Living as a Western Foreigner (American) in a Far Eastern country (Philippines), and standing, as I do at 6’2”, I’m almost always the tallest guy in the room or on the street.
I had a big growth spurt at age 15, when I grew nearly 6 inches during the school year. In fact, when I came home from my freshman year at private school, after being gone for nine months, people usually didn’t even recognize me, as my physical appearance had changed so much since the previous summer.
I must admit, that sudden change of stature had a marked impact on my attitude. Being taller, I felt stronger… better… and, whether or not it was all in my head, it seemed people were also treating me differently. At 15, I started feeling more like a man – less like a boy.
Now, thinking of this, I’m looking over at my five year old stepson who is, by far, the smallest kid in his class. What do I say when he comes home from school after the class bully has stepped all over his shoes and book-bag, or drawn on his clean white shirt with pencil lead or ball-point pen ink? Would he be having this problem if he were not so small in stature? What’s it like to have to literally “look up” to everyone, while everyone else is “looking down” on you? I’m reminded of that old song by Randy Newman called, “Short People.” According to him, “short people got no reason to live!” Funny song. Stupid idea. Voltaire and Gandhi were only 5’3”. Genghis Khan was only 5’1” tall, and look what he accomplished. And what about Napoleon Bonaparte? He was short too, right?
But let’s face it. If given the choice, it’s pretty certain most people of small stature would elect to be taller. There’s no question that, all other things being equal, a tall person is afforded certain advantages in life. What I’ve recently learned, which came as somewhat of a surprise, is that height is not solely dependent upon heredity but on other factors that can fairly easily be manipulated. Things such as exercise, diet, attitude and sleep habits, in fact, play as an important role in height as what we each receive from our parents’ gene make-up. After all, my Mom’s only 5’2” and all three of her children are at 6 feet or above in height. Not much we can do about the hereditary influence on stature, but a whole lot can be done regarding the other areas mentioned above. It’s been scientifically proven that a person, at any age, can add two to five inches to their current height through a program of proper diet, exercise and sleep habits. Look it up! It’s a fact.
