Get Over It!…Or, Not So Much.

Back in 1994 on the Eagles reunion tour, they wrote a few new songs, one of which was called, “Get Over It.” It was kind of a backlash of the 80s being comprised of people exploring their feelings, going to therapy, that sorta stuff. At the time, I thought this was an awesome song. I especially liked the verse, “I’d like to find your inner child and kick his little ass.” And, ya know, throw out the profanity and it’s a song about resiliency. Kinda.

Okay, flash forward to this past weekend. It was my 20 year class reunion. Yeah, I know, I know…I look so young! I was kinda disappointed with the turnout, quite frankly. I’m a connector, so I love to interact with everyone. Can’t say that was always the case. And God only knows what I may have said or done in my teenage years that would make classmates not want to be around me now. After two decades, I’d hope some of the hurt and embarrassment and inferiority we probably all felt in high school had dissipated.

Just off the top of my head, I could count at least 20, maybe 30 or 40, classmates that live within an hour’s drive of our hometown. And yet? None of these folks showed up. I simply have to think this is, at least in part, due to that same hurt and inferiority and vulnerability we all felt in our teenage years. And, I find this sad.

So, back to the Eagles. Yes, get over it. Get over your hurt and shame and personal disappointments. But jeez, when you think of severity of emotions as teens, and the primacy of having opinions and attitudes formed about each of us before we were, what? 15? That’s a lot to carry around the rest of your life. I’d love to say I’m getting to the point in life where I don’t care what people think. But, I do. We all do. And sometimes, with some pretty deep emotional scars, it’s not as easy as telling someone to get over it.