Tall - Extreme Height - Advantage or Not?

I am going to write this article on the advantages of being tall in the hope that some younger tall people come by and read it.

At 16 I was a very skinny tall kid, I was 6'7", 70Kg and picked on by the bullies in school. I was generally quiet and kept to a small group of friends with similar interests. I was a D&D nerd and hung out in the computer room. At that time I thought did not know there were a lot of advantages of being tall, all I knew were disadvantages...

The 'tough' macho jock types liked to push me around because even though I was 'big' I was an easy target.

At that time i was very active physically and did not eat enough for my frame. I was into long distance running (orienteering) and was only 70kg (154lb), but I could run 10 Km, then do a 3 km sprint (for the schoolbus) in sand and then swim 500m fully clothed just for fun and be barely winded.

Disadvantages Of Being Tall At School 

These 'popular' types giving me grief meant that no girl would talk to me, to be honest at that age I was not really into girls, I liked hanging with my friends and the guys with girlfriends never seemed to be themselves when the girl was around.

Later that year, the hormones kicked in a little more and girls suddenly became interesting. At about that point I had enough of being harrased by the idiot (popular) kids and I used to wish that I could be popular and have girls chase me.

I am sure many kids wished for that. Being different, even if it is just being tall can be difficult at this stage of your life. It was difficult at this time to see any advantages of being tall.

Some of my friends that I was close to started to get busy after school and could not meet up after school. After this going on for two months I caught up with them (they went to a different school).

Holy Balloon Men Batman! They were huge! They seemd to have bulges and muscles poking out everywhere (we laugh now they only had fat 15" arms then). I asked what they were doing - they answered Bodybuilding, they had some bricks and some second hand weights in the basement and were "working out". They said there is a movie this weekend come and see it - it will explain everything.

I was so excited I could hardly wait, I wanted to be "big" like them, they looked so impressive.

That weekend we went to the movies, I run up to my friends - "Which movie is it?" - the answer and the movie that changed my life "Conan The Destroyer".

I watched Arnold Schwarzenegger in awe, I was speachless, I was told that Arnold was the best bodybuilder in the world.

That was it.... I joined a bodybuilding gym two days later (the gym was closed on Sunday otherwise it would have been the next day).

20kg (44lbs) in the first 3 months I put on, I doubled or more all my weights in those first months too.

70kg (154lbs) to 90kg (198lbs) - I was a different person, I needed new school shirts, I was more confident, less people tried to bully me around.

By the end of the year my arms had grown from 11.5" (that is no typo) to 15" I trained hard, I ate hard, I did everything our very limited knowledge allowed us to do.

Advantages Of Being Tall And Muscular

Walking to class one day I heard a bully saying to another kid, "What do you think you're too good, won't talk to me, I am going to beat you up", my blood boiled. I turned around it was a thickset kid had my own skinny brother bailed up against a wall. This kid was not only heavier but older. I grabbed this weasel by the neck picked him up by the neck and slammed him into the wall.

Then I lectured him on manners and politeness, and asked how it felt to be picked on because you were smaller - this guy I swear nearly wet himself. I dropped him on the floor where he crumpled like the dirt bag he was, tears streaming out of his eyes. Funny I did the same thing to the local 6'4" footballer/amphetamine dealer 12 years later with the same results and for similar reasons though I never truly hit him I I did give the amphetamine dealer a spanking so as to destroy any credibility he had left.

The next kid who tried something with me went sailing over 2 rows of desks to land with a huge crash as tables and chairs scattered in all directions with a yelled "For once just **** off", two years of torment stopped in a heartbeat.

After that the bullies left me alone and kept clear of me completely, sometimes violence is the only solution, back then parents did not sue parents and all the rubbish that happens today, I wouldn't like to do this in today's legal environment but back then it was fairly normal and more importantly it stopped the bullying.

Advantages of being tall? Violence? Well yes in this instance but it is not a path to take for it's own sake. Later I learned that being intimidating is more of a deterent than violence and I used this to "beat" groups of aggressors in various settings as I worked security jobs, it also helped get the  Australian Pro Wrestling Championship and has since helped me as an actor.

* Keep out of trouble as much as possible, friends have been to gaol (that's jail for you Americans) for standing up for themselves, completely unfair, you do not want to go to gaol, especially when you are right.

* Don't become the bully you usurped.

BEST NEWS COMES YET -

After school I kept on Bodybuilding and went on at University to become one of the most popular and well known (and just as qually disliked) individuals on campus. I did not bully anyone, I did not bash anyone, I was loud and exploting my new extrovertedness and enjoyed myself.

After this I have gone on to do some absolutely amazing things, my life has been wonderful and it keeps getting better.

The popular sports jocks - where are they now? Well they did not go to university so they are in menial jobs. Here are a few I heard of;

I am an International actor, have travelled to 20 different countries, have girls hanging off me (it's fun being the bad guy in film) and would not trade anything for my sometimes difficult lifestyle.

If I could be anyone in the world I would be me.

I have worked hard and suffered to achieve everything, maybe bodybuilding is not your vehicle. But being tall is an advantage if you treat it like one

Do what interests you, do you like programming? Advertising? Business? Do you like sports? Is there something you are good at in school and you enjoy it?

Day To Day Advantages Of Being Tall

Being tall is an advantage in any field. As an actor everyone who meets me remembers me, I get more pay and more opportunities as I have made myself unique and made a niche market that I fill - big bad guy.

In business I once worked at a company with 300 employees on our floor, within 2 days everyone knew me. I got a position raise (no pay though) within 4 weeks as I was extremely competent in my job, so were many smaller guys just as efficient as myself but no one noticed them. When I was walking around helping others it was noticed, the boss could see me over the office partitioning. In social situations I go out and meet so many people it is stupid. Girls like tall guys, let me rephrase that, girls like confident tall guys - that missing word is very important.

I played sports and always excelled, and it was largely due to two things - my being tall and I enjoyed them.

Your height can also be a detriment, if all you do is mope about thinking how bad it is to be tall then guess what? It will be hell being tall. People will see you are unhappy and miserable and instinctively shy away from you.

It is your choice in life, not just because of height either, everything is your choice you can find a benefit or your can dwell on the bad things.

Always aim to be the best in your field, but do not look at others performance, look at yourself, improve yourself.

Read books on your favourite subject, go to seminars, learn how to sell, read about business and how to succeed books. Learn about people who are succesful in your field. Build self confidence.

Enjoy today. Enjoy your life. Enjoy the advantages of being Tall but most of all truly experience and let yourself enjoy being yourself.