Post 4 - Chaparral or Chaparral?

(Sorry this got a little longer than I thought it would.) So as my sister, my niece, my daughter, and myself were all driving back to Las Vegas we decided to stop in Temecula for a little breakfast/lunch. To my surprise, across the street, was a high school. Not that I should be surprised by the presence of a high school in a large community such as Temecula but by the name it had on the front of the building. Low and behold it was my alma mater except not exactly the same. I went to a Chaparral High School. I was surprised when I got home and starting looking up my old school to see that in fact there are at least according to Wikipedia seven Chaparral High Schools around the country. I don't exactly know why I was fascinated with this fact. To tell you all the truth high school, well, lets just say if asked to repeat it exactly the same way I did as before I would have to immediately decline. I look back at those days and not necessarily shudder but am grateful that I don't have to repeat those times. I do have some great memories with friends like Shelly and Aubrey and DiAnna (just to name a few). I would be lying if I said that everything about high school was bad. I am just not the same person I was back then. I have changed a lot and I don't ever want to go back to how I looked at myself or what I thought of myself. In reality if I could go back now, the way I am today, I would do things so much more differently. I know now that I wouldn't care what the girl in my Freshman World History class thought of me. I wouldn't be so afraid of my own thoughts and I would be more confidant in my actions. I spent so much time worried about who liked me and who I could do what for so that they would like me more. In the end (or now) I realize that by not being in "choir" I am still a great person (Not that choir was bad or good but for a long time I wished that I had taken choir so that I could fit in better with those people). I realize that because of the paths I took, I stayed out of more trouble than I could have been in. I know that by choosing certain paths I have been lead to where I am now, which I think is both good and bad. I see that the high school stupidness still exists in the world in which I live. Even on blogger! I see that some names get added to favorites lists and other names get left out. I see that sometimes it is a competition to have the best of this and the cutest of that. I think it's all stupid. If you are not on my friends list, let me know and I'll add you. I blog because I like it. I never mean to leave anyone out. If anything, anyone and everyone is welcome in my life and to be my friend. Whether or not you want me as your friend is up to you. I feel like I have never really belonged to one group of people. I never really fit in with any one group in my ward growing up or at school. I had friends around every where, and here and there some really close friends, but was sort of the odd man out most often. Looking back now I realize that was for the best. I feel like I am a better person for it because I know how the little guy feels at being left out and now I am almost crazy in my church calling trying to include everyone. It's interesting what the Lord lays out in your life. It's obvious to me now that He did not want me to be in certain school classes and it's obvious to me now that He wanted me to stay out of any one particular group. I look at the way things are laid out in the ward we are in now and I understand things on a whole new level. I see that there are different groups of people in each situation that come together for whatever reason and that that is a good thing. We learn to rely on those who have similar situations. I just pray that I, knowing what I have been through and will certainly continue to go through, can look at every person as an individual and not a group member and see them as sister or brother. By the way...I was a cowboy if anyone was wondering.