I’m six foot tall and it doesn’t feel that it should be that way. Like I think I was supposed to be short but then like puberty got it wrong and I shot up like a weed. I don’t think I have tall guy energy. I think I’m just gangly and awkward.

It is useful of course for the ability to reach up and pick things off tall shelves. It’s very rarely that I need to use a stepladder or anything like that.

Also, I don’t like to fight because I don’t fight fair or clean. It’s fortunate enough that I have the height on me that most fights end before they start. I remember there was this one time that I was on the train and my knee accidentally bumped into the seat in front of me. The man behind me must have been having a bad day because he told me that if my leg bumped his back again, he was going to beat my head in.

My dad told me to always stand up against bullies. I stood to my full height and towered over him. He said “Yeah!” and sat back down. Didn’t bother me again but I did try to make sure that I didn’t bump the seat in front of me. There’s no reason to be rude.

In my head, I think that I’m much smaller than I am. Maybe that’s something I need to talk about in therapy. Or maybe it’s okay that I know it’s better for me to not to take up as much space as other people. I don’t think that being tall is an achievement, it was just the cards I was dealt. It’s just an aspect of who I am, just one small part. Or a tall part. Lol.