Aspire for More

Aspire for more. 

If I were to give advice to young girls today, I would say aspire for more. As a young girl I aspired to be a lawyer just like my television hero Perry Mason. I was quite enthralled by his courtroom antics, and how he always brought the criminal to justice. I think this may have been where my love affair with following the rules began. Wait that might have been Gallant in the Highlight magazines I used to read at the dentist!

However, the more I thought about it the more I began to realize that I probably wasn't smart enough to be a lawyer. It was at that moment that I first settled by admitting that maybe being Perry's secretary Della Street was more up my alley. Now there was nothing wrong with Della, and believe you me she was one sharp assistant who helped Perry win all those cases. It's just that I really wanted to be the lawyer, but I just wouldn't allow myself to consider it. 

I'm not sure if I would have really enjoyed practicing law. In a lot of ways I spent a life time enforcing the law in my classroom, but who really knows? What I do know today is that I was more than smart enough to have pretty much tackled whatever I wanted, but I just didn't see myself in that light.  

Of course, it was the mid-sixties and women were just beginning to spread their wings in what was once considered male dominated careers. I don't ever remember having anyone ever encourage me to follow a dream, let alone have a dream. I felt it only fitting to write about this in the wake of the passing of Barbara Hale who played the beloved Della Street. 

So my advice is never to sell yourself short, because you never really know unless you try.