Some Trials and Tribulations of Being The Youngest

I was the youngest of three siblings, and I was the smartest. Being the smartest, I breezed through by school lessons and my grade levels. I was always the youngest everywhere. I was the youngest at home, at school, and at every event or competition. Not to mention that my last name began with W ... I was always at the end of every list and line. That's another issue for another time. Back to the matter at hand.

I wouldn't have minded being the youngest, if it weren't for the fact that people always assumed that they knew more about everything than I did. Once they would make that mistake, I would have to rectify their error. Then I was further isolated because of my intellect. I was the last one called by name. I was the youngest. I was the smartest. I was the most isolated from my peers and from my family.

It didn't bother me the way it bothered most people, because I'm an Aspie. Not all the things that you hear people saying about Asperger's Syndrome are true, and nothing that you hear about Asperger's Syndrome is true for all Aspies. Each Aspie is uniquely different from any other Aspie, and that's just fine with us. We don't want to be the same as each other, and we don't need to be the same as anyone else. We don't need a lot of things, yet there are a lot of things that we do need. I'm laughing now because I find it amazing that certain things even require explaining. There are not enough blogs in the world to hold all of what we Aspies have to say about anything. So, I'll get back to my original issue of always being the youngest.

There are some wrongs in the world that can never be rectified, and being the youngest is one of them. Nothing you do solves that problem, and each year that you grow older everyone else does, as well. You are not the only ones who dwell upon that issue, because it is always on the minds of those older people in your lives. Sometimes they try to be subtle about it, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are not fully accepted amongst them; regardless of the fact that your intellect is far greater than theirs.

As annoying as this problem is, you cannot fault older people for treating you as if you are too young compared to them. It’s the truth. We may not like (or approve) of the truths that anger us, and we may not willingly accept those truths, either. Still, there’s nothing that can be done about it until you are well into your 30s or 40s; sometimes it takes until your 60s.

Well, that’s a bit discouraging; isn’t it? The best thing to do instead of wasting your time seeking entrance into that golden older realm is simply to be the real you. After all, that is all that you have to work with; so work it! Make your presence known, admired, and welcomed by embracing your intellect and your early maturity. Now look where we are? Maturity is an even longer one-sided conversation than age. We’ll save talking about ways to reveal maturity in more subtle (aka mature) ways that will let others realize that you may be young, but you do not have the mind of a child.

Of course, we can create whatever image we choose for ourselves bearing in mind the laws of the land, as well as the laws of morality. Don’t worry, I don’t believe in preaching morals to others, but I do believe in morals, convictions, fulfilling obligations, and being a responsible person regardless of age. It used to be easy to tell young people to act your age! That doesn’t really work these days when grown folk are running around acting as if they are children. Let’s see what suggestions any of you may have to be of assistance to someone else, who is currently facing this issue.

I’m a firm believer in being part of the solutions, and never any part of the problems. I also believe that we can harness intellect for our good, as well as for the greater good.

I encourage you to comment on this post. I spoke respectfully to you, so I expect respectful comments. You may disagree respectfully. Let’s get this discourse going!