This past weekend was my 10 year class reunion. I’ve always said I’d go to my 10 year class reunion so that I could see what happened to other people and how everyone turned out. My parents are always on their reunion committee and I even helped with the last two of theirs (for their 20th I helped with kids activities and their 30th I helped with the memory book). My parents have always enjoyed their reunions and usually come back with interesting stories of what people are like now compared to what they were like in high school.
So why is it that the closer it got to the reunion date the more panicked I became? At first I thought I really was afraid of being seen as unsuccessful and not living up to the potential I had in high school, which quickly transitioned into not reaching the personal goals I had set for myself to reach by now, and then I came to realize I wasn’t really nervous about what other people would think, but what they wouldn’t think. I’m happy with the professional and personal achievements I’ve made in the past ten years and wasn’t truly upset about what anyone from high school would think of them. My true fear was I would arrive at the reunion and no one would remember me at all… that I would stand in a crowd of faces I recognized, but they would just be looking back at me thinking “Who is this girl?” and “Has anyone told her she’s at the wrong party?”.
Friday night was a family BBQ for classmates, spouses, and kids. I got all ready to go, got in the car, and then chickened out and ended up spending a fun night with friends NOT from my graduating class.
Saturday rolled around and I knew I needed to go to the reunion event in the evening or I would regret letting my fear of being invisible keep me from making connections with people. After making sure I looked the best I could I drove to the event and walked into the venue hoping I would see someone I knew. I recognized many faces and luckily I hadn’t been there but a moment before someone started talking to me.
It ended up being a great evening. It was pretty awkward and yes there were people who acted as if I was invisible and people I wish would have acted as if I were invisible. I spent time catching up with some very good friends and after the party kind of fizzled three of us went to a restaurant to talk some more about what the Lord has been doing in our lives over the last few years.
I don’t regret going at all and I’m looking forward to continuing to build relationships with a few friends I reconnected with. As my friends and I walked to our cars at 1:30 am we even saw a shooting star making it a great end to a great night.
So why is it that the closer it got to the reunion date the more panicked I became? At first I thought I really was afraid of being seen as unsuccessful and not living up to the potential I had in high school, which quickly transitioned into not reaching the personal goals I had set for myself to reach by now, and then I came to realize I wasn’t really nervous about what other people would think, but what they wouldn’t think. I’m happy with the professional and personal achievements I’ve made in the past ten years and wasn’t truly upset about what anyone from high school would think of them. My true fear was I would arrive at the reunion and no one would remember me at all… that I would stand in a crowd of faces I recognized, but they would just be looking back at me thinking “Who is this girl?” and “Has anyone told her she’s at the wrong party?”.
Friday night was a family BBQ for classmates, spouses, and kids. I got all ready to go, got in the car, and then chickened out and ended up spending a fun night with friends NOT from my graduating class.
Saturday rolled around and I knew I needed to go to the reunion event in the evening or I would regret letting my fear of being invisible keep me from making connections with people. After making sure I looked the best I could I drove to the event and walked into the venue hoping I would see someone I knew. I recognized many faces and luckily I hadn’t been there but a moment before someone started talking to me.
It ended up being a great evening. It was pretty awkward and yes there were people who acted as if I was invisible and people I wish would have acted as if I were invisible. I spent time catching up with some very good friends and after the party kind of fizzled three of us went to a restaurant to talk some more about what the Lord has been doing in our lives over the last few years.
I don’t regret going at all and I’m looking forward to continuing to build relationships with a few friends I reconnected with. As my friends and I walked to our cars at 1:30 am we even saw a shooting star making it a great end to a great night.
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