Popularity? No thanks.

Remember when you were in school?  Everyone wanted to be the cool kid, hang with the right crowd, be popular.  If only you had the right clothes, the right hair cut, the right stuff. 

And then we grow up.  And that wanting, the urge, it never goes away.  We want to be part of the "in" crowd at work, in organizations, etc.  Even in the blogosphere.

But you know what I've learned?  It's not all it's cracked up to be.

For years, I watched the group at work, longing to be invited to their happy hours, to their lunches, etc.  And then, several of them were (wrongly) fired, and we all breathed a sigh of relief that we weren't included in those email chains.  Don't get me wrong, we felt bad for those people, we were scared, worried that it could happen to us, but we started to realize that being part of the popular group isn't always what it's cracked up to be.

Those people were reinstated.  Life moved on.  And suddenly, I was included on those happy hours, lunches, and emails.

But in the interim, I learned a lot.  Those people?  Their lives aren't perfect. They are struggling with many significant life events.  Divorce, separation, sick family members.  They have all of those just like you and I.  And a lot of what seems so glamorous isn't.

I'm watching someone I would consider a friend as they make choices that worry me.  I sense an unhappiness in their life, and they're casting about, trying to find that "thing" that will make them happy.  And the "thing" currently involves people and choices that I don't think are wise.  But I've learned that it doesn't pay to share, or they just accuse you of being jealous. I'm just praying this doesn't blow up in their face.

And thanking my lucky stars that I've matured. That I've been able to see that being popular isn't what makes you happy. 

Popularity?  The only people I want to be popular with think I'm the greatest thing...their own super hero.