Is there something you would like to do, just for the sake of joy, that might require a little practice, a little risk of failure, a little persistence? Take heart–because some kinds of joy might require just that.

By the time I actually got to high school, I discovered that pubescent joy sometimes came at a cost: a cost that involved a fair amount of persistence. That it didn’t just bubble up around you while you sat in a chair. That sometimes you had to actually practice over and over reaching for the happy ending.

For some girls, that meant practicing their cheerleading moves over and over; for some it meant rehearsing songs on instruments over and over; for others it meant trying to perfect catches and pitches, kicks and spikes over and over. For me, however, it meant asking boys out over and over.

Details (and encouragement for you) inside…

Note: Cleary, Beverly. Fifteen. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1958.