Growing up as a girl of the 1970s (hard to believe eh??!!), I was socially conditioned to be NICE, to be polite, smile, speak when spoken to, be seen and not heard....

My validation came from being a "good girl", doing what was expected of me without question- why would I question it? Friends were doing the same.  It was the norm at the time.  People didn’t talk about their feelings. They seemed to be content with their lot.  

 

I don’t remember ever being encouraged to do great things or to break the mould and I didn’t see other people do these things either.  It was best to be safe, not to take risks, to do the norm.  Go to school, get a safe job, live close by...I was also painfully shy and would blush uncontrollably if someone spoke to me (and I don't mean a pretty blush- a full on bright red flush from my chest up!)  This made me very reluctant to speak up in class and I dreaded my name being called out as all attention would then be on me.