Got passed up by a 13 YEAR OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is really immature, but I need some help.

Today started off good. I went to the doctors and found out that I grew an inch and am now 6 foot. Being almost 19 years old, I guess this is a good height to stop at.

But then today, we went to visit my cousins who came down from the other side of the state. My one cousin who is only 13 years old, is 6'1!!!!! It felt so awkward to have to look up to him. Last year he was 5'7 so I guess I should have saw it coming, but this upsets me.

Every year for the family reunion (on my mom's side), I spend a week with all of my cousins, and it frustrates me to know that everyone is passing me up. One of my girl cousins is already my height, and my 16 year old cousin is 6'2. I used to be the tallest and now it makes me feel inferior.

I know this is really immature, and maybe it's just a guy thing, but how can I overcome this feeling? I don't want to stand near the cousins who have outgrown me, and I hate having to look up at them. I know that height doesn't make the man, but this is just ridiculous.

So any help would be much appreciated. I would have never thought that being 6 foot would feel so small.

dude my man, 6 foot is not small! Some of us would love to reach 5"3 ya know ;)

You just can't associate your self worth with how tall you are because you are never gonna be the tallest out there. Maybe you gotta look at why on earth you're comparing yourself to your cousins anyway?

I know this is so stupid. I don't ever do this when I'm around friends. It's just this feeling that I'm being passed up. Especially since I'm so close to my cousins and I hang out with them all of the time and now it feels so awkward. I know that 6 foot isn't short, but in my family it is.

aww don't feel passed up. since you're older than them I bet they look up to you more than you physically look up to them :)

I say wrestle with them, reassert your manhood :P

Well, apparently tall genes run in the family.

Don't worry about it, you will be as tall as or taller than most men you run across that aren't related to you.

6 feet is a good height, you don't have to worry about ducking under door frames etc.

6 feet isn't a good height :P I wish there were more short men in the world :D My yellow pages are gettin kinda heavy ya know

Ha ha. I guess it's just that I get this feeling that if they're physically surpassing me, they're superior. I know it's the wrong mindset, but this is something I just can't shake.

Dude, do NOT develop "short man syndrome" at 6 feet, please. You're like the stereotypically perfect height. :)

I think I know how you feel, My baby sister (13) is already taller than me) and I'm kinda jealous but at the same time you  just gotta roll with it, she's also likely to turn out much better looking than me too but I imagine I'll just find a new vantage point and compare myself to her in a way that puts me on top. so do that, find something about you thats better than them. Harsh but if it works...

and just in case you are curious, there are plenty of men that dont stop growing until their early twenties... so it could be that over the next 3 years you grow three inches.... and cuz stays the same.

they say that those that hit their height earlier stop growing earlier as well.... so the sky is the limit for you my friend!

(tho i have to say as a girl, of average or so height, over 6 foot starts to be too tall to be comfortable. im not too particular about staring at a man's nipples when i talk to him)

Original Post by trustwomen:

Dude, do NOT develop "short man syndrome" at 6 feet, please. You're like the stereotypically perfect height. :)

Thanks for the link trustwomen. I know that this is really pathetic, but what should I do to stop these feelings? He weighs more than me too (as his grandfather aka my great uncle has already pointed out to me).

I'm not aggressive though. I think that makes it worse.

nonono 5"5 is the perfect height :P

(I lie I love tall men, they just hate getting down on their knees to talk to my 5"1 self)

I am 6'1" and my uncles are 6'5" I don't feel inferior to either of them. Height is so unimportant anyway in the grand scheme of things.

SD do your family generally point things like this out to you?

Original Post by shanonna:

SD do your family generally point things like this out to you?

 Yeah they do. I get the common "Oh he/she has already passed you up."

So you're probably aware then that the reason you feel like this is kinda possibly (and I'm no psycologist) because your family are making a point of it? To you it must feel like they place great importance on it so you want to be taller to please them possibly? I don't know. But pointing it out is hardly positive is it? Especially for a guy.

I think that it's half of it. I don't really care too much about that aspect. I don't have a low self-esteem either. I'm usually always very optimistic and positive. In fact, no one knows that this is bothering me as I do not show any negative feelings when I'm near them.

Sometimes high self esteem can be a good front for a festering insecurity, believe me! I think if you only feel this way around your family, and your family are pointing it out (obviously not knowing that it affects you since as you say you don't show it) they've gotta be connected. You just need to bring your optimism with you to those situations and hold onto things that are yours, things that mkae you special and things that make you feel good about yourself.

In my family of shorties... my 12 year-old nephew passed me up. He's over an inch taller than me now. Of course, I am just barely 5 feet tall so that shouldn't be too much of a surprise :P

Don't worry about the height thing. My height used to bother me but then I remembered that if there's anything I can't reach, there'll always be someone taller around to help me out. And one day when I have kids, it won't kill my back to pick them critters up off the floor!

I understand that it is a strange feeling to always be looking down at someone and then, all of a sudden, they are taller than you.  But it is part of life.  Your mother dealt with it, you father might have.  Kids grow. Its just a change.  I am sure they are loving it.  Laugh, tell them that you are still tougher, don't let it bother you.  One everyone becomes accustomed to it, no one will even notice.