Recently, I've encountered a few situations which have
taught me the valuable lesson of accepting changes and the uncertainties of the
unknown. I always think of the Adventure WV Community as a group of open-minded
individuals, and so I wanted to share what I have learned with everyone via
this blog. During my summers, I’ve talked with incoming freshmen a lot about
challenging their beliefs and taking steps outside their comfort zones, so I
think this post is relevant to some of my summer discussions! I hope that this
post may be thought-provoking or valuable to anyone reading it!
The idea of forgoing the comfortable certainties of life for
the unknown has been a constant theme in my life, especially throughout
college. When I began my time at WVU, I had a perfectly mapped plan for my
future. I was on-track to graduate with my Master’s Degree in Occupational
Therapy in just five years. During the Spring 2012 semester, I began to realize
that I wasn’t very interested in my major classes. Instead, I discovered I
really liked the material from the speech pathology and audiology course I had decided
to take as an elective. Changing majors and deciding to become a speech
pathologist instead of an occupational therapist would mean tackling an
additional year of undergraduate work, plus two years of graduate studies. I
could think of plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t take the leap into the unknown
world of a new career path. I’d be in college for so much longer than I’d planned.
Studying speech pathology would probably be really tough, and I might not be
smart enough or patient enough for the job. I’ll end up in so much student loan
debt. What if I don’t get into grad
school? What if I find I don’t even like speech pathology? After all, I had
only taken one class in the subject. What if occupational therapy really was the right choice?
This kind of situation has appeared in my personal
relationships, too. Have you ever found yourself in a relationship that no
longer seems like a good fit but struggle to change anything because the
unknown is just so…unknown? Maybe the
two of you want different things in life even though your partner is really
nice, maybe you want something you aren’t getting from the relationship, or
maybe he or she is a straight up jerk? I know I’ve been there. It’s tough! I’ve
also had times where my life is so intertwined with another person’s that
sticking to my familiar, though unsatisfying, situation seems easier than
leaving. After all, I know the person, the relationship, and I don’t have to be
subject to any uncomfortable, unexpected circumstances or unknowns. Again, I’d
think of plenty of reasons not to change my situation. What if I never meet
anyone else? What if I make a mistake in deciding to move on? Maybe things aren’t
that bad…right?
In a book I picked up in a Half Price Books Store this
summer, I read a sentence that went something like this: “We must really love
our limits. Why else would we place them upon ourselves via self-limiting
thoughts?” In my academic situation, and plenty of others (like relationships),
that’s just what I’d been doing! I placed limits on myself and found reasons
why I should remain clinging to the way I had envisioned my life to be. Even
though I wasn’t completely happy with my major or relationship anymore, and imagined I could be happier doing something else, I could still convince myself that I was relatively comfortable and secure with my situation. I had no idea what to expect if I changed my path. The
unknown future was scary!
But what would I stand to lose by not changing my career path? I’d lose plenty of money finishing a
degree I didn’t want. I’d lose my sense of self-respect by trying to motivate
myself to do something I didn’t really see myself doing as a career. Most of
all, I’d lose my chance to live the best life I possibly could. The same goes
for relationships – I’d lose my chance to pursue other relationships, probably ones that would be a better match. I’d probably lose my sense of independence by continuing to entwine my life with someone else's. And again, I’d
lose my chance to live the life I really wanted.
Ultimately, I deferred my acceptance into the M.O.T program
at WVU, and applied to the speech pathology and audiology major. I was
accepted, and although this semester (my first in the program) was extremely
challenging, I feel certain that I picked a career I will enjoy. Additionally,
taking that leap into the unknown yielded some other great things in my life that
would not have happened otherwise. Although changing majors set me behind a
year, I was able to study abroad in Ireland during my extra time before
starting my program, and that truly helped me embrace the unknown and cultivate
my sense of adventure. My best friend always says that if I’m unhappy about
something, then something needs to change. That could mean your attitude (like
when I get mad about traffic and obviously there’s nothing I can do about it!),
but it could also mean changing your situation. I encourage all of you to
recognize any self-limiting thoughts and change them into thoughts of
encouragement instead. If there’s something that’s making you unhappy and you’re
only clinging to it out of familiarity or fear of the unknown, it’s time for a
change. Take that leap into the unknown, and embrace it as an adventure towards
a better you. Step out of your comfort zone, and into a world of possibilities!
I really believe that’s where self-growth happens, and have seen that evidenced
in my own life. Most of all, recognize that the dissatisfaction of staying the
same is more painful than the scariness of making a change. Go face that fear
of uncertainty!
Olivia J
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