Puppy Love

Is there any human being on earth who hasn't had a crush on someone while growing up? I bet there's none, and those of us who vehemently deny it are just being deluded, in my opinion. Puppy Love, as one might call it, is an intrinsic and essential part of growing up, that magical attraction one feels and unspeakable chemistry that one has for the other person. In retrospect, from the vantage point of adulthood, it all looks ridiculous, and makes you wonder what on earth you saw in that person in your teenage years. Sometimes, you even heave a sigh of relief, thanking God you didn't act on that crush and take it to the next level, considering that the erstwhile object of your crush is no doubt a loser now, in your opinion. No wonder it's called Puppy Love then, and aptly so!

The danger in puppy love arises when it causes too much of a distraction to teenagers and sways them from their dedicated concentration on their goals. The final years of high school being the most crucial years of one's life, it becomes quite problematic when teens are caught up too much in the crush and are constantly thinking/dreaming of this particular girl/boy, only to slip up in their studies and not make the cut after all in high school. As teens, we don't understand that poor grades mean no admission into a good university, and that ultimately translates into mediocrity in life. The hormones raging inside us make us lose perspective of the importance of doing well at school, and for those of us who are weak-minded, there is always a lot to regret in our adult lives.

What prompted this post in the first place was something I saw on my morning commute to work - a boy and a girl so lost in each other, when everyone else was rushing to work and to school. The teens were so besotted and into each other, the chemistry between them so palpable, that I wondered how on earth they would be able to concentrate on studies that day at school. Not a good thing at all, the sane adult in me thought. And then again, I frequently see teen moms and dads on my way to work, with babies in strollers, with the mom definitely having had to drop out of school to care for her baby, and the father to get a low level job to provide for the young family, and with that money not being enough, having to live on welfare for the foreseeable future. All this because of the raging hormones, needless to say!

Puppy love is inevitable, but if one is able to recognize it as just that, and not be distracted too much as to fail at school or earn poor grades, then all should be well! Growing up certainly is complicated, don't you think?!!? Phew!!!