Memories ...

In spite of having always been afraid of heights ... I have never feared "jumping" high ...

The possibility of not "clearing" the pre-defined height  seldom was amongst my concerns, when I  was concentrating to jump ...  and so it has been in almost every stage of my life ... as if the "hurdles" are not to be taken as an impediment but rather a test to one's courage and tenacity ...

This is why I don't seem to recognize myself (at times) in regards to some of my recent  life "tracks" ... 

I owe part of my "mental strength" to the school system I grew up in ... a boarding school of nuns, whose strict daily life was fairly similar to the one cadets were subject to in military schools.

I don't have any regrets and must confess that I quite liked it until I was 15 years old (I left to University the year after). It was considered among the best private schools in Portugal and "young ladies" (I was 9 when I left my grandmother's "nest") were supposed to be prepared to become "ideal" wives (holding a good academical background with the intent of not "showing it" but inside the house or in social gatherings, being able to speak at least two foreign Languages, cook, embroider, play piano or any other instrument, sing, etc.). The germ of "non-conformity" (though subtle and within the rules), started developing here ... 

I may not have become the ideal "whatever" ..., but one thing I know ... I 'll keep on striving to achieve "perfection" in whatever I do and in spite of having always been afraid of heights, I still don't (theoretically) fear the "hurdles" along the way ...