The UPsides of Being Short



 At 5'1 and 3/4 inches, tall is probably one of the LAST  words people would  EVER use when describing my appearance. I've  definitely gotten my fair share of short jokes, and every once and a while, my beloved younger sister seems to relish staring down at me from her higher-altitude position. (She's a itsy, bitsy, tiny, little, insignificantly minuscule bit taller than me) HOWEVER, despite all the fuss made about my height, there really ARE some advantages to being short. Perhaps this post will make tall people think twice before gloating over the couple extra inches they have on me!

1.) I'm already not a super-coordinated person. Being short just means there's less of me to try to coordinate! I mean, just think about how far the brain has to send messages from the head to the legs of a 6-foot person! If I were six-foot, I'd probably be walking at the pace of a blind turtle with a bad limp!

2) Riding in my dad's new truck is AWESOME!!!!! My knees have several solid INCHES of space before they come close to hitting the back of the  front seat!

3.) If you're a tall person reading this post, then let me ask you a question: How many time do YOU have to climb up on the counters while baking to reach something? I get to do it all the time... and each time it's like a miniature adventure. You never know what you'll see when you come eye to eye with cupboards that haven't been washed in ages. Not to mention it's just exciting to be that high up!!! My head almost touches the ceiling!

4.) Speaking of ceilings, even though I sleep with bunk beds, I have only bonked my head on the ceiling ONCE. That's pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

5.) Being short means I'm closer to the ground. This helps in volleyball, because I don't have to bend over as much to dig a ball!

6.) Ahhhh, I bet you're thinking something along the lines of, "Being short HELPS with volleyball? Don't spikers have to get ABOVE the net  to spike a ball?" Well, this is true, BUT, you  have no idea how rewarding it is for a short person to just get your finger above the net? It's one of the best feelings in the world! Plus, being short forces me to be diligent to work out and try to improve my vertical, so it actually causes me to stay in better shape than I would otherwise!

7.) I LOVE shopping. And you know what? In the past couple years, I have NEVER tried on a pair of jeans that were too short on me. EVER!

8.) I went to a camp called CYIA last year and met one of the AWESOMEST people in the world there: Becca Knauss. You know why I originally went up and introduced myself to her? Because she was short. Five foot tall, to be exact. We became almost instant friends, and shortness one of the many things we bonded over!

9.) Because I'm neither althletic OR tall, I rarely get recruited by CHIEF basketball players to play basketball, which means I don't have to constantly spend my time making up excuses for why I can't play. Because thinking (and talking) about random, uneccessary things is a MAJOR time sink for me, this eliminates one of the (many) things I could choose to waste my time on.

10.) I think one of the known Christmas challenges is putting the star or angel on top of the tree top. You have to maneuver your way around the prickly branches, and figure out how to perch it on the tippy top of the tree. Looks pretty tricky to me!!! Thankfully, I really wouldn't know. I never get asked to do things like that. I get to just watch the tall people do that kinda work!

Well, if I haven't convinced you that being short is fun, I never will. I'm still working on convincing myself, actually. But, writing this post has FORCED me to be somewhat more content with my less-that-average height. And you know what? I like variety. And all the heights in this world DEFINITELY add variety. But, if you leave this post with nothing else, if you are short and have NEVER climbed on a counter before, TRY IT!!!!! It really is the BEST part about being short. And if you're tall, watch in stunned silence as the shorter people in your life have fun participating in the glorious fun of counter climbing. And us short people can hand you the star to the Christmas tree.