The Dogs That Bark

"You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks." -Winston Churchill

This past weekend I was in Vegas during the Mayweather vs. Maidana fight. As you can imagine there were a ton of people in town. I mean it was packed everywhere you went. Now you know, with a lot of people, come a lot of stares and ridiculous comments. I couldn't walk 5 feet without catching someone pointing at me or hearing those loud whispers they think we are deaf to. Some people just outright screamed from across the room dang you tall girl. It was a display of tall ignorance at it's worst.

Normally I let the comments roll off my back. But I have to say for the first time in a long time it bothered me. Not annoyed me...straight made me upset and ready to lash out at every single person who did anything in reaction to my God given inches.

I was pissed.

I started calling out people, checking them and returning their rudeness with some vile rudeness of my own. I morphed into one of them for a brief moment.

How dare I let them win.

While I internally calmed myself down, I thought about the time and energy it took to reciprocate their remarks. It was a sheer waste of time and the only person it hurt was myself. My blood pressure went up, ugly words invaded my mind and spilled out of my mouth and I became what they wanted me to become.

While it was only for a brief moment, I remember when I lived life like this. I let every comment and stare feed my depression. Yes, we are all human. Yes, we will have moments. But what you must stop, RIGHT NOW, is living a life where you stop for every dog that barks.

With the gift of height, comes some challenging moments BUT the blessings far outweigh the rough patches. If you focus on the rough moments, you will live a rough life. If you focus on the blessing, you will live a blessed life. I know, I know. How cliché of me. This may be something that many people say but that doesn't make it any less true.

So stand tall, hold that head high and walk past those barking dogs with the fiercest walk possible. I guarantee you...it will silence them faster than any stone will.

The Elephant in the Room

Let’s address the elephant in the room. 

Sometimes it’s hard being tall. 

There, I said it and we can all breathe.

Yes.  We have all had those times where we want to cry because someone calls us a freak or tells us that we shouldn’t wear heels.  Or the times when people call you a giant or squint really hard trying to see if you have an adams apple because there is no way that you could really be a woman who is THAT tall.

I have felt all of this and I know you have too.  It’s OK.  In the end you get the last laugh. Now 36 and 6’6”, I at least get the giggles everyday because I know that the people who question our beautiful tall quality are ashamed that they don’t have it.  I know that when I wear my 5” heels that the reaction should empower me because there is no way that the people staring could do it themselves.  I know that tall is beautiful every day, all day, 365 days a year.

How did I get to this point? That could take a month of Sunday's to explain but since I only have this blog, let me break it down…

Like you, I was always a head and shoulders above everyone.  People always thought I was older then my age and often checked my birth certificate for confirmation.  Kids were mean little things.  They always found a way to make the same comment hurt like a new one.

As I grew older (pun intended) I found myself to not only be the tallest one in school but also the blackest.  That’s not very PC but that is exactly what it was.  I, and a handful of other kids, were the only ethnic people in my school.  Thus, I was double different and got double the input.  There wasn’t a day that went by where I wasn’t reminded that I wasn’t normal.

I was never the athletic type and rebelled against the sea of people begging me to dribble or spike.  When I entered the 7th grade, I gave in to basketball.  While I immediately loved the sport, it didn’t love me.  I had to work day and night to be good.  The assumption that a tall person is automatically amazing in sports is false and I had to combat that on a daily basis. As you can see I had a lot to deal with and quite frankly was depressed for most of my high school years.

I worked my way into a full ride basketball scholarship at the University of the Pacific.  My life changed there.  I grew out of my awkward stage, found my voice, embraced my uniqueness and built a house of confidence on the foundation my parents had been tirelessly fostering for years.  I picked up all of the pieces and built an amazing me.  I can’t really tell you how it happened, I just know that I am now a strong, tall, beautiful woman that uses every word, good or bad, to empower my path.  

No matter how it happened for me, please know that it will happen for you too.  The broken road you are traveling on leads right to the YOU that you want to be.  Every crack, bump and pothole will be paved over with extraordinary confidence.  Take knowledge from every word of the weak and use it to walk taller.

Tall is absolutely, unequivocally BEAUTIFUL.  I have said it many times and will say it until the wheels fall off.  We have to show and tell the world.  When we are empowered we must empower others and that is exactly why I created TallSWAG.com.  If we don’t tell them nobody will!

If you take anything away from my story please know that you are the only one in this world that can do YOU the best.  Love everything that God has given you and celebrate it with the world! 

I believe that everything happens for a reason and if what I have gone through helps anyone for one minute, then it was worth every second.  

I would never tell someone that they must share their story but if you want to, please do.  If you just want to share it with me, then just share it with me.  If you want to share it anonymously, share it anonymously.  If you want to share your story with a picture, video and 32 page photo montage, let's do it!

Bottom line: If you want to share, no matter how you do it, I know that there are those that want to hear.  Post a comment below or email your story to info@TallSWAG.com.  I promise I will respect all of your wishes.

Thanks for listening to my story.  I can't wait to read yours.

Stand Tall.  You are amazing! NEVER ever EVER forget it.