Not Fitting In

Daily writing prompt

What’s something you used to worry about but don’t anymore?

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Growing up in the 1970s, I always felt a little different.

While many of my friends were drinking, smoking, or experimenting with whatever was popular at the time, I never did. There were times when I wondered if I was missing out or if I just didn’t fit in.

As the years passed, something interesting happened.

Many of the same people who once thought those habits were just part of growing up eventually reached the same conclusion I had decades earlier. They quit smoking. They cut back or gave up drinking. They started focusing on their health, their families, and living longer, better lives.

It taught me an important lesson.

You don’t have to fit in to be right. Sometimes the hardest path is simply staying true to yourself while everyone else is going in a different direction.

Time has a funny way of validating convictions.

Eventually, the crowd catches up.