Recently I saw a quote that stated, "Small towns only exist so that you can escape from them." This particular quote stuck out to me because, until this past year, I have lived in a small town. When I left home for college, I feel like I finally made the escape from my small town world into one that is much bigger. Although I relate to this quote, small towns exist for many more reasons than just escaping from them.
Small towns exist to teach you about the value of friendship.
Growing up in a small town, sometimes you feel like your options are limited or like there is nothing to do. Well, I think that makes your friendships that much stronger. You get comfortable doing nothing with people, you become comfortable with silence, you learn how to have fun with limited resources. You end up finding people that you genuinely want to spend time with.
Small towns exist to teach you the definition of community.
No one ever wants to see a tragic accident or death happen, but I feel like when they do, they hit small towns even harder. Any time there was a big accident or death, it affected almost everyone in the town. Even if you didn't know the person who was directly involved, odds are, you knew one of their friends or relatives. But when something tragic did happen, I was always amazed at the support that came about from almost the entire community. People would donate time or money to help families and anyone else in the community who was in need.
Small towns exist so that you can learn how to live up to your name or try to create a better one for yourself.
It's no secret that in small towns, everyone knows a little too much about everyone else, and in some cases that can be a good or a bad thing. Me for example, I feel like I had a name to live up to. Many people in the community either knew my parents or one of my three older siblings. I wanted to be just as positively well known as them, and possibly even better.
Small towns exist to teach you the meaning of hard work.
You won't find too many city kids that go to school, play a sport, work a job, and then go home to help on the farm or the house. But for kids in small towns, that is a normality. I have worked and held a job every summer since I was fourteen years old, which that taught me so much about hard work, and that's something that small towns specifically offer.
Small towns exist so that you can go away and come back to a comfortable setting in which you can fall right back into your old patterns.
Yes, I think everyone should leave their small hometowns at least once in their life. Some people may even leave and never come back. But, I think some people are meant for small town life, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Don't forget to remember your roots and be thankful for your small town for teaching you so many important things.
