One of my biggest downfalls is making decisions. Ranging from a career decision or an ice cream flavor, the root of the problem remains the same. I’m afraid of making a mistake. But the truth is, bad choices are inevitable. Life can be a wild card and sometimes the haircut we pictured in our head isn’t actually at all like the picture. If we live life thinking we will never fail, we are set up to be consistently disappointed. Instead, we must make a choice. Sticking to our word wholeheartedly, regardless of the risk we might be wrong or disappointed.
Another true aspect of high school is that we will let people go. As much as you want to hang onto every friendship you make over the course of four years, some of those friendships will fade. Different paths will be chosen, some for the better, some for the worse. Sometimes you will find new parts of yourself that lead to an entirely different crowd. We cannot be discouraged when people exit our lives or afraid to broaden our horizons.
The biggest lie I found myself believing in high school was that change was always a bad thing. This however, is not the case at all. Right now, I’ve found myself undergoing one of the greatest changes I’ve ever had to make.
As I prepare to leave my home for college in Indiana, all I can picture are the people and places I will be leaving behind, not looking forward to all the experiences that will be ahead. High school delivered me with friends beyond comparison, a stellar boyfriend, and a firm relationship with my parents. Which is why (to your surprise) I am not in too big of a hurry to leave.
However, if we never move forward to whatever our “next step” or “new chapter” is, we are not allowing ourselves to grow. High school gave me a false sense of comfort in a world that is constantly changing. Life continues to move even when everything in our lives are finally going right. It destroyed the way I look at opportunities and new adventures because that requires a change. As adventurous as we would all like to portray ourselves to be, when it comes down to it, we would rather stick with the people and places we enjoy and simply eliminate the risk of losing them.
But I’m here to tell you that is not the way to live life. People come and go in our lives; while still leaving an impact and shaping us. Places are meant to be explored and discovered.
Even though we get an uneasy feeling in our stomach and no guarantee, it will be worth the risk. So I challenge you, as you approach high school or whatever your “next step” is, enjoy the time you have, but do not destroy the optimism inside of you for all that is yet to come.
