Teenagers don't live on Easy Street.
Most commonly their place of residence is on Confusion Boulevard, with opposing lanes of traffic on either side of the greener grass lining the middle of the road.
And though the greener grass would appear to be just footsteps away, it seems to require walking miles upon miles in teenage shoes in order to reach the lush contentment that the greenery affords.
Confusion reigns within the soul that houses the teenager.
Though some teens might turn on the false air of confidence that seems to radiate dignity and grace while dealing with raging hormones and body changes (desired or undesired), confusion is king in their land.
The teenager's homeland - his or her soul - is quite often overrun with what may appear to some as pandemonium.
At least, it contains all the ingredients necessary in a recipe for emotional upset.
Some teenagers throw all these ingredients into the mix haphazardly, unmethodically, and without measurement; while other teenagers seem more apt to measure precisely (or thereabout), being a little more certain of the resulting table set before them.
Not me!
I was more prone to being pandemonized by my own soul.
Measure the ingredients of my daily ins, outs, and whereabouts? Are you kidding me? I didn't have time for that.
I just threw all my ingredients, which often consisted of chaos and mayhem, into the pot and turned my internal stove on the highest setting.
After all, I was a teenager.
I had things to do, places to go, people to see. My life was waiting for me. And not very patiently, I might add. Or at least, I did not want to wait for it.
Measure?
Nope. Time was a-wastin'.
It's sad now looking back at a large portion of my teenage years. Time wasn't wasting away at all. But, I was pretty good at wasting time.
I didn't realize then what I realize now - that time was my friend. Time was on my side.
Time should have been the main ingredient in the casserole that I call my life.
But, I just couldn't resist the express way of life. You know, for the same reason that we have drive-through fast food restaurants. We want our piece of the pie, and we want it now.
I think I might have wanted the whole pie, or at least a taste of the assortment.
If law enforcement officials were authorized to give teenagers tickets for driving in the fast lane of life, I probably would have had enough citations to cause them to revoke my life license.
But, there is no such law.
So, I just kept driving on that twisted highway which would ultimately lead to my teenage pregnancy and teen motherhood.
In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think maybe my quick trip through adolescence was more like a non-stop flight to adulthood.
It was not round trip.
My ticket took me directly to adulthood and left me there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Why are teenagers so confused? Why not?
No, teenagers don't live on Easy Street.
Rather, the winding paths they travel to get to Destination Road can be quite rough and bumpy.
(... taken from Chapter 3: PREGNANT AT 16 / Lori Ghiata Bowser)
