7 Things I Learned from My 8 Greatest TeachersRecently by James Altucher: The Top 10 Lists of All Time
Yesterday was my 25th high school reunion. I wanted to go. I had a car key and I could’ve driven there. I was close to feeling like I was going to do it. But I was feeling somewhat shy. I didn’t like high school much. When you are rejected so much you build a tough skin. My 8 greatest teachers in life were perhaps the many girls in high school who said “no” to me when I was so desperate to go out with them. Who knows what would’ve happened to me if everything was easy then. Maybe I would not have been able to handle when things became really hard later.
I liked a girl in my drawing class. Nadine Davis. But when I asked her out she quickly said, “No” and walked away. It was like one of those scenes in a movie, where she quickly “disappeared into the crowd” and everyone around me was sort of whispering and smirking. If she had asked, I probably would’ve paid her to go out with me. I liked a girl who had thick curly orange hair. I forget her name now. Michelle? I played one of those games. I told her I knew someone who liked her. So for a week we kept up that intrigue and she was always smiling at me and wanting to know “Who?” And then when I told her it was me she turned the other way and wouldn’t look back at me. Finally one of the football players walked over to her and said, “do you need help?” She said, “I’m okay”. I walked away then.
There was another girl I liked who was sort of ditzy but she was smarter than she let on. I told a friend of mine that was friends with her that I liked her. The message was conveyed to the girl I liked and I got a message back.” Maybe in 100 years I would consider it.” Somehow I was encouraged by that. It wasn’t a solid “No!” It’s been almost 30 years now. 70 years to go but I’m happily married now and I can’t even remember her name. There was a girl I liked who was a year older than me. We had a fun time talking and had a good mutual friend. The mutual friend told me “you have a chance here”. But then the girl I liked started going out with someone else and I think they’re even married now. Or dead. Who knows? There was a girl I had a massive lust-crush on who lived around the corner from me and she was even in my Hebrew school carpool when we were younger. Her mom was always screaming at her as she rushed out the door in the morning, usually 5 minutes late so the bus would sit there and wait while she and her mom finished their yelling. My friend Robert also liked her and they used to ride bikes together. But maybe she was a “beard” because it turned out later that Robert was gay. Maybe he’s dead now. I can’t find him on facebook or anywhere and we were best friends for 12 years. October 28, 2011 Copyright © 2011 The Altucher Confidential
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