

No more carefree days putting our safety at risk for cheap kicks (again, alcohol says otherwise).

No more video games... hang on, that's not true. Still a lot of video games, just with a lot more swearing and Jessica declaring that she 'doesn't wanna be an egg!!'

I really am an easygoing young lad, you know. People around me get stressed, but I just look forward to what life brings. I celebrate the good times, and cruise through the bad times, oftentimes coming up with shifty ways to make it look as though I put in some effort along the way.
Seriously people, iffin anything's ever getting up your grill, just take a step back and say to yourself, 'things may be bad, but feeling bad about it doesn't make it better. I'm gonna have fun right now, regardless'. Eckhart Tolle says it in a deeper way, but that's the gyst you need to realise. Keep right on grinning, and you'll get through it.

Lord knows we all face adversity along the way. I have, you have, we all have. Thing is, I'm still sitting here feeling dandy as Christmas, so I say y'all should too.