For many people height is a sensitive subject. Either they feel they are too tall or too short and if attention is called to their height or lack there of, well, they can be a little sensitive. I came to terms with the fact that I will never reach the five foot mark when I was pretty young, and I'm so glad I did. It allowed me plenty of time to recognize the benefits of being so short, rather than dwell on the obvious negatives. Here is a list of some of those perks.
1.Everything you do is incredible
When you are a meager four feet seven inches people don’t expect much of you. They expect you to be weak, slow, meek- basically an eight-year-old. So when you do something that would be considered only slightly impressive or even average if a normal sized person did it, everyone freaks out and thinks you’re amazing. This can be used to your advantage in situations such as a tennis match when your opponent who is twice your size underestimates you and is immediately caught off guard by your “mad skills” leading to your victory.
2.People are always looking out for you
People are constantly standing up for you and looking out for you. Literally. If you’re in a big crowd, say at a concert, most people will either ask if you want to stand in front of them, sit on their shoulders, and often are more than happy to record whatever is going on so you can see it later. And when it comes to group pictures you always know exactly where to stand: front and center.
3.Standing in lines rarely happens
You’d think that being so small makes it extremely easy to simply slip in and out crowds and groups of people making cutting in line extremely easy (which is true), but that’s not why you rarely have to stand in lines for very long. The sad truth of the matter is that people are much nicer and generous towards someone who is cute or innocent looking. But since you are automatically both of those, people are constantly telling you to go ahead of them in line! It makes you feel slightly guilty, but they always insist.
4.Everything looks good on you
You know those super trendy shirt dresses? Well pretty much every shirt looks like that on you when you’re under five feet tall. You can wear pretty much anything and make it look good. You can wear your dad’s shirts, your mom’s vintage stuff, your brother’s clothes from when he was eight, and best of all, you can wear all of your sister’s clothes but they can’t wear any of yours! Not to mention you can shop in the Kids, Juniors, Women’s AND Boy’s sections!
5. Everyone is taller than you
This might sound obvious and not worth mentioning but just think about it for a second. Everyone is taller than you. Do you know what that means? YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING TALLER THAN YOUR BOYFRIEND! While most girls are dreaming, drooling, and fighting over the meager 14.5% of the men in America who are over six feet tall, you have an expansive selection to pick from. Not to mention guys and girls alike love to give you all the hugs you want! Apparently, it has something to do with the position of your head against their torso- don’t ask me, I still don’t get it.
6.You fit everywhere
You can find a comfortable position virtually anywhere. That dreaded cramped middle seat in the back of a car? No problem! You fit there with leg and arm room to spare! Even though your legs never hang over the edge of beds or couches, curling up in a chair is the most comfortable thing ever. Not to mention the plethora of hiding spots. Why would you be hiding? Simply because you freaking CAN.
7.You’re closer to the ground
Being closer to the ground is great. Short people are typically naturally less clumsy simply because they have a lower center of gravity, but even if you do happen to fall you don’t have very far to go so it’s no big deal. The same thing goes for your phone. You can drop your phone as many times as you want and only get a couple scratches here and there! One more word: LIMBO.
8. It’s a conversation starter
You never have to worry about starting conversations with someone you meet, trust me, they will have plenty of questions for you. “How tall are you?” ”Why are you so short?” ”Is it genetic?” “are you a midget?” “What size shoe do you wear?” “Do you shop in the kid’s section?” “Do you think you will ever get taller?” “Do you like being short?” “How does it feel?”, and my personal favorite, “How’s the weather down there?”. When they run out of those there’s always plenty of over used jokes for them to pick from. (BY the way the answers are four foot seven, because God, yes, technically yes, children’s one, yes, no, yes, freaking great, and sweltering. Because I’m down here. *insert winking emoji*)
9.Eternal cuteness
Although constantly being called cute and adorable was once the bane of my existence, my grandmother always told me I would appreciate it one day. I’m guessing that kicks in at the same time as the wrinkles. We all know the character type of the cute tiny grandma who is still somehow intimidating with her infinite wisdom; that is the future of a girl who is under five feet tall. Sign me up!
10.Great things come in small packages
That saying was basically invented to make short people feel better about themselves, but hey, it’s true! If you take a look in the Bible you’ll see that God loves using small things to do big things. David was small and not intimidating but God used him to kill a giant and become king! The Israelites were a tiny little nation, but God decided to make them his chosen people! I’m not saying God uses us short people more than average people, but it’s fair to say that it’s easier to see his work through us since we’re less impressive on our own to begin with.
Now that you've learned 10 great things that come along with being stupidly short like me, I hope you will take some time to think about a couple things that are great about being you! I guarantee you will find more than you think you will.
